Sandalwood and his friends and the Sanctuario del Paradíso
by VPVPVP
Summary: Summary is in the first upload of this story
1. Chapter 1

**Hi, everyone. I, VPVPVP, am returning with the sequel to AFF (Attack of the Flying Foxes). In this story, I'm going to introduce a new protagonist, Sandalwood, the son of Augustus and Melissa's daughter Stella and her mate Soren, along with his cousins Acerola and Ferdinand who are the daughter and son of Augustus and Melissa's older son Sebastian and his mate, Anabelle, and also Carla and Justin's daughters, Sonia, Spica and Melody; Bia and Virgil's sons, Sirius, Einstein and Miles, and Tiago and Matilda's chicks, daughter Bellatrix and son Bartholomew, amongst others. However, it will be Sandalwood, Acerola, Ferdinand and the offspring of Carla, Bia and Tiago who will be the main protagonists.**

 **The reason for the title of this story will become clear later in the plot but to begin with, Sandalwood, together with his mother Stella, father Soren and cousins Acerola and Ferdinand with their parents Sebastian and Anabelle, and grandfather Augustus, grandmother Melissa and Carla, Bia, Tiago and their families, will be taking a group trip to visit the Blu Bird Sanctuary as well as Rio, where they will meet up with old friends, such as James the greyhound, one of Dash and Ginger's sons and his girlfriend, Broccoli and Daisy, Veggie and Catina's son and daughter, and also Travis, Sunset, Eustace and his pure sulfur-crested mate Serena (who have two chicks), brother Milo and sister Rosa with her citron-crested mate Clemont who also have two chicks, and Cometa, Lightning, Orion and Velocity the peregrine falcons, the latter two who have also become parents.**

 **The story will revolve around Rio and the Blu Bird Sanctuary, partly in the Sanctuary de Amazon and also in a new area which I will reveal later. Anyway, without further ado, let's set things off, starting with the summary…**

 **Summary**

Three years after the Great War for the Sanctuary de Amazon, Carla, Bia, Tiago and much of their gang, including Sebastian, Stella and Luna, the offspring of Augustus and Melissa, take their kids on a trip to Rio with their parents including Blu and Jewel accompanying them. However, things go badly wrong when Sandalwood, the son of Stella and her mate Soren, ends up grounded after an incident and then subsequently gets kidnapped by poachers, along with many of the other kids including Tiago and Matilda's daughter Bellatrix and Bia and Virgil's older son Sirius, ending in their ending up in a conservation area filled with various rare and strange animals seemingly also rescued from poachers. There, Sandalwood and company must find a way back to Rio and their families, but while there, they discover that the conservation area is not what it seems and that it holds a sinister secret. Back in Rio, while figuring out a way to retrieve Sandalwood and the others safely, Blu and company also discover a serious problem ravaging the Blu Bird Sanctuary and affecting its residents, but it is not the poachers that are this problem.

 **Sorry to post the summary here but the summary part on the story cover is just too restricted. Chapter one will start in the next upload.**


	2. Chapter 1b

**Chapter 1- prologue and a new life**

The jungle of the Sanctuary de Amazon, along with much of the rest of the Amazon rainforest and the daily routines of the various animal inhabitants hadn't changed much over the past three years since the Great Battle for the Sanctuary, a massive war between the bird inhabitants of the Sanctuary de Amazon, among them the Spix macaw tribe, and the colony of flying foxes for the land within the protected reserve, leading to the flying fox colony to break up and change their ways completely following their defeat and especially the deaths of the most infamous flying foxes and colony leaders in history, Cicatriz and his equally deranged mate Iracebeth. Monkeys still swung through the trees searching for food, snakes lurked sinisterly in the shadows, seeking out prey, butterflies and other insects danced and flitted amongst a variety of flowers, and jaguars on the forest floor either went out hunting prey, such as capybaras, or to take their cubs on an outing. The sun continued to bathe the diverse rainforest and its inhabitants in its liquid gold-like shafts of warm light. The jungle truly was the same as before. However, one part of the Amazon rainforest actually had changed drastically over the past three years: the area in which the flying fox colony had lived.

When the flying fox colony had inhabited that part of the rainforest, which consisted mostly of territories that belonged to a variety of bird flocks until the bats violently drove them out, the entire land had been totally barren and devoid of any birdlife. Although the trees in the flying foxes' territory had been as healthy as the rest of the trees outside the territory, such as those in the Sanctuary de Amazon right next to the flying foxes' land with colourful spots such as fruit groves and the like dotting the green sea, the diversity of animals had zero bird species. It was like a desert of birdcalls and always had been during the colony flying foxes' inhabiting of the land. However, since the flying fox colony's abandonment of the land following their defeat in the Great Battle for the Sanctuary and the deaths of their last leaders, birdlife had returned and had refilled the ecosystems with feathered creatures much like young plants sprouting in a barren, deforested area and reviving it of life. The flying foxes themselves had settled down into smaller groups and had kept themselves to themselves. Like their colony, the teachings that the birds of the Amazon were vermin and the causes of the disasters like logging, along with the negative and brutal implications they brought, such as the driving out of bird tribes and clans or the hunting of birds for trophies, had pretty much died for the bats had changed their views of all birds completely. Future generations of pups were now being taught the importance of respecting every bird in the Amazon, regardless of their species, and not to pick fights with them, especially for the sake of their membranous wings which were a severe weakness to a bird's talons and beak. These teachings were highly prominent in a certain clan of flying foxes, those that lived in the Sanctuary de Amazon with the Spix macaw tribe and their neighbours, those who had been completely against the old teachings of the now-shattered flying fox colony and had helped protect a wide variety of birds from certain slaughter by the savage colony bats, as well as help them through the war. Augustus and his mate Melissa were two of these allied bats. These two had played a very major role in helping the Spix macaw tribe and their neighbours, the tribes of the red, the green, the Lear's, the blue-and-gold and the glaucous macaws, and the Navyfeather hyacinth macaws and blue-throated macaw clan and the rest of the birds including the clan of archaeobirds, throughout the war with the flying fox colony, one of their roles involving being double agents and feeding the birds information on the colony's plans. Because of their role and their actions that helped the birds to save the Sanctuary from the colony bats, these two flying foxes, along with the other flying foxes that had helped birds in some other ways, including the deceased bats such as Lily, the cousin of Melissa who had helped to protect and rescue countless birds, among them ultra-rare species, from the bats, had been honoured by every bird in the Sanctuary de Amazon.

Augustus and Melissa were now leaders of the flying fox clan that resided on the Sanctuary de Amazon. Unlike Cicatriz and his colony, this clan lived in complete peace with the birds on the sanctuary and were even friends with them, a trait Cicatriz and his colony lacked completely. This was what Augustus, along with the other bird-friendly flying foxes when they lived in the colony, had envisioned, dreamed and hoped for, and that dream had finally become reality, but it had taken a LOT of effort, courage and unfortunate loss to achieve this. And although the flying fox colony, Cicatriz, Iracebeth and the Great Battle for the Sanctuary were nothing more than bad memories, an important event in the history of the Sanctuary de Amazon, countless scars, both physical and mental, still remained even three years on. One such scar was the infamy and negativity the names 'Cicatriz' and 'Iracebeth' had gained shortly after everything had returned to normal after the Great Battle. Because those two names brought back painful memories, especially for Augustus's clan, Augustus had decreed even the mentioning of these two names strictly forbidden, except when talking about the colony in a history lesson, as even the mentioning of those two names, especially when Augustus's clan members were around, was enough to bring any conversation to a standstill, and make the unfortunate macaws that had been tortured for information in the flying foxes' territory, such as Ruby, the mate of Jupiter and Lapis Lazuli, Pluto's mate, cringe greatly. Furthermore, some other infamous names like 'Voldemort' had also become forbidden. The name 'Voldemort' especially made a certain Spix macaw, Roberto, stiffen whenever it was mentioned for it had been the name of the flying fox that had slaughtered his family when he was young and had almost killed Brisa and his five offspring, Jojo, Felix, Lavender, Chilro and Ophelia, along with several other macaws. Therefore, these three names: 'Cicatriz', 'Iracebeth' and 'Voldemort', had become as smelly and repulsive to anyone's ears as capybara or jaguar dung, or the smell of rotting meat to anyone's nostrils.

On the brighter side, countless chicks and pups had been born in the Sanctuary de Amazon over the past three years. Among the new parents or parents-to-be were Blu and Jewel's first-brood children Carla, Bia and Tiago with their respective mates Justin, Virgil and Matilda, three of Zephyr and Venus's first-brood children. Their parents, Blu, Jewel, and Zephyr and Venus, had become proud grandparents while Eduardo had become a proud great-grandfather. The same was true for Roberto and Mercury the Lear's macaw, Mars the green-winged macaw, Jupiter the scarlet macaw, Saturn the blue-and-gold macaw, Uranus the great green macaw, Neptune the hyacinth macaw, Pluto the glaucous macaw and Ceres the blue-throated macaw and their respective mates Brisa, Sapphire, Chiquitita, Ruby, Orquidea, Esmeralda, Ultramarine, Lapis Lazuli and Cobalto. For example, all four of Jupiter and Ruby's first-brood offspring, Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto and their respective mates Sheldon, Byron, Mimas and Athos, had become parents as had four of Mimas's siblings and four more of Saturn and Orquidea's seven first-brood children Enceladus, Tethys, Dione and Titan and their respective mates Trixie the hyacinth macaw, Oberon, Uranus and Esmeralda's only first-brood son, Porthos and Brooke. Iapetus and Rhea, however, had opted not to find mates and have chicks and were instead a proud uncle and aunt of their five siblings' offspring, which was what they preferred above being parents to chicks of their own.

The birth of new life was continuing even now, along with the regular activities of the inhabitants of the Sanctuary de Amazon. In a certain part of the nature reserve, in a beautiful ravine with a waterfall at the far end and a ravine pool dotted with giant waterlilies and inhabited by a flock of extremely rare blue macaws, two certain pairs of Spix macaws, a pair of scarlet macaws and a pair of flying foxes were talking on one of the clifftops. Below the group, other Spix macaws were up to their daily activities, such as taking their chicks to lessons, foraging for their families, chatting with friends, and going out patrols and so on in the ravine. Odd colours of red, green, drab colours and more dotted the ravine air for members of the red, green and Lear's tribes and Augustus's clan, plus several other groups, had come to visit friends or show new pups and chicks around the Spix tribe's ravine and introduce them to the residents. One of the flying foxes, Augustus, stood perched on the edge of the clifftop, his proud and sparkling blue eyes gliding like a river dolphin through the Amazon River over the scenery. Unlike the unsettling and fiendish one-eyed glare his late older brother bore, Augustus's gaze was crystalline and bright and was nothing of the sort like his older brother's glare. While he continued to admire the activities happening in the ravine air stretched out below his feet, his mate Melissa continued chatting with Blu, Jewel, Zephyr and Venus the Spix macaws and Jupiter and Ruby the scarlet macaws. Roberto, Brisa, Nuvem and Cassia were out on patrol while Jojo, Felix and Lavender, Roberto and Brisa's first-brood offspring, and Tyler and Ricardo, the sons of Nuvem and Cassia, were dealing with family responsibilities and other tasks.

Blu, Jewel, Venus, Zephyr, Jupiter and Ruby had not changed much in appearance over the past three years, and Ruby had finally become used to the flying foxes. Three years ago, she had been easily unnerved by the sight of the bats due to the horrors she went through on the flying fox colony's territory but now, those fears had died down though she was still a little timid and was easily frightened by the names 'Cicatriz' and 'Iracebeth'. Augustus and Melissa had also remained largely unchanged despite being three years older and were still full of youth and vibrancy.

"So how are Neptune, Ultramarine, Indigo, Triton, Violet and Victor doing down in this city called Rio?" asked Melissa, "I heard that Indigo and Victor have become proud parents of a daughter they have named Gertie and that Triton has bonded with a female hyacinth macaw named Iris, is that true?"

"Yes it is," said Venus with a bright smile, her almost-unique pigtails sprouting from bundles of vines on either side of her head and hanging elegantly downward, "I was talking about Neptune's family and their wellbeing with Travis on the phone with Zephyr a while ago, and he has told us that the hyacinth macaws are doing excellently."

"It's sad that Neptune had decided to move his family to live on the Blu Bird Sanctuary near Rio for a while," said Jupiter with a sad face, "Don't get me wrong, Marinho and the majority of the other Navyfeather Clan hyacinth macaws and our other friends miss him but Neptune had explained to us before he left that he just wanted a change of scenery and to get Triton away from the constant mockery he keeps receiving from his former girlfriend Penelope and her friends for his damaged left facial side…"

Blu, Jewel, Ruby, Zephyr, Venus and Melissa nodded in agreement. Three years ago, Neptune and Ultramarine's older son Triton had suffered a life-changing facial injury inflicted upon him by one of the savage minions of Cicatriz. It had happened during the Great Battle when he was trying to protect and save Sebastian, Stella and Luna, Augustus and Melissa's three offspring who had been adolescent and young pups back then, but the hulking flying fox had slashed his foot claws over the left side of Triton's face, damaging his eye in the process. That tragic and horrific incident had left the poor hyacinth macaw with the left half of his face streaked with scars and blind in his left eye. Though those scars had faded to nothing more than thin streaks and Triton was able to conceal much of the unsightly damage on his left facial side with a leafy bandana given to him by Frodo, the Cuban red friend of his and the rest of Carla, Bia and Tiago's circle which also included Sebastian, Stella, Luna and several other young flying foxes, the bandana being large enough to completely conceal his damaged and clouded left eye, the scars running down his cheek were still visible and that had become the subject of mockery by his ex and her friends. Since her breakup with him, Penelope had become bratty and hostile towards Triton and together with her friends, kept calling him 'Cicatriz-bird' and 'Scarface', much to the outrage of Triton's friends, family and the majority of everyone else, especially Augustus and Melissa since 'Cicatriz' was now a forbidden word. It was as though Penelope had become the hyacinth version of Mertle the Spix macaw, Jewel's former rival who kept picking on Jewel and jealously scorning her when she was alive, her daughter Aguamarina being no different, especially with certain macaws like Bia for her scientific interests. However, those two macaws, together with their friends, had perished during the Great Battle. All that was left of Mertle's family was Aguamarina's young chick, now Blu and Jewel's adopted son named Eduardo or Eddie to avoid confusion with Jewel's father. He, together with Luke and Linda, the two younger siblings of Carla, Bia and Tiago and Blu and Jewel's second-brood offspring, were now pre-adolescent chicks.

"It was indeed a sad loss for Triton, I can tell you," said Melissa, "In fact; the incident still makes me shudder even now. But I'm glad he's adapted to life with one eye and has found a female hyacinth macaw in the city of Rio. How did she meet Neptune and his family again?"

"She was rescued by Broccoli, Daisy and Inky, a dog friend of theirs, from a stall three years ago," said Zephyr, "According to Travis; those three had found a caged young hyacinth macaw on the stall who was in bad shape. She was half-starved, stuffed into a cramped cage and was being mistreated by her owners who seemed to use her as some sort of tourist attraction device to earn money for themselves. However, Broccoli, Daisy and Inky managed to rescue her, free her and nurse her back to health."

"And because she didn't have a name," said Blu, "Broccoli named her Iris, after the genus of flowers from the Northern Hemisphere based on her unusual violet-coloured plumage and her three-symmetry crest resembling the flower. She is now Triton's girlfriend."

"I'm so glad to hear that," said Melissa with a smile, "at least Triton has a new girlfriend now to replace Penelope after she had abandoned him."

The others nodded in agreement while Augustus continued staring happily at the activities happening in the ravine. However, that was about to be shattered when suddenly, shouts exploded through the air, travelling to Blu and the others and alerting them.

"Mom, Dad, Aunt Venus, Uncle Zephyr, Mr Augustus!" cried a chick's voice. At this, the four Spix macaws, two scarlet macaws and two flying foxes snapped their gazes in the direction of the shouter.

"Luke, Linda, Eddie," shouted Blu as the three young Spix macaws, two males and a female, rushed in. Luke bore a striking resemblance to Blu and had his brown eyes. However, he was cerulean like his mother Jewel while Linda was like an inverse to Luke: she resembled Jewel to a great extent, complete with her teal eyes but was dark blue like her father. Eddie had grown into a pretty young lad with lush blue plumage and lime green eyes. He had similar features to his deceased biological mother Aguamarina but did not share her bratty attitude. Rather, he was playful and at times a little mischievous. As the trio of young macaws touched down, their eyes gazing at Blu's group with a flood of excitement, a young adult scarlet macaw hovered behind them, the look of excitement mirrored on her face. She had grown into a beautiful scarlet macaw and bore a strong resemblance to Ruby, complete with her flower-like bun on her crown, but her wing flight feathers and parts of her tail were teal like Jupiter's, rather than blue like Ruby's.

"Oh, there you are, Uncles Blu and Zephyr, Aunts Jewel and Venus, Mom, Dad, Augustus and Melissa," said she, "We've been looking everywhere for you. My mate Sheldon and our daughters Betelgeuse and Rigel are searching for Uncle Mars, Aunt Chiquitita, Eduardo and Luna."

"What's going on, Io?" asked Augustus. At this, Luke, Linda and Eddie jumped up and down.

"New babies," cried Linda excitedly.

"Uncle Tiago and Aunt Matilda's eggs are hatching," added Luke.

"While Missus Stella's pup is being born," shouted Eddie. This sent a massive wave of excitement surging through Blu and his group and they exchanged glances.

"Sounds like your third grand-pup is on its way to birth, Augustus and Melissa," said Jupiter.

"As are Zephyr and Venus's ninth and tenth grand-chicks as well as Blu and Jewel's seventh and eighth," said Ruby with a smile at the Spix macaws.

"Take us there!" shouted Augustus with excited urgency. Luke, Linda, Eddie and Io nodded and took off. Jupiter, Ruby, Blu, Jewel, Zephyr and Venus lofted into flight while Augustus, being a flying fox, leaped off the clifftop and spread his basalt black wings to catch the air before following the birds, for bats needed to drop into the air to enter flight. Melissa did the same but took off in another direction.

"I'll help Io's mate and daughters find my other daughter Luna," she called as she flew off. Her mate and bird friends waved to her as they rocketed off after Luke, Linda, Io and Eddie.

Just outside the ravine, Sebastian was on an outing with Mimas and Ganymede and their four chicks who they have named Cytosine, Thymine, Adenine and Guanine, after the four bases in DNA. Accompanying Sebastian was a beautiful brown female flying fox named Anabelle. She had a slender build and had pale grey eyes. Clasping to her breast was a young flying fox, her and Sebastian's son Ferdinand while another young flying fox, a pre-adolescent female named Acerola and the daughter of Sebastian and Anabelle, hovered nearby. Though Ferdinand was old enough to fly, he still stayed clutching his mother's breast while Acerola was old enough to go by herself. Mimas and Ganymede's sons, Adenine and Cytosine and daughters Guanine and Thymine were hybrid macaws for their mother was a blue-and-gold macaw and their father was a scarlet macaw. They appeared almost identical but their eye colours were distinct: Adenine, the eldest, had ocean blue eyes, likely passed down from Mimas's side of the family for her brothers Iapetus, Hyperion and Gordon all had blue eyes; Guanine who was the second oldest had beige eyes like her mother Mimas; Cytosine, the third oldest had brown eyes like his father Ganymede while Thymine, the youngest of the four hybrid chicks, known as Catalina chicks due to their heritage (scarlet/blue-and-gold cross), had blue eyes like her older brother Adenine but of a lighter shade. All four macaws were incredibly colourful, their plumages a rainbow of colours. Their fronts were a rich fiery orange-red while their backs were a mix of pale greens, sea green, cyan and blue, especially at the wingtips.

Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine and Thymine were not the only hybrid macaws to be born to parents of differing species. Several other couples part of Carla, Bia and Tiago's close friend circle were also mixed species, another example being the pairing of Tethys, one of Mimas's sisters, with Oberon, a great green macaw and Uranus and Esmeralda's only first-brood son. Sebastian continued to admire the rainbow plumage of Ganymede and Mimas's four chicks.

"I often find it hard to believe that when different species of macaws like you two have chicks," said he, "could result in offspring with rather interesting and unusual traits, like what these four have."

"They don't look like any species of macaw we have ever come across," said Anabelle as she carried Ferdinand on her breast.

"They look like flying rainbows," squeaked Acerola in fascination.

"Oh, its genetics, Sebastian and Anabelle," said Ganymede as he lovingly held Guanine and Adenine while Mimas held Cytosine and Thymine, "It's called hybridisation."

"Mira, Enceladus and Trixie's daughter, is a cross between a blue-and-gold macaw and a hyacinth macaw based on her heritage," said Mimas, "She's called a Caloshua macaw."

"All these names for hybrid birds and the genetics behind them are making my brain cringe," muttered Sebastian, his eyes closed and his head shaking, "I also find it hard to believe how you could understand that complicated topic."

"Oh, it's because we've lived in a human city," said Mimas, her sparkling gaze on her scarlet mate, "Ganymede, along with Bia, have been reading a lot of science books during our time there."

"I would love to visit Rio," said Anabelle.

"Yeah, we've never visited a human city before," said Sebastian before his reddish eyes, a trait of his albinism, travelled to Ferdinand and then to Acerola, "And I'm sure our son and daughter would love to meet your human friends."

At this, Ferdinand slowly turned his head and gazed at Ganymede and his mixed family with his cute, pale blue eyes, much to the captivated smiles of the macaws. Then Acerola flitted excitedly.

"What is Rio like?" she asked.

"You'll see when we go, little one," said Mimas as she held Cytosine and Thymine. Just then, the sounds of flapping wings alerted the group.

"Sounds like Dad," said Sebastian. With that, the group turned to see Augustus fly towards them with Blu, Jewel, Zephyr, Venus, Jupiter and Ruby close behind him and Luke, Linda, Eddie and Io at the front. Seeing his sister and parents, along with the seven Spix macaws and two flying foxes, in such a hurry, Ganymede flew over to the group to ask the reason for their rush.

"Hey, Io, Augustus, guys," he called, "What's all the hurry?"

"More babies on the way?" asked Sebastian. At this, Acerola squeaked in excitement while Anabelle and Ferdinand smiled.

"Yes," shouted Io excitedly, "You're about to become an uncle, Sebastian."

"While your son and daughter are about to have a cousin," added Ruby.

"In addition to that, we are about to have two new additions to our families," said Zephyr excitedly. Sebastian, Anabelle, Acerola, Ganymede and Mimas exchanged glances and gazed back at the group as they hurried on.

"Let's go," said Sebastian as a wave of excitement took hold. At this, Ganymede and Mimas seized their sons and daughters and dashed off after Blu's group, Sebastian, his mate with their son on her breast, and their older daughter, promptly following.

Soon, word had reached the ears of the rest of Blu and Jewel's friends, among them Mercury, Mars, Saturn, Uranus, Ceres, Pluto and their families and friends and within moments, they were on their way to the hollow in which Tiago and Matilda, and also Stella and her mate, a handsome golden orange bat named Soren, were staying. While the excitement fuelled those birds and flying foxes towards a specific location, in a certain hollow bordered by flowers and trees, the sounds of a newly born baby bat crying and squeaking emanated from the entrance. Inside, Stella was cradling a bundle of fur and membranous wings in her large, grey-white wings. Her mate Soren looked on at his new pup proudly while around the new parents, two flying foxes, both female and who had helped Stella give birth to the pup, smiled.

"Congratulations, Stella," said one of them, "It's a boy."

"So we have a son?" said Soren with pride sparkling in his gaze and speech. The two assistant flying foxes nodded. Stella continued gently rocking her newborn son in her wings. The baby flying fox who had some hair on his body, opened his big, cute eyes, cute squeaks still emitting through his mouth. Unlike most birds which hatched from eggs and were born naked, flying foxes, being mammals, gave birth to live young and the babies, called pups, were born with fur. The pup resting in Stella's wings had pale yellow fur, similar to Soren but brighter and his eyes were a shade of blue but that may change as he grew older. Soren then raised a basalt black wing and lovingly and gently stroked his son's cheek while his other wing was draped around Stella's shoulders.

"He's so cute," he crooned.

"Yep," said Stella, "He looks a lot like you."

Soren smiled. Just then the group of flying foxes heard the sounds of excited macaw squawks in a nearby hollow.

"Oh, Tiago, the first egg's developing cracks!"

"Oh, right!"

Stella smiled as she continued cradling her newborn son.

"Sounds like Tiago and Matilda's chicks are being born," she said. Soren then left to check on the imminent parents-to-be. Soren was one of Tiago's close friends and like Tiago, he at times like the occasional pranks. At one point, when he was an adolescent and dating Stella, he had made Augustus and Melissa jump by shouting 'Boo!' at the top of his lungs and made Melissa toss her coconut shell filled with coconut juice into the air, some of it splashing all over her mate, much to Soren's amusement. Though Augustus and Melissa had not been very impressed, Soren had fled before the two adult flying foxes could spot him. However, his pranking days had pretty much reduced as he matured, especially now that he had become a father.

In the next hollow, Tiago and Matilda stood over their nest constructed with twigs and downy blue feathers. Two orbs lay in the middle of the pile and the shell of one of them had formed cracks which continued to grow. Matilda stood leaning on Tiago's shoulder, Tiago with his wing draped over her back. As the first egg continued to hatch, an orange furry form appeared at the entrance.

"Your eggs hatching, Tiago?" asked Soren.

"Yes," said Tiago and with that, he showed Soren the egg as a hole formed in the top. Soren smiled as the cracks in the white orb continued to grow until finally, the shell split into two halves and out popped a naked, newborn chick. Matilda scooped up the newborn in her wings.

"I often forget that macaw babies are born featherless," said Soren.

"Oh, yeah, they are," said Tiago as he admired his new chick, "Their feathers don't develop until later."

"What's the sex of your pup, Soren?" asked Matilda.

"It's a boy," said Soren, "What's the sex of your first chick?"

Matilda gazed at the chick and smiled.

"It's a girl," she said.

"Oh, you've got a daughter?" said Soren excitedly. Just then, the sounds of flapping wings reached the ears of the group. Soren flashed a glance to the source.

"Oh, sounds like our families and friends are arriving," he said, "I'd better return to Stella's side."

And with that, he left the hollow; moments before Tiago and Matilda's other egg had begun to hatch.

 **Sometime later**

The two hollows were decorated by a colourful crowd of feathers and drabber fur and membranous wings. Augustus, Melissa, and Sebastian, Anabelle, Acerola and Ferdinand, and Luna stood around Stella as she continued cradling her son, Soren draping her with his wing. Augustus and Melissa admired their new grandson while Acerola and Ferdinand smiled at their cousin. The cute baby bat opened his eyes and gazed at his relatives in wonder. At the entrance to the hollow, several birds, among them Jupiter, Ruby, Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto and their mates and chicks, looked on in admiration. Cytosine, Guanine, Adenine and Thymine clambered all over Ganymede and Mimas while Io and Sheldon's chicks, Betelgeuse and Rigel, squirmed in their mother's wings, eyes fixed on the pup in Stella's wings. Byron and Europa stood holding their chicks, named Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka while Athos and Callisto held their chicks, Canopus and Katniss as they smiled at the new parents. Amalthea and Oliver, who were now pre-adolescent chicks, also stood with their older siblings, nephews, nieces, and parents, admiring eyes on the cute pup in Stella's wings. In Matilda and Tiago's hollow, Blu, Jewel, Zephyr, Venus, Eduardo, Mimi and the rest of their family and extended family and friends stood around Tiago and Matilda as the two cradled their chicks, a daughter and a son, or at the entrance to the hollow. Carla and Justin with their daughters, Sonia, Spica and Melody, and Bia and Virgil with their sons Sirius, Einstein and Miles were also there, as were Roberto and Brisa, and Charlotte, her mate Músculo, son Jason and daughter Petunia, Jojo, his mate Kira and chicks Vega and Winona, Felix, his mate Turquesa and chicks Jason and Diego, and Lavender, her mate Garrett and chicks Deneb, Lilac and Polaris, and also the younger siblings of Carla, Justin, Jojo and their siblings, Luke, Linda, Eddie, Azurite, Aquamarine, Ophelia and Chilro who smiled in admiration at their new nephews and nieces. At the entrance, the friends, among them Uranus and his family, also admired the two new chicks. Bia and Virgil then lifted Sirius, Einstein and Miles, who were only very young chicks with barely indistinguishable features at the moment, to enable them to see their two new cousins while Blu, Jewel, Zephyr and Venus admired their new granddaughter and grandson, while Eduardo and Mimi smiled at their new additions to their extended family.

"What are you going to call them, Tiago and Matilda?" asked Jewel. Tiago smiled at his son.

"I think I'll call our son… Bartholomew," he said, "I always liked that name."

"And I will name our daughter Bellatrix," said Matilda, "After the star in the constellation Orion. After all, so many of our friends have named their chicks after stars and secondly, that has been one of my favourite names."

Bia, Virgil, Carla and Justin smiled for one of their sons and daughters was named Sirius and Spica respectively.

"Sounds like an excellent idea," said Zephyr.

"Yeah, I like that name as well," said Venus. At the entrance to the hollow, Venus's sister, Izzy, together with her mate Phoebus and son Erico, smiled.

"They're such sweet names," said Izzy. Tiago and Matilda then looked up at the group.

"What has Stella and Soren named their pup?" asked Matilda. In the other hollow, Stella and Soren had already picked a name for their son. Stella had chosen a name from a certain plant based on her son's pelage colour.

"He is to be called Sandalwood," she said, "I've always liked the name of that tree."

"That sounds like an excellent idea, my daughter," said Augustus.

"Yes," said Melissa in agreement. The young bat pup, now named Sandalwood, continued whimpering and blinking his bulbous eyes.

"Too bad Neptune and his family are missing out on all of this," said Uranus sadly as Esmeralda, Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania and Oberon and their families and friends stood around him.

"They have only been present to witness the hatching of Benjamin and Umbriel's chicks," said Esmeralda and with that, she gazed at the scarlet/great green couple as they cradled their three hybrid chicks. Benjamin and Umbriel just smiled.

"We can always tell them over the phone," said Umbriel.

"The phone, of course," said Uranus. "I keep forgetting about that."

Next to him, Saturn placed an amused wing on his shoulder.

"We certainly have become grandparents, haven't we, Uranus?" he said.

"I think I'm feeling a bit old," said Esmeralda.

"Hey, you still look as vibrant and as youthful as any young great green macaw," said Augustus. With that, laughs rolled through the group.

"Well, that vibrancy is not gonna last," said Uranus which was followed by a few more laughs. Then the group returned to admiring Stella and Soren's son Sandalwood until it was finally time to leave.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2- usual activities… and a pitfall**

 **Several months later**

The Spix tribe's ravine was alive with the activities of its inhabitants and visitors as usual. Adult birds were preparing for foraging or patrol trips out or were chatting with visitors and friends and kids and adolescents played. Several flying foxes from Augustus's clan also continued to visit while young adult birds and bats went out with friends or on dates. In one part of the ravine, Blu, Jewel, Roberto and Brisa were setting up patrol groups to send out while Zephyr, Venus, Cassia and Nuvem, together with Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Ceres, Pluto and their respective mates Sapphire, Chiquitita, Ruby, Orquidea, Esmeralda, Cobalto and Lapis Lazuli helped their offspring to keep watch over their grandkids, many of which were surfing on the lilypads with some other chicks and bat pups. Not too far away, Augustus was discussing updates on the news of the sanctuary with Felipe, Alonso, Andromeda and some of the other leaders of the other bird tribes, clans and smaller groups while Melissa watched over Sebastian, Anabelle, Stella, Soren and Luna as they kept an eye on their bat pups.

Carla and Justin stood on a rock, watching their daughters, Sonia, Spica and Melody, as they charged at one of the lilypads with Bia and Virgil, Tiago and Matilda's chicks, Sirius, Einstein, Miles, Bellatrix and Bartholomew and then surf on them. Bia, Virgil, Tiago and Matilda were talking about a few things not too far away from Justin and Carla.

"Whoa, careful, Sirius," called Justin as one of the chicks, Sirius, almost lost his balance and fell off the lilypad. With the help of his brothers and cousins, Sirius managed to regain his balance before laughs rolled through the group. Bia and Virgil shot proud glances at the sons and nephews and nieces.

Sonia, the oldest daughter of Carla and Justin, strongly resembled her mother when she was young. Like Carla, she had a chubby build and green eyes, but her feathers were a dark blue like her father Justin. Her crest was a sheet of feathers atop her head, similar to Justin's head feathers and also her paternal grandfather Zephyr's. Her facial markings were a blue-white patch around each eye, like Blu, her maternal grandfather. She had an elaborate singing voice which she had inherited from her parents and was elegant, mature and assertive like how her mother had been when she had been a chick. Spica was slimmer than Sonia and had azure blue feathers. She resembled Justin more than she did Carla and had his amber eyes. However, her crest was like that of Jewel and Bia's with a flick at the end of her head feathers. She had the same facial markings as Sonia: a patch around each eye. To the surprise of Carla and Justin, Spica was more into science than singing, much like her maternal grandfather Blu. Melody, Justin and Carla's youngest daughter, was also slim. She looked a lot like Zephyr, her paternal grandfather and her father Justin. Her head was mostly blue-white and she sported a short tuft of feathers above the beak. Her eyes were lime green and the rest of her plumage was cerulean like Carla's but the shade darkened towards her back. Like her parents and sister, Melody was a musical chick and liked music from the seventies and eighties much like Justin.

Bia and Virgil's sons, Sirius, Einstein and Miles, bore a resemblance to their cousins as well as their parents. The oldest son, Sirius, resembled a male version of Bia. He had a slender build, brown eyes and a crest like Bia but he bore spec-like facial markings like his father Virgil. His feathers were electric blue but had an unusual white tint to them, making them appear brighter. Like Bia who sometimes held her tail in the air when on the ground when she was a chick, Sirius often held his tail in the air as well. He was the most musical of the brothers and liked singing, which he had likely inherited from his aunt Carla through Bia. Einstein resembled Virgil more than he did Bia. Like Virgil and Sirius, he had spec-like facial markings and his eyes were a shade of blue-green like his father's. His plumage was dark blue which was unusual since his brothers and parents had lighter blue colours but it was likely due to genetics. He had a feather ruffle behind his head also like Virgil and had a stocky build. Therefore, he showed little inheritance from Bia. Einstein was the nerd bird of the brothers and was in more ways than one like his mother and maternal grandfather and also like his cousin Spica. Miles, the youngest son, was cerulean like Bia and had a blue-white head. His crest was a tuft of feathers above his beak and his eyes were hazel. He bore a slender build like Bia and also like her was very nerdy but he was more into making things than just calculations and scientific facts like his brother Einstein. Miles resembled a male version of his great-aunt Brisa because of his features. Einstein had been named after the famous human physicist while Miles had been named after a famous two-tailed fox character from the blue hedgehog franchise for they had both been Virgil and Bia's favourite names, and the fox character a favourite of Bia's because of his interest in inventing things.

Tiago and Matilda's two chicks, older daughter Bellatrix and younger son Bartholomew, were the youngest of Blu and Jewel's grand-chicks, having been born a few months ago. Bellatrix bore a strong resemblance to Matilda and like her mother and also her maternal grandmother Venus; she sported the unusual double pigtail crest and had a slender build. Bellatrix's eyes were a shade of hazel like Tiago's and she had separate eye patches with a band over the top of her beak like Carla and Bia. However, her plumage was lush blue like Blu and Tiago and she also had flecks of downy feathers on her neck and upper chest, like what Tiago had as a chick. Bellatrix was somewhat mischievous but she took more after Carla in assertiveness and maturity and also Bia in her interests in science, especially maths and birds. She was basically like Carla, Bia and Tiago all merged together. Bartholomew, Bellatrix's younger brother, was also blue coloured and bore a strong resemblance to Tiago, complete with his crest and slender build. He practically looked like a spitting image of Tiago when he had been a chick but he had Matilda's green eyes. He was more into practical jokes like his parents but he was also musical.

Sonia, Spica and Melody, Sirius, Einstein and Miles, and Bellatrix and Bartholomew were double cousins of each other. Since Carla, Bia and Tiago were siblings of one brood, coupled with their respective mates Justin, Virgil and Matilda who were also siblings of another brood, the chicks were doubly related to each other through both their parents. However, the eight had two additional cousins, Charlotte and Músculo's son named Jason and daughter named Petunia **.** Jason was a spitting image of his father and was burly like him but he had Charlotte's cerulean feathers, blue-white head and chartreuse eyes. His crest was a small flick of feathers behind his head. Petunia was slimmer and had inherited Charlotte's tuft above her beak and her blue-white head. Her eyes were lime green and she had azure blue feathers.

Because Músculo was not related to Carla, Bia or Tiago while Charlotte is the sister of Justin, Matilda and Virgil, Jason and Petunia were simply the cousins of Sonia and her sisters and five cousins. They did not share many interests of his eight cousins but they both did like dancing.

Sonia, Spica and Melody, Sirius, Einstein and Miles, and Bellatrix and Bartholomew, together with Jason, Petunia and Cytosine, Guanine, Adenine and Thymine, the Catalina offspring of Ganymede and his blue-and-gold mate Mimas, left the lilypads and touched down onto the sand next to the shore of the ravine pool. They were going to have a discussion of how the next wave of surfing was to go. Spica then took a stick and began to draw out the plans in the dirt like how her aunt Bia and grandfather Blu did. As she did that, Sandalwood, Stella and Soren's son and his two cousins and the pups of Sebastian and Anabelle, Acerola and Ferdinand, joined the group.

"Okay, here's how we're going to launch ourselves onto the lilypads," said Spica, scribbling the tip of the stick in the dirt, "Since there are sixteen of us, we will divide ourselves into four groups of four since four times four or four squared is sixteen…"

The others listened intently as Spica continued drawing the diagram consisting of waves to represent the ravine pool, simple circles to represent the lilypads and stick-birds or stick-bats to represent herself and her sisters, cousins and friends. She drew fifteen of these figures, arranged in a four-by-four square.

"Sonia, Melody, Petunia and I will go first," said Spica, drawing a line between the first and second rows of stick figures, "While Sirius, Einstein, Jason and Miles will be in the second group."

"Okay," said Sirius.

"Sounds good," said Sonia excitedly. Bellatrix, however, looked a little sour.

"Hey, why don't I go in the first group?" she muttered.

"You're going to be in group four with Bartholomew, Acerola and Sandalwood," said Spica. Bellatrix just rolled her eyes and joined Sandalwood's side. Sandalwood just shrugged and continued watching Spica divide the group in the sand.

Sandalwood and his cousins, Acerola and Ferdinand, were pretty young pups with glossy fur and sleek black membranous wings. They showed no inheritance from their albino parents, Sebastian and his sister Stella for they had inherited the normal pigment genes from their other parents, Anabelle and Soren. Most of Sandalwood's fur was a pale amber colour and his eyes were a shade of green. He bore a strong resemblance to his father Soren and was a rather shy pup. Acerola and Ferdinand, meanwhile, were both brown furred pups though Acerola was more unburn than Ferdinand with a reddish tint to her fur and had a white patch on her chest whereas her brother Ferdinand had no chest markings at all. Acerola had blue eyes while Ferdinand had brown eyes. These two pups were outgoing and adventurous quite unlike their shier cousin Sandalwood. Ganymede and Mimas's chicks, Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine and Thymine, who had grown up with the other chicks and pups, now had their distinguishing features visible. All four siblings bore fiery orange-red fronts and facial markings while their back plumages were a colourful combination of greens, cyans and light blues with their wing and tail flight feathers being mostly blue but Adenine and Cytosine's feathers were darker than Guanine and Thymine's feathers which were azure. There were hints of a black beard-like mark on all four's throats, a feature they had inherited from Mimas.

Adenine and Guanine were taller than their younger siblings with Adenine showing signs of a burly build which he had inherited from Ganymede. His eyes were the same shade of ocean blue and his crest was a feather ruffle like his father's. Guanine was stocky and had Mimas's crest which was a small tuft above her beak, coloured orange-red like her front but she also had Ganymede's feather ruffle. Her eyes were the same beige colour. Cytosine was slim and had brown eyes like his father Ganymede but unusually, he bore a striking resemblance to one of his maternal uncles Iapetus save for his lack of stocky build. Like Iapetus who had a sheet of green feathers extending over his crown, Cytosine had a sheet of feathers running over his crown as well but the feathers were orange-red instead of green. He did not have a feather ruffle unlike his older brother and sister. Thymine was also slim and her eyes were the same light blue as before. However, unlike her siblings, her crest was a flower-like bun atop her head, like that of her paternal grandmother Ruby. The feathers started out orange-red at the base but faded to sea-green towards the tips. Thymine had no other head features.

Then as soon as Spica had finished dividing the group of sixteen as demonstrated in her diagram, she said, "And that's how we are going to do it."

The other chicks and three pups all cheered. Then the group stretched out their wings and placed them in the centre in a stack in an agreement. After they had raised their wings after completing the team wing-stack, the ten Spix macaws, three flying fox pups and four Catalina chicks took off for the waterfall. As Sonia and company left for the waterfall for the three-by-three launch, Vega and Winona, the daughters of Jojo and Kira, together with Austin and Diego, Felix and Turquesa's sons and Deneb, Lilac and Polaris, the three chicks of Lavender and Garrett, were having a lesson on the Great Battle with Falkor, the military/hyacinth macaw hybrid, also known as a milicinth macaw. With these seven were Adenine and his siblings' cousins, Betelgeuse and Rigel (Io and Sheldon's daughters), Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka (the offspring of Europa and Byron) and Canopus and Katniss (Callisto and Athos's son and daughter).

Vega and Winona both bore a strong resemblance to their father Jojo and paternal grandfather Roberto. Both had the mop-like head feathers like those two macaws but Vega's feathers were longer than Winona's, reaching down as far as her shoulders. Both had a stocky build. Vega was a beautiful cerulean macaw while Winona was a darker blue, like Jojo and Kira. Both had blue eyes but Winona's eyes were darker than Vega's, which was unusual considering the fact that their mother Kira had chocolate brown eyes. The two sisters strongly resembled each other than their plumage colours but their facial markings were different. Winona's facial markings were like that of Roberto while Vega's facial markings were a separate patch around each eye bordered by a dark band enclosing the patches, very much like Kira and her uncle Blu. Winona also sported a short flick of feathers at the base of her neck, also like Blu and Kira but Vega lacked this feature completely.

Felix and Turquesa's sons, Austin and Diego, were both unusually coloured chicks with a teal tint to their cerulean feathers but Diego was more sea-green than Austin, who was more turquoise, his teal tint fainter than his brother's. Austin bore a striking resemblance to Felix but had only one layer of Roberto-like head feathers rather than three. The head feathers faded to cerulean towards the tips. He had a stocky build and ocean blue eyes like his father Felix and had a separate patch around each eye. Diego was sea-green with rather faint facial markings like his mother Turquesa. He sported a sheet of feathers also like Turquesa and his eyes were caramel brown, again like his mother and his maternal grandfather Maximillian and he also had a slim build.

Deneb, Lilac and Polaris, the daughters of Lavender and Garrett, were quite a colourful brood. Deneb was electric blue; Lilac was pale periwinkle or blue-purple like Lavender while Polaris was azure blue like her father Garrett who was also azure blue with teal eyes. Deneb and Lilac had inherited Lavender's ponytail and forehead tuft, with Lilac's being larger than Deneb's while Polaris's crest was nothing more than a small tuft of feathers above her beak and nothing else, for Garrett did not have much of a crest except a stubby flick atop his head. All three had separate eye patches much like Garrett and their eyes were either a shade of teal or periwinkle, correlating with the colours of their parents' eyes. Deneb had pale lilac eyes; Lilac had cerulean eyes while Polaris's eyes were cyan. Two of the sisters were slender while Polaris was stocky. Roberto and Brisa's seven grandkids had all inherited their parents' elaborate singing voice and were all talented singers and dancers and they also all looked pretty and handsome like Roberto and his first three offspring though the chicks might have other traits too that have yet to manifest.

Vega, Winona, Austin, Diego, Deneb, Lilac and Polaris, together with their red macaw friends, continued listening intently to Falkor as he told them a story about a certain flying fox who had helped protect countless birds from the flying fox colony at the cost of her own life. Falkor was showing the chicks a certain seedling planted in that bat's honour and that seedling had grown into a beautiful mini-bush with beautiful yellow flowers. Whenever the body of someone was unable to be found, a plant was planted in their memory and their name carved into the list of deceased tribe or clan members but outsiders' names could also be carved into the list too. Lily's name had been carved into the Spix tribe's list of deceased tribe members in her memory.

"… so can any of you tell me what sort of birds Lily had helped to save?" asked Falkor. Wings shot into the air and Falkor chose Vega to answer the question.

"Cuban red macaws and Dominican green-and-yellow macaws?" asked she.

"That is correct, Vega," said Falkor, "Those two species that originated from Central America were amongst many other species that Melissa's cousin had helped to save."

"Grandpa also told me that he had once met that flying fox after escaping a rushing stream years ago," squeaked Rigel, one of the red macaws.

Rigel and her older sister Betelgeuse, as well as their cousins Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka (the offspring of Europa and Byron) and Canopus and Katniss (the son and daughter of scarlet macaw Callisto and green-winged macaw Athos), unlike Adenine and his siblings, were all red macaws. However, Betelgeuse and Rigel were three-quarter scarlet, one-quarter green-winged macaws for their mother Io was a pure scarlet and their father Sheldon was a scarlet/green-winged hybrid. Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka were pure scarlet macaws for both their parents were pure scarlets while Canopus and Katniss were half scarlet, half green-winged due to their father Athos being a green-winged macaw and their mother Callisto being a scarlet macaw. All seven macaws had red plumage, though Katniss had vermillion feathers much like her grandfather Jupiter and mother Callisto while the other six had blood red plumage like their grandmother Ruby, and either blue, turquoise or teal in their wing flight feathers and tails. Betelgeuse and Rigel's wing and tail feathers were turquoise while Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka's feathers were teal and Canopus and Katniss's feathers were azure. The contours, which were normally yellow in scarlet macaws and green in green-winged macaws, also varied somewhat. Canopus and Katniss both had pure sulfur yellow contours like every other scarlet macaw but Betelgeuse and Rigel both had yellow and green in their contours, which they got from Sheldon, with Betelgeuse's green band being more obvious than Rigel's. Canopus and Katniss also had green and yellow in their contours but they also had some orange thrown in as well, similar to Sheldon.

The seven macaws had differing eye colours, build and crests however. Both Betelgeuse and Rigel had a ponytail atop their heads with the former's resembling a pineapple stalk and the latter's being shorter. Betelgeuse's crest feathers were expressive like Roberto's head feathers and those of some of his relatives. Whenever Betelgeuse got angry, scared or surprised, her crest would suddenly spike out. This feature was not as obvious in Rigel for her feathers were shorter. The two sisters seemed to have inherited the trait from their grandmother Ruby. Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka all had a sheet of head feathers running over their crown similar to their grandfather Jupiter though Mintaka's crest was longer than her two brothers'. Canopus had a feather ruffle while Katniss had a rather unique crest: they were one set of head feathers pointing upward and another set pointing downward below the first set. This arrangement gave Katniss the appearance of having an arrowhead on her head, earning the macaw her name after the arrowhead plant. This crest was rather unique much like the pigtails in Venus's family line and Roberto and his line's mop-like head feathers. Betelgeuse and Rigel had a slender build as did Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka and Katniss but Canopus was stocky. Betelgeuse had amber eyes like her mother Io, Rigel had blue eyes like Sheldon, Alnitak had dark blue eyes, Alnilam had azure eyes, Mintaka had pale blue eyes, their eye colour having being passed onto them by Europa who had blue eyes, and Canopus had chocolate brown eyes, which he got from Callisto while Katniss had auburn eyes like her father Athos.

Falkor then answered Rigel's question on Jupiter's meeting of Lily.

"Yes, that is true," said he, "It was the only time Jupiter had ever met Lily even though it was brief."

"Where's Miss Lily now?" asked Betelgeuse.

"She's now deceased," said Falkor sadly, "She laid her life down to save those birds from the colony flying foxes when her hiding place was discovered but her friends, Marcus and Ana and several other bird-allied flying foxes helped those birds to escape while Lily held off the spies."

"How did she die?" asked Alnitak.

"I'm afraid you're too young to know about that at the moment," said Falkor gently.

"Why?" asked Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka together.

"Well, it's something that is not appropriate for chicks and pups to know about until they are older," said Falkor, "But all I want you to know is that Lily laid her life down to protect those birds. How she died, we'll get to that when you're more mature to understand."

Betelgeuse, Rigel, their cousins and Vega, Winona, Austin, Diego, Deneb, Lilac and Polaris all accepted Falkor's statement. Nearby, Io, Europa, Callisto and their mates Sheldon, Byron and Athos proudly watched their chicks as they continued having their lesson with Falkor with Roberto and Brisa's grand-chicks. Io smiled at her daughters Betelgeuse and Rigel. She could practically see herself and Sheldon in those two macaws, especially Betelgeuse for she resembled her mother in more ways than one. Her amber eyes, slender build and the ponytail atop her head reminded Io of herself. Betelgeuse had also inherited her mother's occasional short temper while Rigel was shier and quieter, like Sheldon sometimes was.

"I'm surprised that those two daughters resemble half scarlet, half-green-winged macaws despite their heritage," said Athos, bringing Io's attention to him, "I would have thought they'd resemble scarlet macaws more than the hybrid 'ruby' macaws unlike my offspring Canopus and Katniss."

"According to Ganymede," said Sheldon, "It is the male who has the dominant genetic influence on the offspring so it must be due to that."

"How interesting," said Athos as he examined Io and Sheldon's daughters. Just then Jojo, Felix, Lavender and their mates Kira, Turquesa and Garrett came by to check on their offspring as well but they also had something else on mind.

"Hey, red buddies," said Jojo, attracting the attention of the red macaws, "We've just heard from our parents, our mother Brisa and father Roberto that we will be taking our kids to Rio next week."

"Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Ceres and Pluto and their families, together with Blu, Jewel, Roberto, Brisa and also Augustus, Melissa and their three children and three grand-pups and in-laws will be coming with us," said Kira, "Apart from a few such as Phoebe and Jasmine who will be staying behind to look after the second brood siblings like Oliver, Amalthea and Gabrielle, Jupiter and Mars's second brood son and daughters."

"But Spyro, his mate Marella and kids Altair and Bambi and some others will be coming with us," added Felix.

"But who will look after the leadership roles while we're away?" asked Io.

"The inner circle birds and bats will," said Garrett before his eyes rested on Turquesa who stood with Felix. "Maximillian, along with Eduardo and Mimi, will help look after the leadership role of the Spix macaw tribe for example, while Blu and Jewel are away with us."

"That sounds awesome," said Athos excitedly, "I would love to see Rio," he then turned to Callisto, "And see my mate's birthplace."

"I would love to meet your mammalian friends," said Byron, "Especially those two unusual cats named Broccoli and Daisy."

"What about their parents, though?" asked Sheldon.

"You mean those two cats' father Veggie?" asked Io. Sheldon nodded.

"I'm afraid he's deceased," said Europa sadly, "He passed away from old age last year. However, Dash and Ginger should still be around."

"We would love to meet Dad's old friend and rescuer," said Lavender. Felix and Jojo nodded in agreement. The group of red and Spix macaws then all tittered.

"Oh, did you guys hear the news about the sanctuary?" asked Jojo. The red macaws gazed at him.

"It's been expanded," said Felix, "And the security has been tightened so that the chances of poachers entering the reserve are slim."

"The animal hospital is also doing well," said Lavender, "Mom and Dad told us after Augustus told them of the updates he had been discussing with Alonso, Felipe, Andromeda and some of the other leaders."

"Well that's good news," said Io.

"We vividly remember that group of poachers who managed to sneak into the sanctuary under the guise of bird studiers when we were chicks," muttered Europa, "But at least we've not had any more of that security breach from pesky poachers like them now that security has tightened…"

The others nodded in agreement. Jojo, Felix and Lavender, who hadn't been born during the events of Lysandre and his group's intrusion into the Sanctuary de Amazon, had been told all about it so they knew about those events. Then the group of red and Spix macaws turned to watch their chicks as they continued talking with Falkor about Lily's life.

 **Rio**

The city of Rio, much like the Sanctuary de Amazon, also hadn't changed much over the past three years though some of the technology had advanced. People went about their daily business with parents taking their kids to school, people going to work and the roads flooded with vehicles such as cars. Tourists continued to go about sightseeing or relax or play on Copacabana Beach while police continued to patrol the streets, their eyes scanning the activities of everyone like hawks and keeping any eye out for trouble. Next to Rio, in the Blu Bird Sanctuary, the avian residents also went about their daily business, their activities being no different from the Sanctuary de Amazon residents. Birds went out foraging for their families while chicks continued to be born and take their first flight. Mammals such as monkeys also continued their usual activities. The same applied to the animals that lived in the city itself, such as the domesticated cats, dogs and birds who continued to enjoy their time with their owners. Dogs went out for walks with their human companions, cats took walks and birds perched on the rims of human houses, talking and watching the humans go about their business. In one part of the city close to the outskirts of the Blu Bird Sanctuary, a certain group of dogs and cats were talking a walk.

Broccoli and Daisy, two of Veggie and Catina's offspring who were now older adults, were walking with James the greyhound, his two club friends Pelusa the Shih Tzu, Nevado the white Persian cat and Ebony, a female black greyhound who was James's girlfriend. Ebony had all the features of any greyhound including the slender body build, long legs and tail and small head. All of her fur was black except for a white patch between her eyes. Ebony had grey eyes and was just James's age. She met James in his cats-and-dogs-only club and had taken a liking to his musical style and had joined him, Pelusa and Nevado and had bonded with James. The six city dogs and cats had not changed much over the past three years. Broccoli strongly resembled his now deceased father Veggie while Daisy's mixed tabby and calico traits had become more vibrant. She resembled Catina but her orange and ginger blotches were interspersed with the stripes she had inherited from Veggie. Daisy had been returned to Susan and Lucy in exchange for Collette months ago for the owners preferred Collette to Daisy and since then, Daisy had been living with Broccoli, Dash and Ginger in Collette's place while Collette had gone off to live with Daisy's former owners though she occasionally dropped by to say hello to her brother and sister. James resembled his father Dash except for his eyes which were brown while Dash's eyes were blue. Nevado and Pelusa had also remained largely unchanged and were as lively as they had been three years ago.

As the six walked along, James trotted on ahead, humming a tune to himself. The tune was one of the tracks he, Ebony, Pelusa and Nevado had played recently at their club and it had become one of James's favourites. As James continued to hum his favourite song, the other five walking behind him looked on and smiled.

"He's been humming that song, 'The Samba Dance of the Cats and Dogs' for more than half an hour now," said Broccoli.

"I'm not surprised," said Pelusa, "It's become ever such a big hit."

"A lot of our clubbers love that song too," said Nevado, "It has proven to be very popular."

"Well, I hope James isn't going to become too proud and vain about his club's success," said Daisy, "Because you know what they say, after every pride, a pitfall will come."

"Oh, we know that saying," said Ebony, "And I believe it is true."

"It is true," said Broccoli, "I remember an incident involving our owner Lucy who had just baked an elaborate and beautiful looking cake and she became a little too boastful about it."

Daisy, Ebony, Pelusa and Nevado listened while James, too engrossed in his humming, continued trotting ahead.

"But as she was carrying her cake, she had her eyes fixated on it and her work in intense admiration," continued Daisy, "And of course she did look where she was going, and a rock in the ground was right in her path. And you can tell what happened next, can't you?" she broke into a titter.

"Her foot snagged on the stone and she fell flat on her face," guessed Nevado.

"And the cake went everywhere," said Ebony. Broccoli and Daisy, a wide smile on their faces, nodded.

"Oh my, it must have been an utter mess," said Pelusa in shock.

"It was," said Broccoli, stifling the urge to giggle, "And that's not all. Some of the cake flew right into someone's face and upper body and that person was wearing an expensive outfit for a wedding he was to attend."

At this, sharp gasps entered the listeners' mouth.

"Trouble for Lucy," murmured Ebony.

"Well, I can tell you that person wasn't very pleased," said Daisy, "And Lucy had to wash that person's outfit as a consequence. Since then, she had learned never to become too vain about her cakes. Like I've said, after every pride, a pitfall will come."

Her brother, the black greyhound, the Persian cat and the Shih Tzu nodded in agreement. Ahead of them, James, who continued humming his favourite tune, 'The Samba Dance of the Cats and Dogs', suddenly felt his front left paw sink into the dirt. At this, he abruptly stopped humming and froze, giving his sunken paw a perplexed gaze.

"Huh?" he said as Broccoli, Daisy, Pelusa, Nevado and Ebony came up behind him.

"What is it James?" asked Broccoli. Then Ebony felt something odd about the ground beneath their feet.

"Um, guys," she murmured, "This ground feels unusually…"

"Unusually what?" asked Daisy. Pelusa, Nevado, Broccoli and James also shot her a confused gaze each. Ebony was about to give the other five a realisation look when suddenly, the dirt under the feet of all six cats and dogs collapsed. The tabby cat and his caliby (tabby/calico mix) sister, the two greyhounds, the Shih Tzu and the white Persian cat all flailed.

"LOOOOSE!" howled Ebony before the six mammals then fell into a hole, screaming loudly. Then a crash was heard as all six landed at the bottom of the pit, dazed and their faces twisted in pain from the impact. Daisy, Broccoli, James, Ebony, Pelusa and Nevado had just fallen into a hole in the ground that had been purposely dug and then covered with dirt and soil to conceal its opening… a pitfall, which was exactly what Daisy had been talking about.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3- the problem with the toucan chicks**

Sounds of dog and cat whimpers emanated from a hole in the ground as Broccoli, Daisy, Pelusa, Ebony, James and Nevado groaned from the pain and dizziness caused by the impact of the fall.

"Oooh, what a fall."

"Is everybody alright?"

"Oooow, I've landed right on my shoulder!"

In the pit, the six four-footed mammals sorted themselves out. James was grasping his right shoulder with his left front paw, his face twisted in agony while Broccoli rubbed his back, a weary look on his face. Daisy helped Nevado and Pelusa to their feet while Ebony shot suspicious looks at the pit's walls.

"Trust you to talk about pitfalls, Daisy," muttered Pelusa as she struggled to her feet with the caliby's help.

"We've just fallen _right into_ one," added Nevado, "Honestly; you're like a black cat."

"Hey, don't blame me!" snapped Daisy, "I had anything to do with this!"

"And besides that," added Broccoli, "The idea of black cats being bringers of bad luck is nothing but silly stuff."

Then he and Daisy began to examine the pit as Ebony reached a conclusion.

"Looks like this pit has definitely been purposely dug and then subsequently covered with dirt to conceal it so that an unsuspecting victim would fall right into it," said the black greyhound indignantly, "There's no way this was done by accident."

"Maybe some silly humans have dug this hole?" asked Pelusa. At this, Nevado shook his head in disagreement.

"No, check the depth of the pit, Pelusa," he said, which Pelusa did, "It's too shallow for it to have been dug by humans."

Pelusa continued to examine the depth of the pit from its top to the bottom and saw that Nevado was right. The pit looked as though it had been dug by a group of smaller creatures and based on its depth that rose above even James and Ebony's heads; it appeared that not just one culprit, but a group of them had done this. James continued to grasp his shoulder, his teeth gritted.

"I think this stupid pit has been dug and then covered as part of a prank," he hissed angrily through his teeth.

"Well if that is so, then this prank is borderline malicious," growled Broccoli, "Not even Tiago and Matilda would do such a thing as this for they know how injurious a pitfall trap prank would be to anyone who falls into one."

"Especially birds which could lead to a broken wing or foot if the pit is dug deep enough," added Ebony.

"Who is responsible for this ROTTEN THING!?" snarled Daisy fiercely, her white and ginger, black and brown mottled fur bristling. After that sentence let her mouth, mischievous laughter reached the cats and dogs' ears and as the six looked up; sixteen black feathered heads with large beaks appeared and peered into the pit, laughter escaping their beaks. All sixteen heads had large beaks, many of which were orange with a black tip but three of them were lime green with a magenta tip, like Eva's beak. Above the beaks were sixteen pairs of eyes, all flooded with mischief. The laughter from the beaks of these birds, along with their mischievous eyes and the way they gazed at the cats and dogs struggling in the pit made Broccoli and the other five arrive at only one conclusion: this group of sixteen birds, which were toucan chicks, were the culprits responsible for the pitfall prank. The moment realisation came upon them; Broccoli shot the sixteen chicks a furious glare and began to scramble out of the pit. The toucan chicks backed away as Broccoli emerged from the pit, childish laughs still escaping their beaks.

As he reached the top and clambered onto the ground with Daisy, Nevado, Pelusa, Ebony and James shortly following, the latter who was helped by Ebony and Nevado due to his hurt shoulder, Broccoli shot the group of laughing toucan chicks an outraged glare.

"That was NOT FUNNY!" he bellowed, "We could have got SERIOUSLY HURT!"

"In fact, I believe that prank of yours might have caused James a shoulder injury here," shouted Pelusa. However, the sixteen toucan chicks continued laughing as James continued clutching his shoulder, his face twisted in pain. Then Daisy stepped forward, a look of outrage lacing her face. "You lot SERIOUSLY need some DISCIPLINE!" she snarled.

"Yeah, dangerous pranks that could cause injury to the victim, such as pitfall traps," put in Ebony, "Are NOT SOMETHING to LAUGH ABOUT."

The sixteen toucan chicks, however, continued laughing despite Ebony's statement, much to the annoyance of the six mammals.

"I think those baby toucans have an attitude problem," muttered Nevado.

"More like a twisted sense of humour," said James, his paw firmly clutching his right shoulder. Then one of the toucan chicks stepped forward and called out to the bushes nearby.

"NOOOOOWWW!" it called. At this, Broccoli, Daisy, Ebony, Nevado, Pelusa and James shot the toucan chicks a perplexed glare but before the six knew it, the bushes rustled. The three cats, two greyhounds and Shih Tzu's gazes darted to the shaking leaves. Then out of the leaves emerged several dozen more toucan chicks.

"Oh, tunas and herrings," hissed Broccoli as dread came over him. The toucan chicks' faces were laced with utter mischief and in their wings were berries, tubes and slingshots. Based on their appearance, these slingshots appeared manmade. Daisy immediately knew what these chicks were about to do.

"RUN FOR IT!" she screeched. No sooner than these three words had exploded from the mouth when suddenly, the air was shattered by toucan screams followed by colourful comets flying from the toucan chicks as berries and pieces of fruit began to fly from their wings or slingshots and surge like missiles towards Broccoli's group, the first sixteen chicks joining in the chaos. Along with the fruity missiles, seed bullets flew from the chicks armed with tubes. The berries and fruit pieces splattered all over the three cats and three dogs while seeds bounced off them. Overcome with panic, the group began to make a break for it, the group of mischievous toucan chicks following and pelting them with more fruit and seeds. James was forced to limp along with Nevado and Ebony's for his injured shoulder hindered his ability to run properly. The cats and dogs' eyes were screwed shut to protect them from the incoming bullets and missiles flying from then toucan chicks. One of the berries flew at Nevado's face and splattered into his screwed shut left eye while James and Ebony were constantly battered by more fruit and seeds while Broccoli and Daisy were pelted in the face by flying seeds.

"This is HONESTLY getting beyond a JOKE!" screeched Broccoli as he protected his face with his front paws from the bullets.

"STOP IT AT ONCE, you BUNCH OF MENACES!" shouted Daisy, hoping that her rebuke would make the toucan chicks stop. However, to her dismay, it fell on deaf ears. The gang of toucan chicks continued throwing, shooting and firing their ammo of fruit and seeds at the cats and dogs with their wings, slingshots and their peashooter sticks, laughing mischievously all the time as their ammo bounced off or splattered all over their six victims, and Nevado got a peach square in the face, some of the flesh entering his mouth. At this, he shook his head, sending bits of peach flying everywhere, and spat out the rest of the peach from his mouth, spluttering repulsively for he hated the taste of peach. Another fruit, a guava, flew at James and struck him in the face.

"Let's get OUTA HERE," screeched Broccoli and with that, the group of six quadrupedal mammals sped up their hasty retreat. The toucans kept throwing fruit, shooting seeds and firing more fruit at the tabby cat, the caliby cat, the Persian cat, the Shih Tzu and the two greyhounds until they were out of the jungle. Tittering mischievously, the little flock took off into the forest with their peashooters, slingshots and remaining ammo of fruit and seeds to search for someone else to target.

 **Later**

Broccoli, Daisy, Pelusa, Ebony and Nevado stood close to the fence enclosing Susan, her husband Bernardo and sister Lucy's garden while James was under the care of his aged parents Dash and Ginger and sister Avellana who had come to visit. Dash and Ginger were well on in their years, the light grey fur of Dash and the ginger coloured fur of Ginger strewn with silver hairs due to their age. They were not as energetic as they once were when they were younger and their time of having more puppies was long gone. However they were still as lively as they had been in their younger years, if less energetic. James lie on his left side in a large dog basket, an ice pack applied to his shoulder by Avellana while Dash and Ginger examined him for any more injuries. Broccoli and Daisy gazed at the greyhound worriedly while Pelusa, Nevado and Ebony stood back by the gate, equally worried looks fixated on James. The group had managed to wash the fruity mess from their fur and were now clean again and had told Dash and Ginger everything, such as the pitfall trap dug by the toucan chicks and the subsequent pelting of fruit and seeds by those same naughty chicks. Then moments later, Dash walked over to the five.

"Is he alright, Dash?" asked Broccoli. The other four looked on hopefully. To their relief, Dash wore a small smile.

"His shoulder is not too seriously injured, just a bruise," he said, but then his face fell and became serious. "But it could have been much worse."

"Sounds like an emergency trip to the vet's has been averted," said Nevado as the others breathed sighs of relief.

"Not to mention the effect it would have on our club," added Pelusa.

"Or the reaction of our owners, especially James's owners," put in Daisy. Then Ginger walked in, a frown on her face.

"Those pesky chicks honestly have a behaviour problem," she muttered, "According to Kipo, our rosette spoonbill friend; the problem with those toucan chicks has just gotten worse over time."

"Someone ought to knock some sense into their negligent parents' heads and get them to discipline their kids right now," hissed Broccoli, "But as far as we know, they seemed to have done nothing about it, regardless of the amount of complaints they keep receiving from the other residents."

"The behaviour of their offspring has honestly spiralled right out of control as a result," Daisy muttered.

"And because of that, most of the Blu Bird Sanctuary is riddled with gangs of those pesky toucan chicks and adolescents, most of them descendants of many of Rafael and Eva's many, many offspring," muttered Dash, "Honestly, they're causing the other residents a lot of trouble."

Ginger, Broccoli, Daisy, Pelusa, Nevado and Ebony nodded in agreement and went over to James. Just then a family of large navy blue birds appeared. Six were adults while another was a pre-adolescent chick and the eighth an even younger chick. One of the adult males wore a leaf bandana over his left eye while another adult male wore a fruit shell cap, and one of the females had unusually violet feathers with a three-symmetry crest like an iris flower.

"James, are you okay?" asked one of the adults, named Neptune when he saw James lie in the bed with an ice pack on his shoulder.

"We heard what happened a while ago," said Ultramarine. The other hyacinth macaws, Triton, his girlfriend Iris, sisters Indigo and Violet and brother-in-law and Indigo's mate, Victor, touched down, the young chick who was Victor and Indigo's daughter named Gertie, riding on her father's back.

Triton, Indigo and Victor had grown much larger over the past three years and were now the size of a fully grown hyacinth macaw while Violet was still fairly short but taller than Carla, Bia and Tiago and their other smaller friends. Triton wore his leaf bandana over the left side of his face, concealing his damaged left eye and most of his scarred face while Victor wore his trademark fruit-shell cap. Victor and Indigo's chick, Gertie was like a spitting image of his mother. Like all hyacinth macaws she had navy blue feathers, dark grey talons and beak and yellow eye rings and a beak lappet. She had inherited Indigo's slender build and feather ruffle but she had Victor's brown eyes. She did not have any purple tint to her feathers unlike her mother. Iris was a pretty female hyacinth macaw who was just Victor, Indigo and Triton's age. She, too, had yellow eye rings and a beak lappet as well as near-black beak and talons but she had some rather unique and unusual traits. Unlike most hyacinth macaws who were navy blue or sometimes a lighter blue, Iris's plumage was violet. Her eyes were green and her crest was as unusual as her plumage colour. The crest was three sets of head feathers arranged like the petals of an iris flower. One of them protruded forward over Iris's forehead while the other two streaked backward. It was this bizarre feather arrangement and her plumage colour that led Broccoli and Daisy, along with Inky the King Charles spaniel dog, to name her after the iris flower. Iris also bore two scars across her chest, similar to Victor whose scars were still visible in the navy blue plumage of his front, a souvenir he had received from the Great Battle three years ago when one of the flying foxes had slashed him across the torso, much like Triton's facial scars and damaged left eye.

Iris had once belonged to another owner and was used as some sort of item to attract tourists and their money. However, she had been kept in a cramped cage, was underfed and was mistreated by her owners. She had been rescued by Broccoli, Daisy and Inky when they saw this poor hyacinth macaw who then nursed her back to health. Then she met Triton and his family and became friends with the former and eventually his girlfriend. It was possible that Iris had been captured from the wild as a young chick and sold through the pet trade but she did not want to talk about her past for she found it too painful to discuss. As the eight hyacinth macaws looked on, James carefully rose to his feet.

"Careful, bro," said Avellana, "You'd aggravate your shoulder."

"It's fine, Avellana," said James but Avellana was still unsure. Then James walked over to the hyacinth macaws, limping slightly because of his bruised shoulder and the dull pain it kept emitting. He kept the ice pack over the area of injury.

"I'm fine, just a bruise," said James, "Thanks for your concern."

He then removed the ice back and showed the hyacinth macaws the bruising. The area that took the brunt of the impact was marked by a large blue-black bloom and that bloom was emitting the dull ache.

"I actually thought he had suffered a broken bone from the fall," said Ebony before her face formed a frown. "Honestly, those toucan chicks were a bunch of outright menaces."

"I know," said Indigo with an agreeing frown, a glance at her daughter Gertie as she left her mother's side to examine a flower in the lawn, "There are dozens and dozens of those rambunctious brats scattered throughout the sanctuary."

"So often up to no good," said Victor, "One group seriously picked on our daughter Gertie once and greatly upset her. We had to move to somewhere else away from the place where that gang of toucan chicks lived."

"And to make things worse, their parents didn't seem bothered about their offspring's behaviour," put in Ultramarine. Then Indigo's eyes travelled to Gertie as she gazed at the flower, a daisy, in fascination. Nevado's eyes then travelled to her.

"If Gertie were ever that naughty," said Indigo, "I'd seriously cuff her."

"We would do the same if we had our own chicks," put in Iris. Her gaze then drifted off into a dream-like state, much to Triton's amused smile. Then his single-eyed gaze returned to James.

"But at least you're alright," he said, "That's the main thing."

James smiled and gazed at the bruise on his shoulder.

"So, why are you here?" asked Daisy. Not too far away from Indigo and Victor, Gertie continued examining the daisy and its floral pattern, unaware that Nevado had entered stalking mode.

"We've come to bring good news," said Neptune, and at this, Dash, Ginger, James, Avellana, Broccoli, Daisy, Ebony and Pelusa cocked their ears to hear it. "Blu and company are going to visit here, bringing their new grandkids with them."

"Carla, Bia and Tiago and their respective mates Justin, Virgil and Matilda have had chicks, as had many of the other couples in their circle of friends including Sebastian and Stella," said Ultramarine, "Who have had pups. They are going to bring those kids over to Rio to visit us."

"Oh, that's excellent news!" cried Ginger elated.

"We look forward to seeing their new offspring," said Broccoli.

"So will we," said Neptune until his face fell. "Too bad we've missed out on witnessing many of those kids' births but… we felt we wanted a change of scene so we returned to here."

"And to get Triton away from that bratty ex Penelope because of the scarring on the left side of his face," put in Ultramarine and with that she gazed at Triton who nodded with a sad face.

"We heard he lost an eye during that war with that bunch of savage flying foxes in the Amazon," said Broccoli.

"Actually, I've lost sight in my left eye," said Triton and with that, he reached up to his leafy bandana and lifted it up to show Broccoli the damage he had received from the war three years ago. Broccoli and Daisy, Dash, Ginger, Ebony, Pelusa, James and Avellana gazed at the three thin streaks of scar tissue running up the entire height of Triton's left face like tiger stripes. Those tiger stripes ran over his left eye which was misty and faded. The cats and dogs gazed at the scars and eye before Triton readjusted his bandana over his left eye again. Then Victor stepped forward and showed the cats and dogs the scars on his front.

"I got this from protecting Indigo from one of the savage bats during the fight," he said.

"Wowee," murmured Broccoli in horrified awe.

"My two scars were inflicted on me by my cruel owners," said Iris, a wing pointing to the two streaks on her chest, "How they got there I won't discuss it."

Then Triton spoke up and pointed to his damaged left face side.

"This was what made Penelope break up with me and then mock me with her friends and new boyfriend," said Triton, "She kept calling me 'Scarface' and 'Cicatriz-bird' and all that."

"Cicatriz?" repeated Broccoli in confusion.

"That's the name of the deranged flying fox patriarch that led the colony in the Amazon rainforest," explained Ultramarine, "He attempted to take over our homes with his colony but failed. He had been blind in his right eye, caused by fighting with a bird when he was younger."

"Because of how evil he had been," added Victor, "That name had gained infamy over the past three years, along with 'Iracebeth', which had been the name of that bat's mate."

"She was equally as evil as his mate," squeaked Violet. Dash was about to comment when suddenly, Pelusa saw past Indigo and Victor and glared at a certain cat stalking a certain chick. At this, alarm tore through her.

"Nevado, you leave that hyacinth macaw chick ALONE THIS MINUTE!" she barked. Neptune, Ultramarine, Indigo, Triton, Victor, Iris and Violet, and Dash, Ginger, Broccoli, Daisy, Avellana and James turned and saw a white Persian cat duck, his eyes fixed on a hyacinth macaw chick as she continued fiddling with the daisy in the grass. Alarmed, the group, especially Indigo and Victor, surged towards Nevado and seized Gertie before the cat could pounce on her. Nevado, taken by surprise, shot a group of hyacinth macaws a surprised gaze until Broccoli, James, Pelusa, Ebony and Daisy came up to him to talk to him. While they did that, Dash said to Neptune and his family, "I suggest you lot leave while he's around."

"Sorry to cut your visit short but Nevado there has a thing with birds like most cats," added Ginger.

"Thanks for visiting us though," said Avellana, "And we look forwards to seeing Blu and company when they arrive here."

Neptune, Ultramarine, Indigo, Triton, Victor who held Gertie, Iris and Violet all nodded and with that, the hyacinth macaws all opened their wings and lofted into flight to return to the jungle.

"And I hope James recovers from his bruise as well," said Ultramarine as she left.

"And I also hope you don't run into too much trouble with those troublesome toucan chicks and gangs," added Ginger. The hyacinth macaws nodded and soon, they were out of earshot. Avellana smiled.

"We certainly will be meeting some new additions to Blu and company's families," she said. Dash and Ginger then turned to James, Broccoli, Pelusa, Ebony and Daisy as they continued talking with Nevado about birds. Nevado kept protesting and shrugging his shoulders.

"That is why James has strictly forbidden his club to all birds," said Avellana, "A lot of the feline attendees to his club, such as Nevado, have a tendency to try and catch birds."

"He doesn't often mix with birds, I can tell you," said Dash. Then a minute later, James and company gathered around the three greyhounds.

"Ultramarine wishes you well," said Dash.

"Oh, does she? Thank you," said James. He then felt hope bubble within him. "Am I free to leave?"

"Yes, but stay well away from the jungle for one," said Ginger firmly, "And also any of those toucan chick and adolescent gangs for another."

"We don't want anyone else getting hurt," said Dash. Broccoli, James, Pelusa, Ebony, Nevado and Daisy nodded in agreement and left for the gate to return to James's club.

"We'll have to make sure that Lightning, Cometa, Travis, Sunset and their kids and grandkids are aware of those rambunctious toucan gangs as well," said Dash as he left for Susan and Lucy's house.

"Same with Blu and company when they arrive," said Ginger as she followed, "They are going to have to be careful with their kids whenever those toucan gangs are around."

Avellana gazed at the trees across the cityscape of Rio, dread in her eyes about the potential consequences the toucan chick gangs might entail on the chicks if any of them were to mix with them, or worse. Pushing away these thoughts, she turned and followed her parents into the house.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4- preparations for the trip to Rio beginning from tomorrow, nerves**

 **One week later in the Sanctuary de Amazon**

A colourful gathering was perched on some branches in the Spix tribe's territory just outside the ravine. Most of the gathered birds were chicks while a few of them were flying foxes. Among the gathering were Carla, Bia, Tiago, Justin, Matilda, Virgil and their chicks. Also there were Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Ceres, Pluto, Roberto and their respective mates Sapphire, Zephyr, Chiquitita, Ruby, Orquidea, Esmeralda, Cobalto, Lapis Lazuli and Brisa and their children and grandchildren. At the front of the group stood Blu who was going over a few important points about Rio such as its landmarks like the Christ the Redeemer statue, the dangers of the city and the Blu Bird Sanctuary with Jewel standing to his left. Blu had borrowed Carla and Justin's Ipod to show the chicks and also Augustus and his family images from the famous city. The eyes of all the chicks and the three pups, Stella and Soren's son Sandalwood and Sebastian and Anabelle's pups Acerola and Ferdinand gazed in fascination at the images.

"So that's where Mr Blu met Mrs Jewel?" whispered Acerola. At this, Sebastian hushed at her to tell her to be quiet to avoid interrupting the talk and distracting the surrounding chicks.

"We'll talk about it after the presentation," whispered Sebastian. Acerola tried to protest but then submitted to her father's command as Blu began to talk about the Blu Bird Sanctuary and how it came to be. Near Stella, Soren and Sandalwood, Carla and Justin sat with Sonia, Spica and Melody; Bia and Virgil sat with Sirius, Einstein and Miles; and Tiago and Matilda sat with Bellatrix and Bartholomew. Charlotte, Músculo and their son Jason and daughter Petunia sat next to Carla and her family. Next to Carla's group were Jojo and his siblings, siblings-in-law and nephews and nieces, as well as his mate Kira and own kids, Vega and Winona. Felix, Turquesa and their sons, Austin and Diego, and Lavender Garrett and their kids, Deneb, Lilac and Polaris sat with Roberto and Brisa nearby.

Next to the Spix macaw families, Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto sat with their mates and chicks and also Alexandre, his mate Estelle and Phobos and Deimos, Alexandre's same-brood brothers. Alexandre and Estelle's kids were named Xander and Kayley and they were pure green-winged macaws and the grandkids of Mars and Chiquitita. Like all green-winged macaws, both chicks had red plumage, green contours on their wings and blue wing flight feathers, and a blue and red tail. Xander had a stocky build and green eyes like his father and he had small feather ruffle behind his head. Kayley was more slender and bore a strong resemblance to her paternal grandmother Chiquitita but she had orange eyes which she got from her grandfather Mars and Phobos, one of her uncles. Like Chiquitita, Kayley had a crest similar to Jewel but she was around the average height of a green-winged macaw chick rather than smaller like how Chiquitita and Phobos and Deimos had been. It seemed that she and Xander had inherited the average size from their father Alexandre though they may be carriers of the genes for small size. If they grow up and have chicks of their own, there is a possibility that one or two of them might inherit the smallness gene and be smaller than the average green-winged macaw. Like how Phobos, Deimos and their father treated Io and her siblings like cousins, Xander and Kayley also saw Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto's offspring, such as Io and Sheldon's daughters Betelgeuse and Rigel, as cousins as well. Much like Ricardo, one of Justin and his sibling's second cousins and Nuvem and Cassia's younger son, Phobos and Deimos had opted to remain single and thus did not have a mate and chicks.

Blu then moved on to talk about his and company's city friends Nico, Pedro, Rosa and Sparkle, two cardinal/canary duos who ran a club each, Luiz the bulldog, Rafael and Eva and so on including Lighting and his family, Travis and Sunset and also Broccoli and Daisy the cats and James the greyhound. When he mentioned that Broccoli and Daisy were vegetarian and had never eaten a single bird or mouse or fish, Xander raised his wing.

"Yes, Xander?" asked Blu.

"Is it true that they had never caught and eaten a bird?" he asked.

"It is," said Blu, "They are just like their late father Veggie; they are completely vegetarian."

"Where is Veggie now?" asked Kayley.

"I'm afraid he's passed away," said Jewel sadly, "He's passed from old age."

Xander and Kayley sighed in disappointment. They wanted to meet Broccoli and Daisy's father. Then the two green-winged macaw siblings returned to listening to Blu as he began to talk about the falcon family: Lighting, Cometa, Orion and Velocity.

Sat next to the red macaws and also Ganymede, Mimas, Adenine, Guanine, Thymine and Cytosine were Saturn and Orquidea with their other six first-brood offspring, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Titan and Iapetus. Of Mimas's six siblings, only Iapetus and Rhea were singles and did not have any desire to have their own kids, much like Phobos and Deimos, but the other four, Dione, Titan, Enceladus and Tethys, had paired up with Porthos, Brooke, Trixie the hyacinth macaw and Oberon, one of Esmeralda and Uranus's sons respectively. Due to three of the pairings being interspecific (mixed species: Enceladus with a hyacinth macaw and Tethys with a great green or Buffon's macaw), some of Saturn and Orquidea's grandkids had interesting features much like Adenine and his three siblings who were Catalina macaws or half scarlet due to Ganymede being a scarlet macaw, and half-blue-and-gold because of Mimas, and the resulting mixing of the couple's genes giving rise to bizarre macaws like these four.

Dione and Porthos had two sons named Procyon and Peter while Titan and Brooke had two sons named Castor and Pollux and a daughter named Poppy. These five were full blue-and-gold macaws because their parents were pure blue-and-gold macaws as well, and had nothing unusual about them. As with any blue-and-gold, the five chicks had aqua blue backs, yellow fronts and green foreheads. Both Procyon and Peter had burly builds while Castor and Pollux were stocky and Poppy was slender. Poppy's back was cerulean apart from her wing flight feathers which were turquoise while her near-twin-like brothers, Castor and Pollux, had aqua blue backs. Procyon and Peter also had aqua blue backs and darker azure wing flight feathers. Procyon had a feather ruffle behind his head and blue eyes like his father Porthos while Peter had a flick atop his head and pink eyes like his mother Dione. Castor and Pollux both had beige eyes like their father Titan but Castor's eyes were darker than Pollux's eyes. Both had a green tuft on their forehead and a ruffle behind their heads. Poppy aqua blue eyes like her mother Brooke and also her spiky head ruffle.

The other cousins of Procyon, Peter, Castor, Pollux and Poppy, Enceladus and his hyacinth mate Trixie's daughter Mira and Tethys and her great green or Buffon's mate Oberon's kids Cressida and Fomalhaut were hybrids like Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine and Thymine. According to the nerdy birds like Ganymede, Blu and Bia, Mira was known as a Caloshua macaw while Cressida and Fomalhaut were Bluffon's macaws. Mira was a hyacinth/blue-and-gold hybrid. However, most of her body was aqua blue on the back and yellow on the front and her flight feathers were a rich blue, which were presumably the result of Enceladus's more dominant genes, but her facial features included the hyacinth macaw's yellow eye rings and beak lappet, and Mira's face and head was dark emerald green. Streaks of dark green also coloured the topside of her tail feathers. Mira was small for she had inherited Enceladus's small size but she was slightly bigger than a pure blue-and-gold macaw chick. Mira had a ponytail which was dark emerald but navy blue at the tips and her eyes were blue like Enceladus. Her build was stocky somewhat like Trixie's.

Cressida and Fomalhaut were half blue-and-gold and half great green or Buffon's macaws. They were mostly light emerald green but their lower bellies were amber while their wings and tail were aqua blue. A faint black mark streaked their throats. Both the chicks had forward pointing head feathers like Oberon but Cressida also had Tethys's ponytail which was emerald green fading to cerulean towards the tips. Cressida had a slender build and magenta eyes like her mother Tethys while Fomalhaut was stocky and had blue eyes like his father Oberon. Sitting next to Saturn and his family including his interestingly mixed-species grandkids sat Oberon's sisters, Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel and Titania with Uranus and Esmeralda nearby. Miranda was accompanied by her mate Aramis and two chicks Capella and Achernar, both named after bright stars. Titania was also accompanied by her smaller military mate Ash and their sons Basil and Antares while Umbriel was surrounded by her scarlet mate Benjamin and mixed daughter Perdita and sons Aldebaran and Cecil. Like Phobos, Deimos, Rhea and Iapetus, Ariel had opted to remain single.

As Jewel took over to explain about Cometa's history, Uranus began to explain to his grandkids.

"Cometa used to work for poachers like Catina the calico cat once did," whispered he, "But she had been against the plans and had assisted us in stopping those sneaky poachers from succeeding in their illegal plans to poach birds from this nature reserve with the help of peregrine falcons."

"Was Mr Lightning from that group?" asked Capella.

"No he wasn't, daughter," whispered Miranda, "He's from the pest control group who had become Cometa's mate."

"Do they eat macaws?" asked Achernar.

"No, the birds they mainly eat are ducks, pigeons and some small birds, but pigeons mainly," said Esmeralda in a low voice, "Since their group deals mostly with pesky pigeons in the city of Rio."

Capella and Achernar gazed back at their maternal grandmother with intrigue. Then Jewel's explanation of Orion and Velocity, the first brood offspring of Cometa and Lightning, pulled their attention to the Ipod showing pictures of the two falcons.

Capella and her brother Achernar were full great green macaws like their parents. They both had green plumages with aqua blue wing flight feathers, blue lower backs, red foreheads, yellow wing and tail undersides and blue and red tail topsides. Capella took more after Aramis than she did Miranda. She was lithe, slender and had Aramis's feather flick behind her head. Achernar had Miranda's wavy head feathers and slim build but his eyes were blue-green like one of his aunts, Titania. Titania and Ash's sons, Antares and Basil, did not much different from their full Buffon's cousins despite being Buffon's and military hybrids. They had all the features of a military or Buffon's macaw but were slightly smaller than Capella and Achernar due to Ash's dominant genetic influence. Both boys took after Titania more than their father Ash though both had Ash's crest which was a small feather ruffle on their crowns, with Basil's being larger. Both chicks were fairly slim and had blue-green eyes but Antares's eyes were greener than Basil's, giving his eyes a sea-green colour.

Lastly, Umbriel and Benjamin's chicks, Perdita, Aldebaran and Cecil were a cross between a scarlet macaw and a great green macaw (termed 'verde macaws' by the nerdy birds like Blu, Bia and Ganymede). All three had bright lime green backs with azure blue wing flight feathers and blue and red tails but their fronts and foreheads were a brilliant blood-red colour. Their wing contours were sulfur yellow fading to green towards the beginnings of the wing flight feathers. A patch of red also decorated the fleshy part of their wings. All three chicks had eye colours that were a shade of green for Umbriel had hunter green eyes while Benjamin's eyes were emerald green like his father Felipe's. Perdita's eyes were lime green while Aldebaran's eyes were emerald and Cecil's eyes were hunter green. Aldebaran bore a strong resemblance to his paternal grandfather Felipe while Perdita resembled Esmeralda and Cecil resembled Uranus. Aldebaran was stocky and had Felipe's feather ruffle while Cecil was stocky like Uranus and had a set of forward pointing head feathers similar to him. Perdita was slender with a sheet of wavy head feathers running down the back of her head and flicking backwards at the back, like Esmeralda's head feathers. The three verde siblings were nephews and niece to Benjamin's siblings, Alfonso and Regina as well as Pearl and Felipe's grandkids.

The three verde macaw chicks gazed in fascination at the pictures of Rio as Blu then moved on to talk about the humans who worked on the Blu Bird Sanctuary. Then Perdita raised her wing for she had a question.

"Yes, Perdita?" asked Blu.

"What was your companion Linda like?" asked Perdita. Blu smiled.

"I'll tell you more about my human companion after this, little one," he said gently.

"Was the Blu Bird Sanctuary targeted by robbers?" asked Aldebaran. Blu's face frowned.

"Yes it was, until it was set up as a nature reserve, named in my honour," he said, "After I had met my beautiful Jewel here," he nodded to Jewel who smiled, "We were kidnapped by smugglers who owned a nasty cockatoo named Nigel."

Aldebaran and Cecil tipped their heads to one side so Umbriel began to explain to them and Perdita.

"He was that horrible cockatoo who loved to torture exotic birds," she said in a low voice.

"Really?" asked Benjamin in curiosity.

"Don't you remember when you were caught when we were young during the fight against the poachers in the Sanctuary de Amazon?" asked Umbriel, "Nigel was that twisted sulfur-crested monster who was bent on revenge."

"Revenge?" repeated Perdita in curiosity. Umbriel gazed at her.

"It's too complicated," she whispered, "But you don't want to meet that piece of work. He's nothing but trouble," Umbriel paused, "I believe he'll still be at the place where your grandmother met your grandfather but we'll get to that when we get to Rio."

Perdita, Aldebaran and Cecil stared at their Buffon's mother until finally; they turned their attention back to Blu and Jewel. Antares and Basil also had curiosity about this Nigel bubbling within them but they daren't ask until the talk had finished.

When Blu and Jewel had reached the end of their presentation about Rio and had spoken of its dangers and the importance of staying together, had given back the Ipod to Carla and Justin and the crowd had left their perches, Mercury and Sapphire flew along with their offspring Phoebe, Jasmine and Annette, their first brood daughters. Phoebe was accompanied by Squaw'tagnan and their daughter Arcturus. Arcturus was an exact mix of her parents. Like all Lear's macaws, she had navy blue plumage, teal strewn on her face and chest and yellow-orange eye rings and beak lappet. Arcturus was slightly chubby like her father Squaw'tagnan. Her head feathers were an unusual combination of Squaw'tagnan's musketeer hat-like crest and Phoebe's woman's hair-like crest. The feathers resembled a wavy ponytail without some sort of bobble to tie the feathers together and fell past her shoulders. Her eyes were half way between Phoebe's grey eyes and Squaw'tagnan's dark blue eyes: they were a greyish blue but up close, the irises had grey in the middle that merged to blue towards the outer rim, a rarity not often seen in eye colours. The arrangement of colours made Arcturus's eyes resemble flowers. As the group flew along, Mercury smiled at Blu as he checked his eight grandkids.

"You certainly have got quite a family now, haven't you," he said. Blu gazed at him as Sirius, Miles and Einstein left with Bia and Virgil; Sonia, Spica and Melody left with Carla and Justin and Bellatrix and Bartholomew left with Tiago and Matilda.

"Yes, and all three of Jewel and my first-brood children had paired up with three of Zephyr and Venus's first-brood children as well," said Blu.

"That's how it would have been had we stayed in Rio until they were adults," said Sapphire, her gaze flashing at Arcturus as she flew alongside Phoebe and Squaw'tagnan and aunts Jasmine and Annette.

"Well, when we return to our first brood children's' birthplace," said Mercury, "It's going to bring back a flood of awesome memories, I can tell you."

"Yep," said Jewel as she joined Blu's side. Jasmine then looked ahead and saw a family of blue-headed macaws, chestnut-fronted macaws and golden parakeets through the trees.

"Looks like Caspian, Citrine, Alessandro, Rhiannon, Kiawe and Mariposa are on an outing," she said.

"They've got chicks too," said Annette. Just then, Mariposa, Caspian, Alessandro and their families saw Blu's group and flew over to them. Kiawe and Mariposa had one chick, a son named Franco while Citrine and Caspian's offspring were two daughters named Apricot and Satsuma. Alessandro and Rhiannon also had one chick, a daughter named Rosie.

"Hi, folks, how's it going?" asked Mariposa.

"We've just had a Rio presentation," said Blu, "We're gonna depart for the city tomorrow morning."

"It's gonna be a long, three-day-or-so flight," said Sapphire.

"Aren't you gonna come with us?" asked Phoebe as she hovered near Sapphire.

"I'm afraid we can't, Phoebe," said Caspian sadly, "One, we've got a lot of tasks to do around our home areas and two, we aren't keen on cities."

"Yeah, we don't feel it very safe for our kids to roam a place with so many humans gathered," said Citrine, her gaze on Satsuma and Apricot.

"Even though I have been to Rio myself," said Alessandro as he hovered with Rosie and Rhiannon.

"Tyler, his mate Aurora and their two kids, and Ricardo aren't coming either," said Jasmine, "They're not keen on cities at all."

"Neither are some of us," added Annette, "And our younger siblings such as our younger brothers Bertie and Ozzy. We're gonna stay here and look after them while the rest of our families are away."

"Wilbur and Aurelio are also gonna stay behind to look after Desdemona and Lucy for they are not keen on returning to Rio either," said Phoebe.

"But at least you're going, Phoebe, to show your daughter your birthplace," said Mariposa as she gazed at Arcturus who shyly hovered near Squaw'tagnan.

"Yeah, it's gonna be an interesting tour," said Squaw'tagnan.

"Let us know how it goes when we contact you through one of those human handheld things," said Kiawe as he held Franco.

"It's called a phone," said Squaw'tagnan.

"Whatever it is," said Kiawe. Blu and Jewel just looked at each other and smiled. Suddenly, the couple heard two familiar voices shout them. At this, they looked up and saw Eduardo and Mimi hovering with Augustus and Melissa asking for them.

"Oh, aye, my aunt and father want a word with us," said Jewel.

"We'll talk to you later," said Blu, "Or perhaps before we set off tomorrow morning."

And with that, the two Spix macaws flew over to Eduardo, Mimi and the two flying foxes. The others looked on.

"Eduardo over there certainly is thrilled to be a great-grandfather to Carla, Bia and Tiago's chicks," said Mercury.

"Just as we are thrilled with being grandparents to our little gem Arcturus," cooed Sapphire. Arcturus blushed at this comment.

"Arrgh, Grandma!" she muttered, the skin under her dark teal face feathers going red and her long woman's hair/musketeer hat mixed head feathers sagging. With that, the others laughed and Phoebe scooped up Arcturus.

"Alright, sweetie, time for bed," she said, "We're up early in the morning."

And with that, she flew away with Squaw'tagnan in tow. Annette and Jasmine shook talons with Mariposa, Caspian, Alessandro, Rhiannon, Citrine and Kiawe as they prepared to spend their final night with their family.

"And we'll see you in the morning," said Jasmine. Annette then petted the chicks of the six couples before the two sisters turned and flew off after their older sister, brother-in-law and niece with Mercury and Sapphire following.

"We'll be in touch on the phone, though," said Mercury as he left.

"Okay, we wish you a good trip in Rio," said Mariposa. Kiawe, Citrine, Alessandro, Rhiannon and Caspian shouted in agreement while Franco, Rosie, Satsuma and Apricot squeaked goodbye as well.

Nearby, Ceres, Cobalto, Pluto and Lapis Lazuli flew with Charon, Blueberry, Quincy and Flor, Aurelio, Wilbur and Azul. Charon and Blueberry were accompanied by their mates Neytiri and Aiden while Azul had his mate, Fernanda by his side. With the group, three glaucous macaw chicks, the offspring of Blueberry, Aiden, Charon and Neytiri and three blue-throated macaw chicks, the offspring of Azul and Fernanda, were present. Blueberry and Aiden had just one son, Saiph while the other two glaucous chicks were Charon and Neytiri's offspring, Regulus (a son) and Denebola (a daughter). Like all glaucous macaws, Saiph, Regulus and Denebola had blue or turquoise coloured feathers and grey heads, as well as yellow eye rings and beak lappets. Saiph had azure blue feathers like both his father Aiden and mother Blueberry. He had Blueberry's blue eye colour but they were darker. His crest was like Bia's, a sheet of head feathers lacking the flick at the ends, instead falling straight down but Saiph also had a row of short flicks running over his crown, which he got from Aiden who had a Mohawk-like crest. Saiph had a stocky build like his father Aiden.

Saiph's cousins, Regulus and Denebola, also had grey heads. Regulus had dark turquoise feathers like Charon while Denebola's feathers were dark blue like her grandmother Lapis Lazuli, though her front was also cyan similar to the colour of Neytiri's body feathers. Regulus's crest was a cowlick atop his head while Denebola's crest was a simple ponytail that faded to cyan towards the tips similar to Neytiri's braid of feathers. Both Regulus and Denebola were slender like Neytiri and Regulus had periwinkle eyes also like his mother while Denebola had sandy brown eyes like his father. Charon and Blueberry's brother Quincy and sister Flor who were also the uncle and aunt of Saiph, Regulus and Denebola, had opted not to find a mate and have kids. The same applied to Azul's brothers, Wilbur and Aurelio.

Azul and Fernanda's two chicks, a son named Oceano and a daughter named Carmen, like all blue-throated macaws, had blue backs, yellow fronts and blue bib-like patches on their throats. Oceano's blue back and bib were a rich cobalt blue colour like his grandfather Cobalto while Carmen's back and bib mark were an unusual blue-purple colour. Both birds had vibrant yellow fronts and wing undersides. Oceano had a stocky build like Azul but Carmen was slender like Fernanda. Oceano had a small crest similar to Blu and had blue-violet eyes (a colour half way between his mother's and father's) while Carmen had a short ponytail-like crest, like her grandmother Ceres, in addition to a tuft of forward pointing head feathers in front of the ponytail. Her eyes were grey, also like her grandmother's but darker. Wilbur and Aurelio gazed with pride at their nephew and niece, proud to be uncles. However, like Phoebe and Jasmine, the two brothers of Azul will be staying behind to look after Desdemona and Lucy, their younger sisters and the young aunts of Oveano and Carmen while Quincy and Flor, the younger brother and sister of Charon and Blueberry, will be looking after Charlie and Lisa, Pluto and Lapis Lazuli's second brood chicks to replace their lost chick during the flying fox events. Cobalto and Ceres's looks were also laced with glittering pride at their two grandchildren.

"I still can't believe that it's been so long since our three sons have left the nest," said Ceres in a tearfully happy voice, "I can still remember our Azul, Aurelio and Wilbur as chicks."

"Having Desdemona and Lucy made us relive the memories of having our three sons," said Cobalto as he shared a loving nuzzle with his mate. Ceres smiled and nuzzled him back while Quincy and Flor looked on. Like Triton and Victor who were living in Rio, Flor and Ceres, had scars marking their plumage, souvenirs they had received during the Great Battle for the Sanctuary. Flor's face and torso had a few scars slashing through the grey and pale sea-green feathers while Ceres had one across her forehead and another, longer one running the entire length of her torso's left side, from below her neck to the top of her leg, which she had got from the tragic, nightmarish night of the flying foxes' invasion on her clan and the Bluewings' territory. Ceres still had nightmares about that night but to a lesser extent than three years ago and she was at times self-conscious of the long scar running down the left side of her chest and belly but Cobalto and her friends and children had helped her accept this likely permanent mark. Lapis Lazuli had a smile glowing on her face.

"Well, I look forward to meeting our old city friends and introducing our new grandkids to them," she said, "It's gonna be awesome."

"I hope it will," said Cobalto.

"Diantha, her mate Tom, their kids Aurora, Gladion and Lillie and also Spyro, his mate Marella, their two kids Bambi and Altair and Frodo, his mate Ellie and their two kids, Olivia and Sylvester and adopted kids Alegria, Achilles and Pitaya are gonna come with us as well," said Fernanda excitedly. She then began to look around for those three families, only to realise that they weren't anywhere to be seen. It was likely that they had gone to bed, ready for tomorrow.

"So are Andromeda and Eragon while Spock, Anakin, Ophiuchus and Honeydew will be staying behind to look after the archaeobird clan," said Cobalto. "Ophiuchus and Honeydew also have a daughter named Otulissa, whom they have named after the former's mother, to tend to as well."

"It's going to be like a big family trip," said Pluto. The others nodded in agreement.

"Grandma and Grandpa," said Saiph.

"Yes, Saiph?" asked Pluto.

"You once mentioned that you both were the last glaucous macaws before more were discovered," said Saiph, "Is that true?"

"It is," said Lapis Lazuli, "Like the Spix macaws, we glaucous macaws are extremely rare, but possibly more so than the Spix."

"But that had been disproven thanks to the discovery of other glaucous macaws out here," said Pluto, a smile adorning his beak.

"Just like how Blu and Jewel, along with Venus, Zephyr and Brisa, were thought to be the last Spix macaws besides their chicks until a flock of more of them was discovered by Linda and Tulio in the wild," said Ceres.

"Linda and Tulio?" repeated Regulus.

"Who are they?" asked Oceano and Carmen together. Cobalto smiled.

"We'll introduce you to them when we get to Rio," he said gently, "But in the meantime, we've got that long trip ahead of us to focus on."

"Yes, starting tomorrow," added Azul.

"Where you lot will be under the watchful eyes of us," put in Fernanda. Regulus, Denebola, Saiph, Oceano and Carmen sighed and looked straight ahead to prepare for bed as soon as the group arrived at their temporary hollows where they will spend the night before the big trip day tomorrow morning.

A while later, Blu and company were preparing for bed. The sun was going down now and it was now the kids' bedtime. While the group prepared to tuck the kids into the nests or, in the flying fox pups' case, their mothers' wings, relatives of the group came by to wish them goodnight. Lola, her mate Anton and son Thomas was wishing Mercury and his family goodnight and good luck while Izzy, Phoebus and their son Erico wished Venus and her family the same. Felipe, Pearl, Alfonso and Regina were also there to bid Benjamin and Umbriel and their hybrid chicks good night while Nuvem, Cassia, Tyler, Ricardo, Aurora and Tyler and Aurora's kids did the same with Brisa, Zephyr and their families. While all this was happening, a certain young flying fox sat on the end of a branch gazing at the sunset and darkening sky. Sandalwood had come to watch the final sunset he will see in the jungle before the journey to Rio. While he did that, a male Cuban red macaw came up behind him and sat beside him.

"Are you alright, Sandalwood?" asked the macaw, Frodo. Sandalwood snapped out of his trance and gazed at the Cuban macaw.

"What, oh… I'm fine thanks," he replied, "Just watching the sunset."

Frodo then came up beside the young flying fox pup and sat beside him. Frodo was a very colourful macaw. Cuban red macaws resembled scarlet macaws to a degree. Like scarlets, Cuban reds had red feathers and blue in their wing and tail flight feathers, as well as some white skin around their eyes and sometimes their beaks. Frodo just had rings of white skin around each eye. However, the similarities the Cuban reds shared with the scarlets stopped there. The nape of the Cuban macaws was orange to bright amber while their wing contours were burgundy and brown. The lower backs were also blue. Frodo was blood red with a bright yellow-orange nape and crown. His wing contours were maroon and red-brown while his wing flight feathers, lower back and ends of his tail feathers, were a crystalline blue like a clear, unpolluted lake. A few faint patches of blue-green were also strewn in his wing plumage. Frodo's crest was a simple set of feather flicks atop his head, coloured yellow-orange and his eyes were a friendly aqua blue as they gazed at the setting sun and the red, orange, yellow and pink scenery the sun's light painted the western sky and nearby clouds.

"I wonder how the sunrise and sunset will look from that city when we arrive there," said Frodo in fascination, "I think it would probably be no different from watching the sun rise or set in the jungle…"

"Well, according to Mr Blu," said Sandalwood, "There is an ocean right near the city of Rio."

Frodo was about to reply when he suddenly heard his mate's voice.

"Frodo, it's time to put our five kids to bed," called his mate, Ellie. Ellie was red with a bright yellow nape and crown like every other Cuban macaw and her wings were burgundy, red and blue and her tail was blue and yellow. She was slimmer than the stockier Frodo and had green eyes. She had a wavy sheet of amber feathers flowing over her crown and stopping at the back of her head, opposite her beak. Frodo and Ellie's five kids were their two biological children, Olivia and Sylvester and three adopted ones, a pair of sibling Dominican green-and-yellow macaws named Alegria and Achilles and an undiscovered purple-and-pink macaw named Pitaya. The five were energetic and were sometimes hard to handle and because it was their first trip to a city, they were overflowing with excitement.

Olivia and Sylvester were both red with amber napes and crowns like their parents, and their wing plumages were red, burgundy and azure but Olivia had some green in her wing plumage like her father. Both chicks had a flick of amber feathers on their heads. Olivia had a slender build like Ellie while Sylvester was stocky like Frodo. Olivia's eyes were blue like her father's but darker while Sylvester had dark green eyes, darker than Ellie's green. Alegria and Achilles were an extremely rare, thought-to-be-extinct species of macaw, the Dominican green-and-yellow macaw. Their backs were a bright green while their fronts were yellow. However, their wing flight feathers and tails were a deep ruby red. Their eyes were surrounded by a ring of equally red skin and a bit more of the skin was behind their lower mandibles and their beaks and feed were smoky black. These features were shared by all Dominican green-and-yellow macaws. Alegria was a female and she was somewhat chubby. Her eyes were a pretty chartreuse colour similar to Charlotte's eyes. She had a downward pointing flick of feathers behind her head, no different from that of Roxie the Spix tribe's Pit of Games scoremarker and her very similar lookalike from the red macaw tribe and also the reds' scoremarker, Cherie. Achilles was slimmer and had a ruffle behind his head. His eyes were lime green.

Pitaya was of a species of macaw that was undiscovered. Most of her plumage was a deep purple or dark pink colour but her wing flight feathers were a lighter pink, like a flamingo's plumage. Her chest bore a large batch of feathers which were vibrant aqua blue as were the distal parts of her tail. The rest of her tail was a lighter pink. Rings of white skin enclosed her eyes and beak and her beak was a dark grey but her talons were a pale grey, the characteristics all purple-and-pink macaws had. Pitaya had a flick of feathers dotting both sides of her head and at the back, many of which were tipped aqua blue. However, a larger flick at the back and base of her neck was entirely purple. This flick curved upward. Pitaya was certainly a beautiful macaw chick. Her eyes were a shade of lavender and she had a slender build. Frodo smiled as he watched Ellie command the five chicks into the hollow for they had trotted out of the hollow and onto the branch.

"I'll be right back," he said to Sandalwood and with that, he left for the hollow. As soon as the five energetic kids had been put into their nests, Frodo returned to Sandalwood's side just as Bia, Virgil, Ganymede and Mimas, having put their kids to bed as well, touched down.

"Looking forward to our trip tomorrow?" asked Bia. At this, Frodo's face morphed into one of nervousness.

"Sort of," said Frodo, "It's just that… the thought of going to a place where so many humans live together is kind of nerve-wracking, especially if one has never been to a place like that before but other than that, yes, I would love to see a city with my family."

"Have you ever revealed yourselves to humans before?" asked Sandalwood, "Will you be doing just that when we get to Rio?"

"Well, we prefer it if we remained hidden or disguised ourselves," said Frodo, "Even though we are looking forward to going to that place and seeing where you had your adventures, we prefer to play it safe."

"Why?" asked Bia with surprise.

"The humans who run the Blu Bird Sanctuary care for the animals and the environment just like the Sanctuary de Amazon employees do," said Ganymede.

"And besides that, we won't be going to the parts of Rio where we haven't been," added Virgil.

"We Cuban macaws as well as the Dominican green-and-yellow macaws still find all humans untrustworthy, even if they are well-meaning," said Frodo in a low voice, "It is largely because of the negative history we have had with them for decades."

"When your ancestors migrated south from Cuba and other Central American islands over a century ago because of humans destroying their habitats and hunting them," said Mimas.

"Yes, and also because we're possibly the last clan of Cuban macaws and Dominican green-and-yellow macaws on the planet," added Frodo. He then nodded to a passing trio of purple-and-pink macaws that were the same species as Pitaya as they talked with one of the flying foxes. "The purple-and-pink macaws and the neon parakeets also don't trust humans much either, again because of their rarity," Frodo then sighed and added, "So while we're in Rio, we're gonna disguise ourselves as Spix or glaucous macaws to hide our true species from human eyes."

"Well since you're a part of a species that is thought extinct by humans for more than a century," said Virgil, "I'm sure our human friends Tulio and Linda would add you to their list of strictly protected bird species."

Frodo just sighed, still uncertain about showing himself and his family to the humans. Hiding from humans had always been part of the life of the last surviving Cuban red and Dominican green-and-yellow macaws since their ancestors migrated from Central America to the Amazon and their species had always been viewed as extinct by humans to this day. The undiscovered bird species such as the purple-and-pink macaw and the neon parakeet (whose plumages were neon coloured, like fluorescent yellow, florescent orange, fuchsia pink, aqua blue, fluorescent green and so on, like the brightly coloured highlighter pens humans made, according to the macaws that were familiar with human things like Bia, Ganymede, Virgil and Mimas), who also weren't keen on showing themselves to the humans, also preferred it if they remained undiscovered as well, especially after hearing of poachers and how they would snatch them out of the jungle without hesitation if they were ever found. Bia put a comforting wing on Frodo's shoulder.

"Well, Andromeda's clan and the bat-birds are known by the humans who care for the environment and have been added to the list of strictly protected animals," said she.

"And while it's true there are some humans out there who are greedy and don't care for the environment at all," said Virgil, "These humans aren't like that."

"And we're sure those same humans would add your species to that list too," added Ganymede.

"After all, you lot are the last of your kinds," said Mimas.

"And based on what Mr Blu said," put in Sandalwood, "Those humans he has mentioned during the Rio introduction sound really nice."

Frodo gazed at the five when Sandalwood heard his mother's voice call him.

"Sandalwood, it's time for bed," called Stella from another tree across a small clearing. Sandalwood flashed her a gaze."

"Oh, aye, it's time for me to go to sleep," he said.

"Oh yeah, it is getting late," said Frodo, his eyes on the fully set sun with only a sliver of its light still shining from the horizon, but the darkness of the night will soon eat away that as well. Then after saying goodnight to Virgil, Bia, Ganymede and Mimas, Sandalwood dropped from the branch into flight and flew over to Stella and Soren. Mimas, Ganymede, Bia and Virgil then prepared to go to bed as well.

"Well, we have a long flight starting from tomorrow," said Ganymede as the quartet prepared to take off to their hollows, "So we must be well prepared for it."

"We'll see you in the morning, Frodo," said Bia, "And remember what we have said about those humans who work to protect rare species and our advice."

And with that, the two Spix macaws, the scarlet macaw and his blue-and-gold mate lofted into flight and retreated to their temporary hollows for the night, leaving Frodo to think over the comments about the friendly humans who worked on the Blu Bird Sanctuary and the Sanctuary de Amazon.


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5- trip day, a repulsive encounter for Travis, Cometa and company**

 **Next morning**

The sun rose into the sky opposite its setting point, in the eastern horizon, showering the green sea of trees with the Amazon River snaking through it with its warm morning rays. Along with the sunrise, the activities of the diurnal animals also started up. Blu and company had also all woken up from their slumber and were now having their breakfast. Blu, Jewel, Zephyr, Venus, Roberto, Brisa, and their children and grandchildren were perched on one branch while Jupiter, Mars, Ruby, Chiquitita and their offspring and grandkids were perched on another adjacent to the Spix macaws. Saturn, Uranus, Ceres, Pluto, Mercury and Andromeda and Augustus and their families sat in some of the other branches nearby, feeding on a stock of fruit and helping their grown-up offspring feed their kids. Sandalwood clutched to Stella's breast, relishing the sweet taste of mango his mother fed to him while Soren helped Sebastian and Anabelle feed Acerola and Ferdinand. While the sounds of munching of fruit and other plant matter filled the air, Andromeda and Eragon's older son, Spyro, his mate Marella and kids Bambi and Altair had decided to have some lone time, having finished their breakfast already while Andromeda and Eragon fed their bat-bird mounts including Spyro and Marella's.

Spyro had grown into a handsome young male archaeobird. His plumage was a brilliant metallic purple with blue strewn through the feathers, especially on the flight feathers on his hind wings and tail, and his eyes, which were icy blue like his mother Andromeda's, glittered like vibrant blue flowers. Marella was a metallic lime green and darker green archaeobird with a fairly chubby build like Carla, and her eyes were the same shade of green. Her head feathers consisted of a set of spiky feathers flicking backward behind her head. Spyro and Marella had two kids, a daughter named Bambi and a son named Altair. Bambi resembled Spyro with her slender build and had mostly metallic lime green feathers. Metallic green spots decorated her back and she had a flick of feathers atop her head but Bambi also had some purple strewn through parts of her plumage, especially on her tail. Her eyes were green like her mother's. Altair, on the other hand, was metallic purple like Spyro with some hints of green in some parts of his plumage. His crest was identical to that of Marella's and he had dark blue eyes, and was slender with a slight curve to his stature. Both Bambi and Altair were incredibly inquisitive, a trait their adolescent uncle and aunt Bellerophon and Pandora possessed. While they kept a close eye on their two chicks as they played on an adjacent branch, the sounds of flapping wings alerted Spyro and Marella. At this, the archaeobird couple looked up and smiled as a family of toucans flew in.

"Morning, Diantha, Tom," said Spyro.

"Morning, Spyro and Marella," said Diantha as she, her mate Tom and three chicks perched before the couple. Tom was a toco toucan and a member of a group of toco toucans rescued from the colony flying foxes by Marcus and his group of allied flying foxes. He resembled Diantha's father Rafael and had an orange beak with a black tip like all tocos but he was slender, had three feathers flicking backward behind his head and had grey eyes. He and Diantha had bonded at some point after the ending of the Great Battle for the Sanctuary and after a good while, they had become mates and had three chicks together, two daughters named Aurora, named after Tyler's mate, and Lillie, partly in honour of the flying fox that had helped so many birds and Melissa's cousin, and a middle son named Gladion.

The triplet toucan chicks resembled one another to a very great extent like their many, many, many cousins and aunts and uncles but they had some distinguishing features. All three bore an orange and lime green beak with a magenta tip like Diantha and their bellies were pale cream-red like their grandmother Eva. Their plumages were black and their crests resembled Tom's crest, a small flick of feathers behind their heads. However, each had their own addition set of head feathers as well. Aurora had pigtails similar to Venus; Gladion had a cowlick while Lillie had a ponytail atop her head. All three's eyes were all brown like their mother and grandfather Rafael's, but of varying shades. Aurora's eyes were pale sandy brown; Gladion's was hazel while Lillie's were a dark chocolate brown. Their builds also varied with Aurora being slender, Gladion being stocky and Lillie being slim with a curve to her body, similar to Bia and some of her relatives. Aurora, Gladion and Lillie were slightly mischievous but not to the same extent as most of their numerous cousins back in Rio, which Diantha was glad for. Furthermore, the three chicks had some sense and knew what was too naughty and always avoided it. As Diantha and Tom perched before Spyro and Marella, Aurora, Gladion and Lillie went off to play with Bambi and Altair.

"Looking forward to the trip?" asked Diantha.

"Yes we are, thanks," said Spyro, "It's gonna be good."

"We'll get to see the Rio sanctuary for the first time," said Marella.

"Not to mention a human city," said Tom, "I've always wanted to visit a city but could not because of safety concerns."

"We'll also meet Neptune and his family when we get to Rio as well," said Diantha before her face fell. "Too bad they decided to live there for a while to escape some problems."

"Specifically Penelope's constant bullying of Triton for his scarred face and damaged left eye despite the bandana Frodo fashioned for him to cover it," said Spyro sourly. He then flashed a glance at the male Cuban macaw as he fed Pitaya, Alegria and Achilles some fruit while his mate sought to the biological children, Olivia and Sylvester. Spyro then spotted Acerola as she began to talk with the latter two chicks and smiled. Nearby, Augustus, Melissa, Sebastian, Anabelle with Ferdinand on her breast, Luna, Stella with Sandalwood on her breast, and Soren were talking together and with Uranus, Esmeralda, Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania and Oberon and Miranda's mate Aramis, Umbriel's scarlet mate Benjamin and Titania's military mate Ash while also eating fruit in an adjacent branch. The kids of the six young couples played nearby and Spyro smiled at the half great green, half scarlet chicks, Perdita, Aldebaran and Cecil, play catch with a berry. It was then that the archaeobird and toucan families heard the sounds of flapping wings and based on those flaps, the wings were larger and thus belonged to a larger bird. At this, the toucans and the archaeobirds turned and saw a group of six navy blue birds with yellow rings around their eyes and lappets behind their mandibles appear. Two of them were adults based on their size while the remaining four were young hyacinth macaw chicks, two being older than the other two that were just fledged. One of the adults, a familiar female, gazed at Diantha, Spyro and their mates with a bratty look.

"We heard that you're gonna go to Rio," said the familiar female in a sickly sweet sort of voice as though expressing sarcasm. Diantha and Spyro glared at her.

"Of course we are, Penelope," said Spyro in a low voice.

"What are you doing here?" asked Diantha sharply. The bird at the front, Penelope, casually perched onto an adjacent branch and held up her wings. The other five macaws, the other adult being a male and Penelope's mate and the four young birds being their offspring, perched around her.

"No need to be snappy," Penelope said with her beak up in a boastful manner.

"We just want to speak to you guys one last time before you leave," said Penelope's mate. The four chicks squeaked in cheeky agreement. However, Spyro, Diantha, Tom and Marella, clearly not keen on this hyacinth family's company, glared at them.

Over the past three years, Penelope had become brattier and more condescending towards her former boyfriend Triton; always picking on him for his scarred face with her friends which was why Spyro, Diantha, Tom and Marella did not like her company. Penelope's mate was as equally bratty and their kids were no better.

"What do you want to talk to us about before we leave, Penelope?" growled Spyro, his metallic purple and blur feathers bristling somewhat.

"If it's about Triton, then we're gonna have to break it off abruptly," said Diantha. She flashed a glance at Aurora, Gladion, Lillie, Bambi and Altair to make sure that they did not wander off. To her gladness, all five remained within a good proximity to their parents. Happy at this, Diantha turned round to deal with Penelope.

"As I was saying," she continued, "If it's about Triton and your usual attitude towards him, then we're gonna have to cut off the chat and tell you to leave."

"Your attitude towards him has gone on long enough," put in Tom. He had heard what had happened to the poor hyacinth macaw three years ago and had come to sympathise with him. Penelope's bratty glare morphed into a scowl.

"I'm wondering if he's planning on finding another girl to replace me," she crooned nastily, before nodding to her mate and four chicks, which were two broods. "Too bad I broke off our plans to become mates and have a family together after he became the scarfaced bird you guys know."

"I don't think any female hyacinth macaw would want a one-eyed macaw like him for a mate," said Penelope's mate equally nastily, "Not to mention any chicks wanting him for a father."

Disgust tore through the quartet.

"'Scarfaced bird'!?" repeated Diantha, outrage flaring up within her.

"'One-eyed macaw'!?" added Tom.

"No female hyacinth macaw would want him for a mate or chicks would want him for a father!?" added Spyro. Marella looked on with rage burning in her green eyes but said nothing. Then Spyro rose to his feet and stormed towards Penelope. Seizing her by the shoulders with his wing claws, the archaeobird brought the hyacinth macaw's beak to his own so that his fiery glare was directed directly into her eyes at point-blank range.

"That despicable attitude of yours has been going on for YEARS, you brat!" snarled Spyro furiously, "And we're getting SICK AND TIRED OF IT! You know what happened and how he ended up with some scars across the left side of his face and what distress it had caused him the following months but your attitude, which has been ongoing, isn't helping him ONE BIT!"

"You should never have broken up with him after what happened," put in Marella as Spyro heftily released Penelope.

"Why didn't you show him any sympathy like the rest of us did?" put in Tom. Penelope shot the pure toco toucan a glare while her mate and four chicks looked on sourly.

"Why should I?" retorted Penelope.

"Because he had to sacrifice half his sight to save the three offspring of the flying fox and his mate who had helped us during the Great Battle from a certain savage bat that was too large for those three pups to handle by themselves!" snarled Diantha. Her shouts roused the attention of the others within the vicinity of the group and they turned their heads in the group's direction. Among those alerted were Augustus and his family. Penelope, unaware of the attention attraction the argument was bringing, went on to retort at Diantha.

"Not when he looks so much like CICATRIZ with that DAMAGED LEFT EYE!" she bellowed at the top of her voice, not realising that she had made a careless mistake in her choice of words. Not to mention the loudness of her voice as it had carried across the area and had reached the ears of everyone. As Penelope regained control of her temper, she found herself at the receiving end of the gazes from Spyro, Marella, Diantha and Tom, who had their eyes inflated and their lower beaks dropped open but they weren't the only ones with this flabbergasted expression. Penelope then backed away and began to shoot confused glances here and there. Not only have flabbergasted glares appeared don the faces of the hearers but silence, like that of death had come upon the group as well. It was so silent that one could hear a stone fall into the river from a good distance away. Behind Penelope, her mate and their four chicks also looked around.

Blu, Jewel, Zephyr, Venus, Roberto and Brisa, together with Carla, Bia, Tiago, Justin, Charlotte, Matilda, Virgil, Jojo, Felix and Lavender, Músculo, Garrett, Kira and Turquesa, looked on with agape faces and widened eyes while the Spix macaw chicks looked on confused; next to them, Jupiter, Chiquitita, Mars, Phobos, Deimos, Alexandre, Estelle, Io, Sheldon, Europa, Byron, Ganymede, Mimas, Callisto and Athos wore stunned facial expressions while Ruby swayed as though she were about to faint; Saturn, Enceladus and his hyacinth mate Trixie, Tethys and her great green mate Oberon, Dione, Porthos, Rhea, Titan, Brooke and Iapetus just stood there while Orquidea began to tremble and lose control of her breathing; Uranus, Esmeralda, Miranda, Aramis, Ariel, Umbriel, Benjamin, Titania and Ash looked on with fright, especially Esmeralda while Ceres, Cobalto, Wilbur, Azul, Fernanda and Aurelio glared at Penelope. Mercury, Sapphire, Phoebe, Squaw'tagnan, Jasmine and Annette and also Pluto, Lapis Lazuli, Blueberry, Aiden, Charon, Neytiri, Quincy and Flor, Andromeda and Eragon, Frodo and Ellie wore shocked facial expressions as well. However, all these birds hadn't been the only ones to hear what Penelope had blurted out. Augustus, Melissa, Stella, Luna, Sebastian, Anabelle and Soren also wore flabbergasted facial expressions as they gazed at Penelope. When she saw what reaction she had unintentionally caused, Penelope's bratty attitude flashed to timid realisation.

"Now you've done it, you moron," hissed Spyro, "You've sent extreme shock coursing through the crowd."

"Especially those who are especially sensitive," said Diantha, and with that, she nodded to a certain family to which Sandalwood belonged. Penelope began to quiver while her mate and her chicks began to think about leaving. Nearby, Altair, Bambi, Aurora, Gladion and Lillie gazed at the family, confused. Then Penelope began to try and deny it to get out of trouble.

"I-I-I didn't say anything," she stammered, "H-honest."

However, this did not ease the tension one bit. Then Augustus's face morphed from a look of shock to complete outrage. Dropping from the branch and flying towards Penelope, he growled, "What did you just say, young lady!?"

Penelope shuddered as the enraged flying fox approached her and began to back away. Her mate and chicks lofted into flight and fled, too timid to help defend her. Then Penelope began to try her luck again in denying what she had said. Diantha, Tom, Spyro and Marella backed away and scooped up their kids to allow Augustus to confront the hyacinth macaw.

"I-I-I-I didn't say anything," murmured Penelope as Augustus touched down in front of her.

"There's no point in denying it, Penelope," snapped the flying fox, not even fooled the slightest, "Everybody heard you shout the forbidden name."

"Did you say the name of that infamous flying fox colony patriarch, Penelope?" came Jewel's voice. At this, Penelope's timid gaze turned from Augustus to the Spix macaws, all who wore angered facial expressions now. The red, green, blue-and-gold, glaucous, Lear's and the blue-throated macaws and the others such as Andromeda and company archaeobirds also had enraged facial expressions, all directed at Penelope. The female hyacinth macaw and Triton's ex-girlfriend continued to shudder. Seeing nowhere else to run and her tongue stuck in her throat, Penelope continued to back away from Augustus and shoot timid gazes at the enraged audience. Seeing her cowardice, Spyro decided to speak on her behalf.

"She…" he began but then a piercing scream erupted from Penelope's beak. Frightened, Penelope took off after her family, a navy blue blur before anyone could act. Diantha watched her leave in a hurry.

"I hope she learns not to say that name again," she growled.

"I hope not," snapped Augustus fiercely, "Because you know how insulting that name has become since he had been that deranged excuse of a brother of mine and leader of the colony."

"Let's just finish our breakfast and get prepared for the trip," said Jupiter firmly and with that, everyone resumed their breakfast. As they did that, Spyro said to Diantha, "We'd better be careful not to let that name slip out as well, especially since the allied flying foxes find it so offensive."

Diantha nodded in agreement and returned to the group with Tom, Aurora, Gladion and Lillie.

"Who's this 'not-allowed name', Mommy?" asked Lillie.

"You're too young to know," said Diantha gently.

"Why?" asked Gladion.

"Well, it's a topic that's too grown-up for chicks like you to understand," said Tom.

"Yes, you'll hear the full story when you're older," said Augustus firmly, rage at Penelope's outburst and saying the forbidden name having subsided. Aurora, Gladion and Lillie exchanged glances and returned to the group with their parents and the others.

 **Rio**

The morning activities of the human citizens of Rio and the animals living on the Blu Bird Sanctuary, much like the activities out in the Amazon Rainforest, had also started up. Humans and animals prepared for their plans they had set before them in the coming hours and the hustle and bustle of Rio's streets and roads had begun to increase, peaking at the rush hour. Vehicles drove about while the pavements (also called sidewalks), were flooded with people going to work or taking kids to school, or tourists going out sightseeing such as on Copacabana Beach. In one part of the Blu Bird Sanctuary, a group of birds were going for a family-and-friend flight out together. The group consisted of a blended family of cockatoos and falcons. Travis, Sunset, Lightning and Cometa were taking their grown-up offspring, Eustace, Milo, Rosa, Orion and Velocity, their mates (apart from Milo who was still single) and grandkids on an outing.

Much like Carla, Bia and Tiago and many of their friends, Eustace, Rosa, Orion and Velocity had paired up with mates and have had their own families. Eustace and his mate, a female sulfur-crested cockatoo named Serena, had become the proud parents of three chicks, two in one brood and a third in another. The first brood consisted of a daughter named Yolanda and a son named Vincent, both who had hatched three years ago and were adolescents, while the second brood consisted of a single son named Oscar. Yolanda and her brothers were three-quarter sulfur-crested and one-quarter Major Mitchell's cockatoos due to their heritage (Eustace being a Major Mitchell's/Sulfur-crested hybrid and Serena being a pure sulfur-crested). Because of the mixing of the genes involved, all three resembled sulfur-crested cockatoos though a few traits of their grandmother Sunset were still present. All three bore snowy white plumage and yellow marks under their wings, tail and yellow in their crests but Vincent's crest feathers were tinted orange while Oscar's crest had faint orange bands in the feathers, like those of Sunset. Yolanda had a slender build with a curve to her shape like Serena while Vincent and Oscar were stocky and chubby respectively. Yolanda had lilac eyes like her dad, Vincent had green eyes like his mother, and Oscar had baby blue eyes like his grandfather Travis.

Rosa and her citron-crested mate Clemont had two chicks, again of separate broods. Their oldest chick was a daughter named Peach and their second brood chick was a son named Bruno. Peach had hatched a few weeks after her cousins Yolanda and Vincent and was thus an adolescent while Bruno was a young chick. The two resembled their cousins and had snowy white plumage but their features were quite different due to the interesting mix of species in their line. Peach and Bruno were half-citron-crested (due to Clemont being a full citron-crested), quarter Major Mitchell's and quarter sulfur-crested cockatoos (due to Rosa being a hybrid of the two species). Peach's underwing and tail markings were a pink-orange colour and her crest was a rich orange-red colour. She also had pale peach patches on her cheeks and she had a stocky build, though she was not chubby like Clemont, and dark blue eyes. Bruno had darker orange underwing and tail patches and cheek spots and was chubby. His eyes were pink like Rosa's eyes. His crest was also orange but up close, he bore bands in the feathers of a paler orange shade, a characteristic of his heritage. The five young cockatoos were outgoing birds who loved music and games, though the adolescents were mature than their younger siblings.

Orion and Velocity had paired up with a female merlin named Hermione and a male peregrine falcon named Merlin respectively. Both Hermione and Merlin were friends of some of the birds on the Blu Bird Sanctuary including Rafael and Eva and were two of Orion and Velocity's groupmates of the pest control squad of falcons and other birds of prey, called the Control de Plagas Squad. Both couples had a single chick with Orion and Hermione having a son named Hunter and Velocity and Merlin having a daughter named Zelda. Hermione was a brown bird who resembled an immature peregrine, a characteristic of female merlins. Her back was a mottled combination of various shades of brown while her front was sandy brown laced with darker brown bands. Her beak was white with a black tip and her talons were yellow coloured. Merlin, meanwhile, had all the characteristics of a peregrine falcon with a slate grey back and ivory underside with black dots and bands. However, he was stockier than Velocity.

The chicks, Hunter and Zelda, were immature birds. Hunter was a peregrine/merlin hybrid but he looked indistinguishable from his cousin Zelda. Both birds were brown with a spotted sandy brown underside. The cousins were quite playful and energetic, but at times they were mischievous though they were not as naughty as many of the toucan chicks and adolescents that were scattered throughout the Blu Bird Sanctuary. Since their first brood son and daughter had left the nest, Cometa and Lightning have had a third chick, another son named Spike who had also fledged.

As the families of cockatoos and falcons soared over the green sea of trees and the cityscape of Rio, Hermione and Orion admiring some colourful insect-like gliders that flew around the Christ the Redeemer statue, Travis wore a bright smile.

"It sure is nice to get out and about isn't it for a change," he said.

"Yeah, but we shouldn't be hanging around out here for too long," said Cometa, Spike flying close to her, "Our squad leader and owners will be waiting for us to return so that they could begin the hunt for those pigeons roaming the city."

"My favourite bit of the hunt is always soaring high in the sky and then diving down at well over two hundred miles per hour upon our targets," said Lightning, "It's a lot of fun."

"Wish I could fly that fast," said Hermione as she flew alongside Orion and Hunter, "But due to me being a merlin, we're not really built for those super-fast dives."

"According to Bia and Ganymede," said Orion, "When we peregrines dive, we always fold our wings to become very aerodynamic and shoot through the air like a bullet."

Cometa, Lightning, Velocity and some of the others shot him a surprised gaze at his choice of terminology.

"You've been listening to too much of those two macaws' scientific descriptions, son," said Lightning with an amused smile.

"You understand the term 'aerodynamics'?" asked Milo.

"Only the gist of it," said Orion in protest.

"Well, that's still impressive," said Sunset, "I could never get my head around how that topic at all."

The others broke out into amused laughs while Orion just sighed. Then moments later, the two families decided to descend out of the sky and land somewhere for a rest. The group passed over the Vista Chinesa where they saw a group of ornithologists, or humans who study birds, fill out some white sheets clipped to a hard slab using sticks they called pens. The group was surrounded by a few of the birds that looked on in curiosity. The plague with Blu's face on it was still attached to the outer wall of the construct and despite it being a number of years old since Tulio and Linda set up the site as a sanctuary, it was as good as new, having been repainted whenever its old paint became flaky and started to peel off. Travis and Lightning smiled at the ornithologists as they continued their work and picked out three familiar humans.

"There are Jack, Jill and Fernando, kids," said Travis. At this, Yolanda, Vincent, Oscar, Peach, Bruno, Hunter and Zelda gazed at the trio as they chatted to two other humans on the deck of the Vista Chinesa.

"Those three used to work for smugglers," explained Cometa, "Like how your grandmother and a certain calico cat and the mother of Broccoli and Daisy did until we gave up that cruel business in exchange for a better life."

"You were part of a team of smugglers?" asked Zelda in curiosity. Her cousin and the five young cockatoos looked on in surprise but Cometa raised her talon and closed her eyes.

"I'll explain in detail later," she said, much to the disappointment of the kids and adolescents. The group continued descending through the trees until they landed on the forest floor. Through the canopy overhead, colourful feathered forms, squawks and chirps escaping their beaks, flew, kicking up some loose leaves and sending them dancing gently down through the canopy and towards the lowest levels of the forest. Peach caught one of the leaves and examined it in fascination before gazing after the passing birds. Nearby, Clemont, Rosa, Milo, Serena and Eustace, who stood on his right foot, his left talon merely a stub, a remnant of the Great Battle for the Sanctuary three years ago in which he lost a talon trying to protect some birds, stopped to breathe in the fresh air. Vincent, Yolanda and Peach were the only ones who understood how Eustace lost his talon but Bruno and Oscar were still too young, as were Zelda and Hunter, but the youngsters cannot believe that Eustace, Milo, Rosa, Clemont, Serena, Orion, Velocity and their parents had participated in a great battle out in the Amazon Rainforest against a colony of deranged flying mammals with faces resembling dogs. Not to mention the fact that Velocity and Milo have been to a mythical place in Guyana with some of the other birds such as Carla, Bia and Tiago to save the Sanctuary de Amazon before then which Velocity and Milo had told the chicks and adolescents about in their bedtime stories. Yolanda, Vincent, Oscar, Peach, Bruno, Hunter and Zelda had hoped to travel one day when they were old enough.

The seven young cockatoos and falcons then rushed off to explore the forest floor while their parents took a break, Cometa watching over Spike.

"Oi, don't go too far, kids," called Travis as he watched the little group scurry through the vegetation.

"We won't, Grandpa," Yolanda called back.

"Yes, Mr Travis," shouted Hunter. Travis smiled and turned to talk with Sunset, Cometa, Lightning and the other adults. Milo then decided to follow the kids.

"I'll just follow them to keep an eye on them to make sure that they don't run into trouble," said he as he left, "It is a dangerous level of the rainforest after all, the forest floor."

"Okay, be careful," said Sunset and with that, Milo left.

"I'm surprised he had opted against finding a mate and having his own kids," said Merlin as he sat with Velocity.

"It's his choice," said Eustace as he hopped over to a rock on his single foot and sat on it, "Having his own family doesn't appeal to him anyway."

"And besides that, he prefers being an uncle," said Rosa. The others looked on and said nothing. While the adults started up their chat, beginning with Blu and company's impending visit to Rio, the kids and adolescents, with Milo following them, began to go about exploring.

"You know, when I grow up, I wanna visit that Jurassic-like place and see those surviving dinosaurs," said Bruno excitedly.

"I would like to see those flying dinosaurs," said Oscar.

"Pterodactyls aren't really dinosaurs," said Yolanda nearby. Next to her, a pretty butterfly, a jet black one with white spots on its wings, flitted past, catching the attention of Peach who began to follow it.

"I thought they were," said Zelda with a frown. At this, Vincent and Yolanda shook their heads.

"No, they're a separate type of animal altogether," said Vincent. As he said this, Peach began to wander away from the group after the butterfly. As the insect landed on a leaf and began to open and close its black and white wings, Peach moved her face close to it and examined its wings.

"I wonder what sort of butterfly this little cutie is," she crooned in admiration. Then the butterfly lofted into flight and flitted away, prompting her to follow it. However, as she continued running after the insect, the butterfly suddenly made an abrupt U-turn and flitted off in the opposite direction as though it had sensed something nearby, flitting past Peach's face. Peach, surprised at the butterfly's sudden change in direction, began to follow it when suddenly; she heard the sounds of grunting and grumbling. At this, Peach's curiosity was pulled from the butterfly to the grumbler and she began to listen to it.

"Huh?" she mumbled and began to trace the sound to its source. As she approached it, the sounds of grumbling and grunting, which appeared to have some anger thrown in, began to get louder. Then the sounds of munching began, accompanied by hisses of words and comments Peach knew her parents or relatives would cuff her and her brother Bruno, cousins Yolanda, Vincent and Oscar and also Zelda and Hunter for if they ever said them. Peach, wariness taking over, then slowed down her paces and began to creep towards the source. Then moments later, as she passed a tree trunk, she found the source around the corner. However, the moment her eyes landed on the thing, her curiosity flashed to shock.

Crouched before Peach was a ragged bundle of grey-white feathers. A faded yellow crest, similar to the one borne by her grandfather Travis and aunt Serena but paler, sat atop the bundle and around the midsection was a green and yellow barrel-shaped thing, tattered and torn, old and worn out. The feathers were crisscrossed with scars and the flight feathers in the wings and tail were ragged and tatty. The creature looked as though he had been in countless fights to come out like this. Below the bundle of feathers was a pair of ragged talons but the creature's face was concealed from Peach's view, and based on the sounds, the creature was feeding on something which Peach assumed was fruit for she had never met this creature before. Peach continued watching on as the creature continued feeding on something concealed from her view by his burly, ragged body.

"Uhh… hello?" she squeaked. Suddenly, the form bolted and its head shot up as though it had been stung by a bee. Peach flinched when she found herself on the receiving end of a surprised, but unpleasant, glare. The creature's face was now visible. Two pairs of brown eyes, two reddish bags hanging under them, glared at the young mixed-species girl, his pale yellow, ragged crest raised and fanned with surprise. Peach glared back at the creature with equal surprise but then she saw that the creature's white facial feathers were streaked with red marks, presumably red fruit juice. There was a moment of silence hanging over the two for a moment until finally, Peach broke it.

"Um… hello," she squeaked timidly. However, the creature's face response was not at all friendly. His face morphed from a look of surprise to a look of pure hostility.

"What do you want, you little runt!?" snarled the creature, making Peach jump back, "Can't you see I'm trying to eat here?"

"Ugh… um…" Peach tried to think of an answer to the question but found her flow of words blocked by fear. She then began to tremble as the creature's unfriendly brown gaze pierced her like a wildcat's glare. It was then that the sounds of footsteps reached Peach's ears, accompanied by a shout.

"Peach!" called the newcomer, making Peach whip round and spot a pale pink-white form with a vermillion and yellow banded crest on his head dash over to her, his blue eyes flooded with fear.

"Oh, there you are," said Milo as he swept his adolescent niece up in his wings, "You must NOT wander off in a cluttered environment like this…"

However, as he spoke, his blue eyes caught a familiar, ragged form. At this, Milo froze.

"Hey, I'm old enough to take care of myself you know, Uncle Milo," protested Peach but then she saw that her uncle's blue eyes were inflated by shock. His banded crest had fanned out fully and his body has gone rigid. Then more talon-based footsteps, including a one-footed one, and Travis, Sunset, Cometa, Lightning, Eustace, Serena, Rosa, Clemont, Orion, Hermione, Merlin and Velocity appeared from some vegetation to collect the other six chicks but the moment their eyes landed on the ugly form, they also froze in shock. Yolanda, Vincent, Oscar, Bruno, Hunter and Zelda, as well as Spike, who rested in the wings of the adults, looked at the creature in surprise. A moment of deathly silence hovered over the group until finally, the creature broke it. His hostile gaze morphed into one of mockery and scorn.

"Well if it ain't those good-for-nothing falcons and cockatoo friends of my most detested family of blue macaws," he crooned, "Not come to cause me trouble, eh?"

"Not if you threaten our families, Nigel," snapped Travis, hostility replacing surprise. He had immediately recognised the form before the group, as had the others including Hermione and Merlin who had seen him once before. Nigel was a right state. Most of his plumage was laced with scars and his wing and tail flight feathers were as ragged as before. His vest which covered his torso looked as though a cat had attacked it with its claws; open gash-shaped holes slashed through the fabric with bits of it hanging lazily from the edges of some of the holes. Nigel's patchy and unsightly torso was visible through the gashes. Nigel was definitely well on in his age. His face was as ugly as ever with a blood red bag of skin hanging beneath each of his brown eyes which were burning with fierce hatred and scorn as they remained fixated on Travis and his group. Around his beak, streaks of red smeared his feathers.

"Given the choice, yes," crooned the hideous cockatoo, a gnarled talon raised off the ground and his eyes staring at it casually. However, none of the younger cockatoos or the falcons were amused.

"What are you doing out here anyway?" asked Orion with a frown, his fishhook like claws poised to attack Nigel in case he thought about lashing at the group, especially the young chicks, "I thought you were back in Tulio's Aviary with that tiny frog girlfriend of yours."

Suddenly, a piercing screech of pure rage erupted from Nigel's beak and he lashed at Orion, his talons poised to scratch his face. Startled, the peregrine falcon, together with the others behind him, their talons clutching their kids firmly, rocketed upwards. Nigel careened past the spot where Orion was a second ago and slammed into the hard surface of the tree trunk. Orion then flared his talons and was about to plunge them into Nigel but a larger falcon flew to his front.

"Don't bother attacking him, son," said Lightning. Orion, at this, reduced the wrath in his bulbous eyes and glared at the cockatoo as he sorted himself out. Nearby, Travis, Sunset, Eustace, Milo, Rosa, Clemont, Serena, Cometa, Hermione and Merlin kept a firm grip on Yolanda, Vincent, Oscar, Peach, Bruno, Hunter and Zelda. Their eyes were laced with shock and the cockatoos' crests were flared.

"You know, we've heard of an infamous cockatoo who used to be part of a group of smugglers and who bore a burning hatred of exotic birds, taking pleasure in torturing them because he was displaced from his fame as a TV show bird by a parakeet when he was younger," growled Hermione, her bulbous eyes filled with hostility fixated upon Nigel, "We've also seen him once at that aviary, so that cockatoo must be YOU!"

"You've got that right, shrunken vulture," snapped Nigel bitterly.

"Who are you calling shrunken vulture," retorted Merlin in Hermione's defence, "Crested Scarface!?"

Then Yolanda, who was held by Serena in her talons, happened to turn her head in a certain direction but the moment they landed on something, a piercing scream erupted through her beak. The others followed her gaze and when they saw it, they winced with pure revulsion. Travis and Sunset's crests flared while Cometa ordered the kids to look away. Milo felt his stomach lurch while Serena almost fainted. Shuddered gasps also escaped the beaks of Clemont, Rosa and Eustace while the peregrine falcons looked on in immense horror and revulsion. Lying in a patch of ferns was a bird carcass, and based on the red feathers and blue wings, it was a green-winged macaw (not Mars or Chiquitita!). Peach gazed in utter shock at Nigel as immense dread came over her and as it did, she felt her stomach lurch violently, especially as Nigel said, "I would like to resume my meal, if you don't mind, you interfering pests," his beak creased into a sadistic smile, "I'm glad you've noticed what I'm eating. I hope you have nightmares for weeks. Too bad that late lil' morsel Gabi ain't here to witness how EEEEEEVIIIIL I have become," and with that, he licked his lips disgustingly and greedily, much to the revulsion of the group.

"We're outa here, I think," murmured Lightning shakily, especially as he saw some of the faces of the other falcons and cockatoos turn greenish under the facial feathers, accompanied by tongues sticking out of their beaks and half-asleep eyes, implying something Lightning knew was imminent. Then Travis shot Nigel a volcanic look as the others turned to leave, some of them with their stomachs shaking.

"Don't you DARE even THINK of planning revenge on us, you filthy, murderous, FOUL…" Travis then stopped, unable to think of a scathing name to call Nigel, especially based on the extremely dark path he had taken. Travis then began to feel anger well up within him and he began to tremble with rage.

"YOU MAKE US SICK!" he snarled, spittle flying at Nigel who did not wince, "IF YOU EVER MESS WITH BLU AND JEWEL, THEY WILL MERCILESSLY KILL YOU!"

And with that, he rocketed off after the others before Nigel had chance to retort. Grunting angrily, the disgusting cockatoo returned to his meal which he had found lying on the forest floor, already dead, while he had been scavenging for food.


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6- entering Rio and reunion with Travis, Neptune and their families**

 **Three days later**

Blu and company flew over a sea of trees, a sliver of drab colour of Rio with the ocean spread out before it emerging into visibility above the treeline. The group flew in subgroups and families with the chicks and pups flying close to their parents and grandparents and other relatives. It had taken the group three days to fly from the Sanctuary de Amazon to Rio and now they were almost at their destination. Before leaving for the three-day trip, Blu and company had said their goodbyes to Eduardo and the others including Jasmine, Annette, Aurelio, Wilbur, Quincy, Flor and also the second brood offspring who were now preteens, Blu and Jewel's chicks Luke and Linda; Zephyr and Venus's second brood Azurite and Aquamarine; Roberto and Brisa's second brood Ophelia and Chilro; Mercury and Sapphire's son Ozzy; Mars and Chiquitita's daughter Gabrielle; Jupiter and Ruby's chicks Ophelia and Oliver; Saturn and Orquidea's sons Hyperion and Gordon; Uranus and Esmeralda's son Edmund; Ceres and Cobalto's daughters Desdemona and Lucy; Pluto and Lapis Lazuli's chicks Charlie and Lisa and also Andromeda and Eragon's second brood Bellerophon and Pandora who will be staying behind with the others. The macaws, other birds and flying foxes who will be in charge of the tribes, clans and small groups while Blu and the others were away until they returned were also given goodbyes by Blu and company. After this, the group departed.

Blu and Jewel flew at the front with Roberto, Brisa, Zephyr and Venus and close behind them flew their first brood offspring and grandkids, all arranged in an arrow by family. Carla and Justin, with their daughters Sonia, Spica and Melody nearby, flew at the front of the arrow. Behind Carla's family to their left were Bia, Virgil and their sons Sirius, Einstein and Miles and to Carla's right were Tiago, Matilda, Bellatrix and Bartholomew. Charlotte, Músculo, Jason and Petunia flew behind Tiago's family while Jojo, Kira, Vega and Winona flew behind Bia's family. Behind Jojo were Felix, Turquesa, Austin and Diego and opposite these macaws in the other arrow branch, behind Charlotte were Lavender, Garrett, Deneb, Lilac and Polaris.

Not too far away from the Spix macaws flew the scarlet, green-winged and blue-and-gold macaws. Jupiter, Ruby, Saturn, Orquidea, Mars and Chiquitita flew at the front with Phobos, Deimos, Rhea and Iapetus flying with them. Behind these macaws, Io and company flew in an arrow like Carla's group. Io, Sheldon, Betelgeuse and Rigel flew at the front of the arrow with Europa, Byron, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka flying to their left and behind and Callisto, Athos, Canopus and Katniss to their right and behind. Alexandre, Estelle, Xander and Kayley flew behind Europa's family while Ganymede, Mimas and their Catalina offspring, Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine and Thymine, flew behind Alexandre's family.

The blue-and-gold macaws and their mates and chicks flew in a separate group, again, in an arrow. Dione, Porthos, Procyon and Peter flew at the front with Titan, Brooke, Castor, Pollux and Poppy to their left and behind and Enceladus, Trixie and their only Caloshua chick Mira to their right and behind. Because she was so large due to her species, Trixie practically dwarfed the other macaws, including her mate Enceladus. Behind Enceladus and his hyacinth mate and their hybrid daughter, Tethys and Oberon, together with their emerald chicks, Fomalhaut and Cressida, flew along. Close to the blue-and-gold and red macaw group, Uranus, Esmeralda, Mercury, Sapphire, Pluto, Lapis Lazuli, Cobalto and Ceres flew along as a mixed group with Ariel flying close by. Behind these macaws, the great green, Lear's, glaucous and blue-throated macaw families flew along. At the front of the arrow were Miranda, Aramis, Capella and Achernar, to their left and behind were Titania and her military mate Ash and their sons Basil and Antares. To the right and behind of Miranda's family flew Umbriel, her scarlet mate Benjamin and their Verde offspring, Perdita, Aldebaran and Cecil. Phoebe, Squaw'tagnan and Arcturus flew behind Umbriel's family while Blueberry, Aiden, Saiph, Charon, Neytiri, Regulus and Denebola flew together behind Titania's family and behind the glaucous macaws were Azul, Fernanda, Oceano and Carmen.

The others in the group flew in a separate subgroup. Augustus and Melissa, their black membranous wings sweeping like cloaks into the air, flew at the front with Luna, and Sebastian, his mate Anabelle and Stella and her mate Soren. Acerola, being old enough to fly by herself, flew alongside her parents while Ferdinand clung to Anabelle's breast and Sandalwood to Stella's breast. Behind the flying foxes to their left flew the chestnut-fronted macaws, Alessandro and Rhiannon and their offspring, Austin and Carmen, and to the flying foxes' right flew Frodo, Ellie, their biological chicks Olivia and Sylvester and adopted chicks Alegria, Achilles and Pitaya. To the right of the flying foxes flew Diantha, Tom Aurora, Gladion and Lillie while Spyro and Marella flew on their bat-birds with Bambi and Altair riding with them, alongside Andromeda and Eragon, also on their bat-birds, with Andromeda's mount being named Rouge, after the French word for 'red' based on her reddish 'fur' and membrane wings.

As the group flew along in their subgroups, the chicks smiled down at the passing sea of green trees below. Sandalwood, while clutching onto Stella's breast, also gazed down and smiled. The others had excitement brimming in their eyes, especially Blu for he could not wait to see his former home-place after so long. However, some of the birds were quite nervous; especially Roberto for he was returning to the place where he used to live, but the excitement of seeing Ginger again pushed the nervousness away. For the others, such as Augustus and his family who had never been in a human city, the intensity of the dancing nerves was especially high, certainly for Andromeda, Frodo and their families for they were quite shy creatures. Despite the nervousness, the archaeobirds and Frodo and Ellie looked forward to meeting Blu and company's city friends and Diantha was looking forward to seeing Rafael and Eva, her parents, again. But the birds the group looked forward to seeing most were Travis, Sunset and their family, and Neptune, Ultramarine, Indigo and Victor and their daughter Gertie, and Triton, Violet and Triton's new girlfriend Iris, and also the falcon family. Blu smiled as the cityscape emerged more above the treeline.

"Good to be back to Rio after so long," he said.

"I can't wait to show our grandkids their parents' birthplace and where their grandparents," said Zephyr, referring to his generation including Blu and Jewel, "met and had them."

"And also where I and Izzy used to live when we were young before those poachers struck and I was caught and smuggled out of Brazil to the UK," added Venus. She then felt a small wave of fear well within her for the traumatising memory of being captured and smuggled out of Brazil still haunted her. Venus had offered Izzy to come with the group on the trip to Rio but Izzy had turned it down due to bad memories, which Venus knew was understandable. Then Augustus turned to Blu.

"So that city is where you first met?" asked he. Blu turned to him.

"I met Jewel in a place where they care for birds," he said, "known as an aviary."

"What's an 'ave-ee-air-ry?" asked Melissa as she struggled with the human term. Augustus, Stella, Luna, Sebastian, Anabelle and Soren looked on equally curious while Acerola tipped her head to one side. Sandalwood and Ferdinand who clutched their mothers' breasts also gazed at Blu in wonder.

"It's a place where birds are taken care of," explained Jupiter from the red and blue-and-gold group, "When we get to Rio, we'll show you where we met and had our first brood of chicks."

His gaze then turned to his grandkids as they flew alongside their parents. "Our grandchildren will understand what we mean when we get to Tulio's Aviary."

"Will we see that horrid cockatoo and his hilarious froggy girlfriend in the aviary again, Dad?" asked Europa worriedly, amusement lacing the part where she mentioned the frog that was madly in love with the infamous Nigel. Saturn frowned at the scarlet macaw.

"Well if he's around," he said firmly, "Then we're gonna have to leave Tulio's Aviary right away. We don't want that beastly feather-headed nutcase lashing at any of us like those last times during our previous trips to Rio."

"Yes, absolutely," put in Orquidea, "Especially when we've got young chicks with us."

"And that is the last thing we need, Nigel hurting one of our grandkids," added Ruby in a growl. Chiquitita, Mars and Jupiter, as well as the other adults including Blu and Jewel, wore agreeing faces. Europa breathed a sigh of relief while Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, Sheldon, Mimas, Byron and Athos exchanged glances for they remembered what happened the last time they encountered the bad tempered cockatoo.

During Jupiter and his family's trip to Rio to celebrate the pairing of Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto to Sheldon, Byron, Mimas and Athos respectively before the four couples set to having their chicks, with Amalthea and Oliver coming along; the group had visited Tulio's Aviary as part of Jupiter and Ruby's tour of the Blu Bird Sanctuary and the city of Rio to their three sons-in-law and also Amalthea and Oliver, including where Jupiter met Ruby, Venus met Zephyr and so on. During their visit to Tulio's Aviary, the group had come across Nigel in a cage while the ornithologists were replacing his bedding and food and talking about the possible reasons why the tree frog was still so besotted with him, especially after so many years. The little tree frog, named Gabi, was still head-over-frog feet in love with Nigel and wouldn't even let go of the poor cockatoo, and Jupiter and his family had witnessed Gabi showering Nigel's face with countless smooches. When Nigel's hostile brown gaze caught-sighted the group of red macaws and the blue-and-yellow splash of Mimas among them gazing at him, some with amused faces and some with stunned looks, especially Byron, Sheldon and Athos when they saw Gabi endlessly smooching all over his face and crying all kinds of affectionate comments to her 'cockatoos boyfriend', Nigel had erupted into a violent outburst and screeched all kinds of vitriolic threats at Jupiter and company, prompting Jupiter to immediately take his family out of his sight and abandon the tour of Tulio's Aviary, and they didn't return there again for the rest of their time in Rio. Sheldon, Byron and Athos had been rather shaken by the cockatoo's violent temper and had hoped to never come across him ever again, while Amalthea and Oliver had been utterly frightened.

Another time, a few months after Jupiter's family trip to Rio, Uranus, Esmeralda, Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania and Oberon, together with the latter five's young brother Edmund, when they went to Rio with Benjamin, Aramis, Ash and Tethys to celebrate their pairing with Umbriel, Miranda, Titania and Oberon respectively, had also seen Nigel. They had been on an outing with Cometa, Lightning, Orion and Velocity before the latter two paired up with Hermione the merlin and Merlin, one of the peregrine falcons from the Control de Plagas Squad. The green macaws, Benjamin and the falcon family had seen Nigel while he was being washed by a group of ornithologists at Tulio's Aviary as they passed overhead, but they had received an extremely bitter and piercing glare saturated with hostility from the cockatoo, sending shivers down Uranus and Esmeralda's spines and prompting the couple to accelerate with their group away from Tulio's Aviary to get away from the cockatoo as quickly as possible. That had been Orion and Velocity's first sighting of the infamous cockatoo and Uranus had explained to the peregrine brother and sister everything about Nigel including how the tree frog became obsessively besotted with him, much to the amusement of Orion and Velocity, but Uranus had warned them of Nigel's reaction which was extremely volatile around the subject, along with his not being able to fly and the mentioning of Blu and Jewel. Uranus and his family's encounter with Nigel hadn't been as disturbing as Jupiter's family's encounter, but the hostile glare from the cockatoo had frightened some of the macaws, especially Aramis and young Edmund. Nigel did indeed harbour a bitter and volatile grudge against his nemeses, even after all this time, and was not hesitant to lash out at any of those macaws or other birds whenever they came close, but the worst thing any of the macaws could do was deliberately provoke Nigel's volatile temper which was worse than playing with fire, the majority of the Sanctuary de Amazon's resident's most hated thing, as well as how destructive it was as Andromeda and her clan had often warned and explained about if it ever got out of control.

During Zephyr, Venus, Justin, Charlotte, Matilda and Virgil's trip to Rio with Aquamarine and Azurite (Justin and his brother and two sister's younger siblings), along with Carla, Bia, Tiago and Músculo following Uranus and his family's trip around three weeks later, they had been to Tulio's Aviary as well. While there, Nigel had recognised Carla, Bia and Tiago, the three offspring of the pair of macaws he detested more than anything else in the world, as well as Venus and her family, and had exploded into an outburst like how he did with Jupiter and his family and had spewed all kinds of vitriolic and caustic threats at the Spix macaws. Tiago then snidely stepped forward and called Nigel, 'the frog's cockatoo boyfriend', aggravating Nigel all the more. To add insult to injury, Tiago went on to mention his parents Blu and Jewel despite Zephyr and Venus's rebukes. This added fuel to the fire of Nigel's wrath and sent him into an extremely frenzied temper in the form of screeching and thrashing about violently in his cage in a desperate attempt to escape and claw the smug look of Tiago's face, as well as the amused, spiteful smiles of Carla and Bia as they looked on. However, Nigel thrashed about so much that his cage fell off the table and right into an open bucket of azure blue paint, much to the horror of the ornithologists, the shock of Zephyr, Venus, Justin, Charlotte, Matilda, Virgil and Músculo and the sheer amusement of Carla, Bia, Tiago, Azurite and Aquamarine.

Tulio had organised a team of ornithologists to go over the breeding chamber's walls with fresh paint that day for the old paint was peeling and faded, and tins of paint of various colours for the scenery, such as blue for the skies, white for the clouds and green for the trees, had been purchased. After Nigel had fallen into the blue paint bucket along with his cage, resulting in a massive splash and subsequently a mess, Zephyr and his family had made a hasty retreat, dragging Carla, Bia and Tiago who still laughed at Nigel, along with them, leaving Nigel, now covered from top to toe in blue paint, to face the humiliation from the ordeal, but Carla, Bia and Tiago had continued to laugh out loud much to Zephyr and Venus's chagrin. And Zephyr and Venus still remembered that vividly to this day. Carla then smiled as memories of another time returned.

"Boy, I remember our trip to Guyana to find the legendary Bizarre Birds and the Treasure which was where we met Andromeda," she said with a smile at the archaeobird and her family.

"You went and discovered some legendary place?" asked Sebastian in fascination.

"It was one of the Navyfeather Clan's stories," said Justin, "It was called the Bizarre Birds and Treasure."

"It turned out to be real when some of us ventured to Guyana to search for the treasure to save the Sanctuary de Amazon from losing its status as a protected reserve," said Virgil.

"It's where we came from," added Andromeda. At this, Sebastian, Anabelle, Acerola and Ferdinand smiled with intrigue as did Augustus, Melissa, Soren, Stella, Sandalwood and Luna.

"I would like to visit there some time," said Luna.

"It's extremely dangerous there actually," said Eragon darkly, "There are a variety of lethal predators thought to be long extinct by humans, such as predatory bat-birds."

"It actually sounds like an Indiana Jones story," said Aramis as he flew alongside Miranda, Capella and Achernar, "When my sweetie Miranda here told me she went on a trip to a place thought to be mythical, I was absolutely flabbergasted."

"Especially since pterosaurs are supposed to be extinct," put in Porthos from the blue-and-gold macaw group.

"And there were those strange lobe-finned fish and fan-backed lizards as well?" added Squaw'tagnan.

"Yes," said Phoebe, a glance briefly flashing at Arcturus to make sure that she did not stray too far from the group. "They were _Tiktaalik_ and _Dimetrodon_. Our falcon friend Velocity was almost eaten by one of the former while we were crossing a river in that place."

"Sounds terrifying," said Squaw'tagnan.

"It was," said Azul from his group.

"It was like a cross between a fish and a crocodile," said Fernanda, "Based on Azul's description of it, anyway."

"I wanna hear of the trip all over again tonight in my bedtime story," squealed Arcturus, "Pleeaaase?"

"Arcturus," said Phoebe with an amused smile, "You've heard the story a _thousand_ times!"

"Our kids love the story, that's the thing," said Azul nearby, Fernanda, Oceano and Carmen surrounding him.

"They're honestly mad for it," added Squaw'tagnan in an amused voice. Just then, Blu's voice called out, "We're here."

At this, Phoebe, Squaw'tagnan and Arcturus and the others with them looked below and saw the green tree sea give way to a drabber mottle of grey, black, brown and other drab colours. In one part of the city of Rio, a grey figure with His arms outstretched stood atop a hill while an oval-shaped mountain stood in a protrusion of land in the crystalline blue carpet of the ocean. The kids all reacted in thunderstruck awe.

"WHOOOOAAAAA!" cried some of them together.

"So THAT'S Rio?" asked Augustus.

"Yep," said Blu.

"It's so massive," said Melissa. Stella, Luna, Sebastian, Anabelle, Soren, Acerola, Sandalwood and Ferdinand all gazed at the cityscape stretched out below them. It was then that the bats' nostrils became flooded with an acrid smell. At this, Augustus winced.

"Ugh, what's that stench!?" he hissed, his eyes screwed shut and his wing attempting to move to his nose to block out the smell.

"City air," said Jupiter, "It's from various manmade things like those four-wheeled things they call vehicles."

"It's not at all like the clean air over the Amazon rainforest, though," said Melissa, a wing on her nose but for only brief moments for she needed her wings to fly. The birds that had not been in a city before also winced from the smell and some had their talons pinching their beaks.

"It sure smells polluted," said Andromeda, her wing claws on her beak. Eragon, Spyro, Marella, Altair and Bambi grunted in agreement.

"What's the cause of this foul smell?" added Spyro, his nose pinched.

"It's gotta be burning stuff," said Marella, "Because you know what burning wood smells like during a fire."

Nearby, Frodo, Ellie, Olivia, Sylvester, Alegria, Achilles and Pitaya wore distasteful faces, also repulsed by the city air smell **.**

It's more than just wood actually," said Blu, "But we'll get to that later."

He then turned to Jewel and asked, "So, where to first, my gem of the forest?"

"I think we'll… go visit our cat and dog friends first," said Jewel, "Starting with Susan, Bernardo and Lucy."

"According to Travis, they have had a set of twin girls named Molly and Mary," said Zephyr, "They'll be toddlers by now."

"And besides that, I would like to see Ginger, my rescuer from that abusive girl," said Roberto.

"I bet she's well on in her years now," said Brisa.

"What do the others think?" asked Venus. At this, Blu and Jewel turned to face the rest of the group who all smiled and nodded in agreement.

"I would love to see your city friends," said Augustus, all revulsion from the city air stench gone.

"Especially your human friends who care for the animals and the environment," added Frodo.

"Well, okay," said Blu and with that, he and Jewel led the group in the direction of Susan and Lucy's cottage.

"We should meet Travis and his family there as well," said Justin as the group flew along.

"Yeah, Eustace, Serena, Rosa and Clemont will have become parents by now," said Carla. Sonia, Spica and Melody smiled excitedly as they looked forward to meeting the cockatoo chicks.

"And also Neptune and his family," said Tiago as Bellatrix and Bartholomew flew alongside him. "I can't wait to meet Iris."

"I hope she and Triton will become mates one day," said Matilda. Her face then fell. "I just wish Penelope hadn't dumped Triton for the damage on his left facial side."

"Well, that's in the past, Matilda," said Zephyr sadly, "We can't change that."

"Neither can we change Penelope's attitude by force," said Roberto, "We have tried our best but to no avail."

Jojo, Felix, Lavender, Garrett, Turquesa and Kira's faces fell.

"Even after all these years," muttered Jojo.

"Especially if she is going to call Triton that C-name bird," said Turquesa, not wanting to mention the name of Augustus's brother, knowing what reaction it would cause.

"It's totally disgusting," growled Lavender, her ponytail feathers flaring, "I just wanna slap her across the face."

"I did at one point but still," said Kira. As she said this, the offspring of the three couples, Jojo and Kira's daughters Vega and Winona, Felix and Turquesa's sons Austin and Diego and Lavender and Garrett's chicks Deneb, Lilac and Polaris all gazed at their parents with curious looks. However, they soon resumed their flight as their parents moved on for they did not understand the situation between Triton and Penelope at the moment.

 **A while later**

Susan and Lucy's house or cottage was brimming with family activity. Susan, her husband Bernardo, sister Lucy and their adopted son and daughter Jack and Jill who were now young adults, were going about their usual business. There were two new additions to the family: Susan and Bernardo had had two twin daughters, named Molly and Mary, born a couple of years ago. The two girls were toddlers and were identical twins, so they both shared the same appearances. Both had brown hair like their mother but they had brown eyes like their father. They were both chubby and had chubby legs and cute faces. However, the sisters wore different coloured attire to distinguish them. Molly wore a light blue bib while Mary's was lime green. These two toddlers were playful, curious little kids and loved to explore. However, they were kept in constant sight by their parents, aunt and adopted brother and sister. While the toddlers played ball with Jack and Jill, Broccoli, Daisy, Dash and Ginger, the family's pets, were watching on, proud smiles adorning their faces as they admired the two little toddlers and their giggles and playful antics. However, some more pairs of eyes were watching the family as well. From Travis and his family's birdhouse, a family of cockatoos and hyacinth macaws were perched on the platform and the branches nearest to the construct, gazing at Susan and Lucy as they went about their business.

"Whoa, look at the cute pair of daughters our former owners have, Travis," said Neptune as he admired Molly and Mary. Neptune sat with Ultramarine to his left and on either side of the couple sat Violet, Triton, Iris, Victor and Indigo who had Gertie in her wings. Travis sat with Sunset to his left and the two cockatoos were flanked by Eustace, Milo, Rosa, Clemont, Serena and Travis and Sunset's grand-chicks, Yolanda, Vincent and Oscar (who sat with Eustace and Serena) and Peach and Bruno (who sat with Rosa and Clemont). Travis nodded in agreement as he also gazed lovingly at Molly and Mary.

"I'm really happy for Susan and her husband," he said, "And also Jack and Jill, who now have adopted siblings."

Victor then gazed curiously at the girls and their appearance.

"They look exactly alike," he said.

"They're known as identical twins," said Indigo as Gertie squirmed in her wings, also gazing at Molly and Mary, "They have originated from the same fertilised egg, unlike Jack and Jill who are twins as well but have come from two separate fertilised eggs that were conceived almost at the same time."

"Interesting," said Victor with a smile.

"So basically, it is possible for humans to have twins and even triplets in one clutch?" asked Serena.

"Well, I wouldn't call them clutches," said Eustace as he sat on the perch with his single foot and holding Oscar, "That term usually applies to animal litters and broods. In humans, the number of babies conceived is referred to as just a pregnancy."

"I've never really seen human twins before, other than Jack and Jill," said Clemont, "But identical twins… they take my fascination of human babies to a whole new level."

He smiled at Molly and Mary as they tottered about after the ball.

"You can get identical triplets and even quads," said Sunset, "Susan and Lucy's cousins, Blake, Jake and Drake who live in the UK are identical triplets."

"Are they?" asked Serena.

"We ought to show you some pictures of them some time," said Neptune.

"How rare are twins, triplets and quads in humans?" asked Iris.

"Well, twins are the most common of human multiple pregnancies," said Travis, "But triplets and quads, especially single-egg triplets and quads, are even rarer."

"That should be a subject for Bia and Ganymede," said Ultramarine with a smile, "They love things like that."

Yolanda, Vincent and Peach gazed at the older female hyacinth macaw with bored looks on their faces.

"Reproduction doesn't interest us at all," said Yolanda with a yawn.

"I think it's too complicated," said Vincent.

"And boring," said Peach, "Just like maths and chemistry," at this, Clemont shot his older daughter a look as she continued. "I wonder how Mrs Bia, Mr Ganymede and even Dad understand those subjects."

With that she gazed at Clemont who just smiled. Then Eustace, Milo and Rosa's gaze rested on Dash and Ginger as they sat watching Broccoli and Daisy roll around in the grass.

"How come those two greyhounds aren't playing with the others?" asked Victor curiously.

"They're well on in their years," said Milo, "They're too old to behave as energetic dogs now."

"Yes, they're not as lively as they once were when they were younger," said Sunset. She then stared down at her knobbly talons and then silver strewn through her pale pink plumage. "Just like how I and Travis aren't as lively as we once were."

"Hey, you still look like a young Major Mitchell's cockatoo to me," said Neptune. Sunset, however, just replied with a saddened gaze. Then Victor gazed into the sky.

"So when are Blu and company expected to arrive?" he asked.

"Anytime today, I should think," said Travis.

"It is a long journey to the Amazon," said Ultramarine. Then as if on cue, Violet saw some colourful shapes melt out of the blue sky.

"They're here!" she called. At this, the gazes of the cockatoos and the hyacinth macaws turned and landed on the incoming shapes, which were indeed Blu and company. At this, Travis called out and waved to the group.

"Hey, Blu," he called.

"Over here!" shouted Sunset. Eustace, Milo, Rosa, Clemont and Rosa also shouted while Indigo, Triton, Iris, Victor and Violet jumped up and down to make themselves noticed. Then within moments, the cockatoos and hyacinth macaws were swallowed up by a group of Spix, red, green, blue-and-gold, glaucous, Lear's and blue-throated macaws and also archaeobirds, bat-birds, flying foxes and toucans and a few other macaws as Blu and company flew over to them and perched around them. Then the air above the group was filled with laughter and greeting talks as the birds and the flying foxes, which were Augustus and his family, greeted and hugged each other.

"Hey, Travis and Sunset," said Blu and with that, he hugged the sulfur-crested and Masjor Mitchell's cockatoos. Then Travis and Sunset turned to hug Jewel, then Zephyr and Venus, and then Brisa and Roberto. Nearby, Neptune and Ultramarine greeted Mercury, Sapphire, Mars, Chiquitita, Jupiter, Ruby, Saturn, Orquidea, Uranus, Esmeralda, Cobalto, Ceres, Pluto and Lapis Lazuli and also Augustus, Melissa, Andromeda and her family. Nearby, Justin, Virgil, Tiago, Jojo, Garrett, Músculo and Felix shared a wing-fist-bump with Triton while Indigo hugged Carla, Bia, Matilda, Kira, Turquesa, Charlotte and Lavender. Victor also shared a wing-fist-bump with Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, Athos, Byron and Sheldon but he was subsequently drawn into a hug by Mimas, Enceladus, Trixie, Tethys, Dione, Porthos, Rhea, Titan, Brooke and Iapetus, much to his amusement. Then Eustace, Milo, Rosa, Clemont and Serena shared a group hug with Diantha and Tom the toucans, Frodo and Ellie the Cuban macaws and also Oberon, Miranda, Aramis, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, Ash, Azul, Fernanda, Phoebe and Squaw'tagnan while Charon, Blueberry, Neytiri and Aiden, and Spyro, Marella, Sebastian, Stella and Luna greeted Victor, Triton and Indigo and also Violet. Nearby, the chicks playfully greeted each other as well.

"Betelgeuse, Rigel, you go easy on that young hyacinth macaw," commanded Io firmly as her two daughters played with Gertie, the daughter of Victor and Indigo. Close by, Cytosine, Guanine, Adenine and Thymine played with Yolanda, Vincent and Peach while Oscar and Bruno hid behind Rosa out of shyness. Then Sirius, Einstein, Miles, Sonia, Spica, Melody, Bellatrix and Bartholomew, the offspring of Carla, Bia and Tiago, and also Jason and Petunia, the son and daughter of Charlotte andMúsculo, approached the two cockatoo chicks as they timidly cowered behind Rosa. Carla, Bia and Tiago, Virgil, Justin, Matilda, Charlotte and Músculo watched on.

"It's alright," said Rosa to the two young cockatoo chicks gently, "These Spix macaw chicks only want to say hello."

Still Oscar and Bruno hid behind her as Sirius tried advancing towards them.

"Hello," squeaked Sirius and with that, he extended a wing to the two but the cockatoos backed away. Then Jojo, Felix and Lavender's offspring, Vega, Winona, Austin, Diego, Deneb, Lilac and Polaris gathered round, adding fuel to the timidity of the two cockatoos.

"Um, kids, don't crowd around your auntie Rosa," said Músculo to the Spix kids, "You're frightening the two cockatoo chicks."

At this, the seventeen Spix macaw chicks gazed at the hulking macaw and backed away. Clemont looked over the cute blue birds while nearby, Violet playfully chased after some of the other chicks.

"Blu and Jewel certainly do have quite a family now," said Clemont.

"As do Zephyr and Venus," said Rosa with a smile. Charlotte smiled proudly.

"Blu and Jewel have eight grandkids," she said, "While Mom and Dad have ten."

"Which chick is yours?" asked Clemont. At this question, Carla called the seventeen Spix chicks to join their parents, which they did. After this, Carla and company showed Rosa and Clemont (with Bruno and Oscar shyly peering out from behind Rosa) their families. Eustace, Milo and Serena then stepped in.

"Whoa," said Eustace with a smile as he gazed at Carla and Justin and their chicks, "You have three daughters."

"While Bia and Virgil have three sons and Tiago and Matilda have a son and a daughter," added Milo.

"Rosa, Eustace, Milo, Clemont and Serena," said Carla, "I would like you to meet Sonia, Spica and Melody."

And with that, she gestured to the sisters who came forward. Bia and Virgil then took their turn.

"This is Sirius, Miles and Einstein," said Bia, gesturing from one son to the next.

"And this is our daughter Bellatrix and son Bartholomew," said Tiago, gesturing to his two chicks. Then Jojo, Felix, Lavender and Charlotte came forward to introduce their chicks.

"This is Jason, our son, and our daughter Petunia," said she as Músculo stood nearby.

"And these are our two daughters, Vega and Winona," said Jojo, gesturing to his two daughters as Kira stood nearby.

"This is Austin and this is Diego," said Felix.

"And this is Deneb, Lilac and Polaris," said Lavender, gesturing to her three daughters. Then the seventeen Spix chicks gathered around the five cockatoos.

"Nice to meet you, sirs and ma'ams," said Sirius politely.

"Oh, sirs and ma'ams?" asked Eustace with an amused smile, "Who are you calling sirs and ma'ams?"

"We're actually your parents' 'cousins'," said Milo.

"So you shall refer to us as 'uncles' and 'aunts'," said Clemont.

"For example, I shall be referred to as your 'Aunt Serena,'" said Serena. Behind Rosa, Oscar and Bruno slowly emerged as the Spix chicks exchanged glances.

"Aunt Serena?" repeated Einstein, "By my calculations, I believe that's 100 percent excellent."

"Sounds better than sirs and ma'ams, anyway," said Milo.

"By about five times if I could calculate that," said Spica. Clemont mouthed the word 'calculate' in awe. 'She sounds like Bia,' he thought.

"Sounds as awesome as a sweet tune," said Melody.

"I agree," squeaked Sonia.

"So we have five additional aunts and uncles if my math is correct," said Bellatrix in fascination. This also attracted Clemont's admiration.

"It seems like it, sis," said Bartholomew. Then Jason, Petunia, Winona, Vega, Austin, Diego, Deneb, Lilac and Polaris grouped together and took off. The other chicks did the same and soon, Clemont, Serena, Rosa, Milo and Eustace were swarmed by a flock of Spix macaw chicks. Clemont played with Sirius, Miles and Einstein, laughing heartily while the other four cockatoos played with the other chicks. Bruno and Oscar then joined in. Carla and company looked on in amusement.

"I hope you enjoy your time here in Rio, kiddies," said Eustace as he cradled Winona, Vega, Sonia, Melody and Spica.

"It's gonna be lots of fun," said Milo as he played with Bellatrix, Bartholomew, Deneb, Lilac and Polaris. Then Polaris jumped onto Milo's head and pulled at his crest feathers, making Milo yelp. Immediately, he reached up and seized the little chick from his head.

"You don't wanna pull at my crest feathers, little one," said Milo as Polaris giggled heartily, "I hate having my crest pulled."

Then suddenly, he felt pain emanate from his crest again as Polaris's sisters, Deneb and Lilac began tugging at Milo's crest. At this, Milo released Polaris and seized the two girls, much to the amusement of Lavender and Garrett.

"Kids will be kids, Milo," said Lavender.

"They're bound to tug on things," said Garrett. Then Kira came round and observed the playful cloud of cockatoos and Spix macaws.

"Kids, go easy on your crested… aunts and uncles," she said.

"Kira, that's impolite!" rebuked Jojo, making Kira flinch and shoot him a startled glance. At this, Eustace intervened, holding some of the Spix macaws.

"It's alright," he said, "We are crested birds after all."

"Sorry, Eustace," said Jojo, "It just sounded a bit rude."

Kira just shrugged and said nothing. Nearby, Travis and Sunset admired the hybrid chicks while Blu, Jewel, Zephyr, Venus, Roberto, Brisa, Jupiter and Ruby looked on. Guanine, Adenine, Thymine and Cytosine the Catalina macaws stood with Ganymede and Mimas; Betelgeuse and Rigel stood with Io and Sheldon and Canopus and Katniss stood with Athos and Callisto. Next to the red and Catalina chicks, Trixie and Enceladus stood with their Caloshua daughter, Mira while Tethys and Oberon stood with their blue-and-gold/great green hybrid chicks, Cressida and Fomalhaut. Titania, Ash, Basil and Antares stood with Umbriel, Benjamin, Perdita, Aldebaran and Cecil as Sunset broke the awed silence.

"You certainly do have an awesome collection of hybrid macaws there," she said.

"Four Catalinas, five rubies, one Caloshua, two 'Bluffons', two great green/military hybrids and three Verdes," said Travis, going over each of the chicks, "You've got quite a blended family."

"Just like us," said Sunset as Travis admired Mira and her aqua blue back, yellow front and dark emerald green facial features and ponytail as Saturn smiled.

"I'm a grandpa to a brood of four half-scarlets," he said.

"So am I to Umbriel's chicks," said Uranus. Esmeralda and Orquidea smiled. Then Travis and Sunset turned to admire the grandkids of Sapphire, Mercury, Pluto and Lapis Lazuli as they played with Triton, Indigo, Victor, Iris and Gertie.

"And I can see that Mercury and Pluto and their mates have become grandparents as well," he said.

"Yes, we have all become grandparents," said Blu proudly.

"So have Augustus and Andromeda over there," said Jewel, a nod to Augustus, Melissa, Andromeda and Eragon as they talked with Neptune. Travis and Sunset smiled at Spyro and Marella as they cradled Bambi and Altair while Sebastian, Anabelle, Stella and Soren cradled Acerola, Ferdinand and Sandalwood. Then Travis and Sunset saw Aurora, Lillie and Gladion, Diantha and Tom's offspring as they stood by Frodo and his family.

"And I hope Diantha and Tom aren't gonna breed like rabbits like how Diantha's parents and many of her siblings are doing," said Travis suspiciously.

"They aren't," said Roberto, much to the relief of the cockatoos, "They are sensible toucans anyway."

As he said this, his blue eyes picked up a familiar ginger form on the ground. At this, he turned to focus on the form.

"Isn't that Ginger and her mate down there?" he asked with a smile. At this, the other birds turned and saw Ginger and Dash as they continued watching their owners' activities.

"Yes," said Travis, "And those humans down there are their owners, Susan, her husband Bernardo, sister Lucy, adopted son and daughter Jack and Jill and two new daughters Molly and Mary."

Carla, Bia, Tiago, Justin, Charlotte, Matilda and Virgil's gazes picked out the pair of identical toddler sisters as they ran after the ball kicked by Jack. The rest of the young adult macaws' eyes also landed on the two toddlers.

"So those are some of your human friends?" asked Augustus in curiosity.

"We've never actually seen young humans before," said Melissa. Sebastian, Stella, Luna, Soren, Anabelle, Acerola, Ferdinand and Sandalwood gazed at the two young girls.

"They're so cute," squeaked Sandalwood admirably.

"Looks like your former owner Susan has definitely had two babies," said Ruby. Jupiter smiled as he watched Molly totter towards Bernardo, Susan's husband, and as Bernardo swept the little girl off her feet and did a nose-to-nose kiss with her. Andromeda, Eragon, Spyro, Marella, Altair and Bambi also gazed at the humans. Like Augustus and his family and also Frodo, Ellie and their kids, the archaeobirds had never seen young humans before so this was the first time they had seen a toddler.

"How old are those human girls?" asked Spyro.

"They're about two years old," replied Travis, "They were born a couple of years ago."

"I'm surprised they're not adolescents yet," said Augustus with a frown, "Normally we flying foxes mature at age one or two years but those two human girls, they're not even close to adulthood."

"While some of us macaws reach adulthood at around age five or seven depending on the species," said Frodo.

"Humans reach adulthood far later than many animals," said Blu, "They reach puberty at around thirteen years and become adults at around eighteen years."

"That's very late," said Melissa.

"Very late indeed if you ask us," said Andromeda. From their parents' wings, the chicks and pups looked down at Molly and Mary as they continued to play. Sirius, Einstein and Miles who rested in Bia and Virgil's wings gazed in surprise at the toddlers, as did Sonia, Spica and Melody from Carla and Justin's wings and Bellatrix and Bartholomew in Tiago and Matilda's wings. From Stella's breast, Sandalwood gazed at Molly and Mary. 'If they were flying foxes, they'd probably be grownups by now,' he thought, 'but they're still very young despite being two years old.'

Then Mimas, Ganymede, Cytosine, Guanine, Adenine and Thymine prepared to descend into the garden.

"Wait, where are you six going?" asked Jupiter.

"We're gonna meet your former owners up close, Dad," said Ganymede and before anyone else could protest, the blended scarlet/blue-and-gold family lofted into flight and descended onto a lower branch.

"We're gonna go down too," said Carla and with that, she, Justin and their daughters left their perches and followed Ganymede's family. Bia, Tiago and Charlotte also followed with their families. As the four Spix macaw families and that of Ganymede touched down onto a branch closer to the garden, Andromeda warily gazed down at Jack and Jill as they chased after the ball in the birds' direction.

"What's wrong, Andromeda?" asked Blu.

"Carla, Bia, Tiago, Charlotte, Ganymede and their families are only going to say hello to our human friends down there," said Venus.

"We're gonna stay up here from those humans while they are down there," said Andromeda, "We don't really like getting up close and personal with humans in a place like this."

"Especially if it is far away from the Amazon Sanctuary," said Eragon. Bambi and Altair, curiosity consuming them, then attempted to descend from the branch but Spyro grabbed their shoulders.

"No, you two," he said firmly, "You stay up here."

"Oooh," muttered Bambi.

"But we wanna see those toddlers," said Altair. However, their father's firm expression promoted the two four-winged chicks to obey. Augustus and Frodo also agreed to stay put.

"We'll stray up here too," said Frodo as he held Olivia and Sylvester and as Ellie held Achilles, Alegria and Pitaya.

"Yeah, we don't want those humans seeing us outside the sanctuary in the Amazon," said Augustus before his gaze turned to Frodo and his family, "Certainly not with these seven outside their homes."

"Okay, your choice," said Neptune. Then he gazed down at Carla, Bia, Tiago, Charlotte, Ganymede and their families as Jack and Jill approached them for they had spotted a small group of colourful birds perched on a branch just above the garden.


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7- first close up human encounter for the chicks and also Andromeda, Augustus and their families**

Carla, Bia, Tiago, Charlotte and Ganymede perched in a row with their respective mates Justin, Virgil, Matilda, Músculo and Mimas andtheir chicks along the branch as Jack and Jill approached them. Molly and Mary squealed excitedly at the sight of the colourful row of birds perched along the branch. As Jack and Jill neared the group, Sirius, Miles and Einstein hid timidly behind Bia and Virgil while Sonia, Melody and Spica gazed cautiously at the fraternal (non-identical) twin young adults. Bellatrix and Bartholomew smiled while Jason, Petunia, Cytosine, Guanine, Adenine and Thymine were wary but Ganymede, Mimas and Charlotte assured them that these humans were harmless and trustworthy. The fourteen chicks gazed at the two toddlers Mary and Molly in surprise. Like Andromeda and her family, they were equally perplexed at how slow humans aged. Furthermore, the chicks could not believe that the older fraternal twin brother and sister were once members of a smuggler group who used to capture and take birds out of Brazil for the pet trade and had stolen their grandparents, Blu, Jewel, Zephyr, Venus, Ruby and Jupiter, along with Mercury, Mars, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Ceres, Pluto and their respective mates, from Tulio's Aviary and almost out of Brazil as well, not to mention the horrible treatment they had given Neptune and Ultramarine by stuffing them into a cramped cage that was too small for them. Suddenly, Jack and Jill's voices brought the chicks out of their thoughts.

"Well, what do we have here?" asked Jack in admiration, his eyes, coloured green while Jill's were blue, scanning the row of Spix families and the blended family of scarlet and blue-and-gold on the far end on the branch.

"Looks like Carla, Bia, Tiago, Justin, Charlotte, Matilda, Virgil, Ganymede and Mimas, bro," said Jill, "And it seems that they have all had chicks of their own."

She then turned to admire the young macaws in their parents' wings, starting with Carla and Justin's daughters, Sonia, Spica and Melody. Jack then dashed off.

"I'll get Mom, Dad and Aunt Lucy to come and take a picture of each of the families," he called. As he left to shout Susan, Lucy and Bernardo, Broccoli, Daisy, Ginger and Dash came over having seen the five macaw families as well.

"Looks like Carla and company have come for a visit," whispered Broccoli to the other three.

"And they've had chicks," said Daisy.

"Where are Blu, Jewel and the others?" asked Dash. Ginger's eyes then scanned the upper branches of the trees until her eyes landed on a colourful flock in the highest branches.

"I think they're up there," said she with a paw pointing to the flash of colour, "With Travis, Neptune and their families."

Dash, Broccoli and Daisy's eyes then moved up and found the colourful group as well. While the four mammals gazed at Blu and company above, Jill moved on to admire Bia and Virgil's sons, Sirius, Miles and Einstein. The former two smiled back at the friendly young woman but the third one was rather nervous. Sirius then turned and gazed at Molly and Mary as the two twin toddlers admired the row of blue birds and the colourful splashes of red, paler blue and yellow and rainbow colours of Ganymede, Mimas, Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine and Thymine on the far end, perched on a branch as Jill's eyes then moved on to admire Tiago and Matilda's chicks, Bellatrix and Bartholomew.

"Is she harmless, Dad?" asked Bartholomew warily.

"Yes," said Tiago, "Though she and her brother used to work for smugglers like Fernando did, the two have become friendly with us birds and the other animals."

"They now work to help us rather than harm us," said Matilda. Bartholomew stared at his parents and then gazed back at Jill.

"Looks like Blu, Jewel, Zephyr and Venus have quite a few grandkids," said Jill with a smile before her gaze moved on to Charlotte, Músculo, Petunia and Jason. She recognised Charlotte but not her mate, son and daughter, and Músculo, Jason and Petunia were quite wary for they had never been this close to a human before.

"Looks like Charlotte's become a proud mother too," said Jill in admiration before her gaze moved over to Ganymede, Mimas and their four chicks, Cytosine, Guanine, Thymine and Adenine, "And it looks like Ganymede and Mimas have paired up to have these fantastically colourful chicks. What colourful plumages they have." Jill admired the four chicks' colourful plumages, especially their fiery orange-red fronts and blue, cyan, green and lime green backs. Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine and Thymine just stood there, intrigued gazes fixated upon Jill while Ganymede and Mimas smiled at each other. Just then, soft footstep sounds of human feet hitting grass reached the group's ears: Jack had brought back company. Susan and Bernardo made a beeline for Mary and Molly and scooped them off the ground while Lucy took out a rectangular thing from a pocket in her jacket.

"That's what humans call an iphone, like what Io, Carla and Justin have," explained Charlotte to Músculo. Then after she had set her iphone to camera mode, Lucy prepared to take a picture of each of the five macaw families, starting with Carla and her family perched on the human's far left.

"These pictures would make great additions to our album of our macaws," she said. As she prepared to take a snapshot of Carla and her family, Jack walked backward and gazed upward.

"Hey guys, look," he said, "I can see some more Spix macaws and I believe Blu and Jewel are among them."

At this, Susan, Bernardo and Jill walked back and followed Jack's gaze while Lucy took a picture of Carla and her family. A small click was heard but there was no flash, much to the surprise of Sonia and her sisters. Lucy then smiled as she admired the picture. While she did that before moving on to take a picture of Bia, Virgil, Sirius, Miles and Einstein, Susan, Bernardo and Jill's eyes landed on the colourful cloud high above Carla and company's location. When they saw the four humans and the two toddlers in Bernardo and Susan's arms gaze at the group, Augustus, Andromeda and Frodo and their families backed away to conceal themselves amongst some thick leaves to escape the gaze of the humans while Blu and Jewel, along with Venus, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Travis, Ceres, Pluto, Roberto and their families and grandkids stayed put. Diantha, Tom, Aurora, Lillie and Gladion also stayed.

"I think they've spotted us," said Jupiter.

"Shall we go down and meet them?" asked Mars.

"I'd wait until Lucy down there has finished taking a picture of Carla, Bia, Tiago, Charlotte and Ganymede and their families first," said Saturn. He looked down and saw that Lucy had just finished taking a picture of Tiago, Matilda, Bellatrix and Bartholomew. Umbriel gazed down jealously.

"When she's finished, I would like our family to have our picture taken too," she said. Benjamin, at this, shot his great green mate a 'what!?' gaze while Perdita, Aldebaran and Cecil smiled in excitement at the thought. Then after Lucy had taken a picture Charlotte and her family and then one of Ganymede and his blended family last of all, Phoebe, Squaw'tagnan and Arcturus and Azul, Fernanda, Oceano and Carmen prepared to descend to Lucy's level, along with Alexandre, Estelle, Xander and Kayley; Io, Sheldon, Betelgeuse and Rigel; Europa, Byron, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka, and Callisto, Athos, Canopus and Katniss.

"Right, here we go," said Phoebe. Then Azul turned to the kids and said, "Lucy down there is harmless so don't be alarmed."

The chicks nodded nervously and prepared to fly down to Lucy. Dione, Porthos, Procyon and Peter; Titan, Brooke, Castor, Pollux and Poppy; Enceladus, Trixie and Mira; Tethys, Oberon, Cressida and Fomalhaut; Miranda, Aramis, Capella and Achernar; Titania, Ash, Basil and Antares; Umbriel, Benjamin, Perdita, Aldebaran and Cecil; Indigo, Victor and Gertie; Charon, Neytiri, Regulus, Denebola, Blueberry, Aiden and Saiph also prepared to show themselves to Lucy. Because Lucy had been one of Mercury and company's owners, along with Susan, Dione and the others knew they could trust her. With that, the families all descended and landed on another branch before Lucy, much to her amazement. She then made the decision to take pictures of these families too. While Lucy did that, Travis looked down with a smile.

"Looks like Lucy's album is going to have quite a few additions," he said.

"Not to mention those pictures being the first ones of our grandkids," added Mercury as he sat beside Sapphire. Jojo, Felix, Lavender and their mates and chicks, along with Phobos, Deimos, Rhea, Iapetus, Ariel and Diantha gazed at Lucy as she took a picture of Io, Sheldon, Betelgeuse and Rigel.

"It's gonna be great once she uploads those pics onto her laptop," said Jupiter.

"What's a laptop?" asked Augustus.

"It's a black rectangular thing humans use to work on and store things like pictures," said Saturn.

"Some of our human friends have one," said Uranus.

"We'll show you what we are talking about when our human friends down there bring out theirs for Lucy's pictures," said Neptune. Augustus and his family smiled with intrigue.

"So that human down there is called Lucy?" asked Luna, pointing to the woman as she took a picture of Europa's family.

"Yes," said Ceres, "She was one of our owners from as country across the Atlantic Ocean."

"I thought you guys came from America," said Melissa.

"No, that's me and my companion Linda," said Blu, "Jupiter and company grew up in the United Kingdom."

Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Ceres, Pluto, Travis and Sunset all nodded at this. Then Ceres turned and saw Andromeda and her family keep their distance from the humans below.

"What's up with them?" she asked. Tom and Diantha came in.

"They're just being cautious," he said as he held Aurora and Gladion, "They're not keen on being seen by humans outside the Sanctuary de Amazon."

"Probably because of their rarity?" asked Cobalto.

"Perhaps," said Blu with uncertainty. Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Travis, Pluto and the others gazed at Andromeda's group and shrugged. Then Roberto prepared to show himself to Ginger, so he called Brisa and Jojo, Felix, Lavender, their mates and chicks.

"Well, we're gonna see Ginger down there so we'll see you in a minute," he said.

"She's gonna be amazed that we've become grandparents," said Brisa.

"Well you be careful down there," said Zephyr firmly, "Molly and Mary, those two toddlers might get a little reckless."

"Especially with our chicks," put in Venus. Roberto nodded and with that, he and entire family opened their wings and took off from their perches. Lapis Lazuli looked on.

"I suppose young humans are fascinated by colourful and interesting creatures such as us," she said to the others.

"Yeah, especially babies and toddlers," said Blu, "Linda and Tulio's son Fred especially was."

The others smiled in amusement as they remembered Linda and Tulio's biological son being fascinated by brightly coloured birds.

Below, Lucy continued taking pictures of the bird families with her iphone, having taken a snapshot of Enceladus, Trixie and their hybrid Mira before moving on to Porthos, Dione, Procyon and Peter. While she did that, Jack, with an iphone of his own, was filming Blu and company in the above trees while Susan and Bernardo continued watching Molly and Mary.

"Don't wander too close to the trees, you two," commanded Susan as the two little girls trotted towards the undergrowth, giggling. As the two toddlers approached the bushes and ferns, Charlotte admired them.

"I was like that when I was a chick," said Músculo, "Always inquisitive."

"So they're baby humans?" squeaked Jason. At this, Charlotte smiled and turned to her son.

"Not quite," she said, "They're what humans call toddlers. They're too old to be babies but too young to be human kids."

Jason and Petunia then watched the twin toddlers as they wandered into the shade of the branches and undergrowth, prompting Susan to rush after them.

"It's fascinating to see that humans can have more than one baby since one seems to be the most common," said Músculo with a smile. He then let loose a titter as Molly and Mary playfully ran away from their mother. "Those two seem to be right rascals, don't they?"

"Tell me about it," said Charlotte as she watched in amusement as Susan seized Molly and then Mary. However, as Susan did, her eyes happened to move upward until they landed on something pale and metallic in the crisscrossing web of branches and leaves. At this, she frowned. In that patch, Stella, Sandalwood and Soren, together with Spyro, Marella, Bambi and Altair, who had tried to hide in one of the lower leaf clusters, drew in sharp gasps. Augustus watched Susan closely and saw that her gaze was aiming at the spot exactly where one of his daughters and Andromeda's son and their families were. At this, alarm flashed within him.

"Spyro, Stella," he called, "Get back!"

Stella, Spyro and their mates and offspring snapped a gaze at Augustus and tried to back away further into the leaf cluster to escape Susan's sight. Bernardo then came over.

"What is it, dear?" he asked. Susan turned to face him as she held firmly onto Molly and Mary.

"I see something white and shiny through the leaves," she said. Spyro, Marella, Altair and Bambi, Soren and Stella, with Sandalwood hanging onto her breast, continued shifting through the branches. However, on the way, something happened. As Altair planted a foot on one twig, he overestimated its strength and the moment his weight was placed on the feeble twig, the thin arm gave way and bent downward. The young metallic purple and green archaeobird yelped as he dropped from Spyro's side and fell towards the floor, latching onto Sandalwood's foot in the process, making him let go of Stella's breast and get dragged down with him. Alarm tore through Soren, Stella, Spyro and Marella as they watched the bat pup and archaeobird chick tumble like stones through the vegetation and crash in a heap on the floor… right in front of Susan and Bernardo! At this, Soren, Stella, Spyro and Marella, together with Bambi, descended after the two boys and appeared right in front of the humans as well. Augustus, along with Melissa, Luna, Sebastian, Anabelle, Acerola, Ferdinand, and Andromeda and Eragon, dived down after the five and also exploded from some leaves. Susan and Bernardo drew in sharp, astonished gasps as a group of drab furry forms with black or chalky grey membranous wings and metallic feathered forms with flight feathers on their hind legs and long prehensile tails appeared before them. Stella and Spyro wrapped their wings around Sandalwood and Altair when they found themselves son the receiving end of an astonished gaze from a pair of humans. Charlotte, Músculo, Jason and Petunia looked on in surprise as Andromeda's wing claws flew to her beak.

"Oops," she murmured in realisation. Augustus and Melissa then gazed at Susan and Bernardo who gazed back in return. Molly and Mary, who were in their, mother's arms, gazed at the mysterious fox-faced bats and four-winged birds in fascination. Then Bernardo broke the silence.

"Are those metallic creatures some of the _Microraptor modern_ from the Amazonian sanctuary?" asked the perplexed man.

"Then what are they doing all the way here in the Blu Bird Sanctuary?" asked Susan. Her gaze then landed on Augustus and his family. From above, Blu, Jewel and the other birds, especially Frodo and his family looked on in surprise as Susan and Bernardo continued to gaze at the new creatures before them. Then Jack and Jill came over while Lucy continued to take pictures of the bird families with Umbriel's family being the next ones.

"As for those large bats," said Susan as Jack and Jill knelt down, wondering what their adopted parents were gazing at, "Are they flying foxes?"

"Brazilian flying foxes maybe," said Bernardo, "I thought they were extinct."

Blu then let loose a squawk and flew over to the still-stunned Augustus, Andromeda and their families. Jack, Jill, Susan and Bernardo gazed at the blue macaw in shock.

"Blu!?" gasped Susan.

"What are you doing here?" asked Bernardo. Then Blu began to gesture to the flying foxes and archaeobirds. Susan, Bernardo, Jack and Jill exchanged confused glances.

"What is he trying to say?" asked Jack. The other three shrugged their shoulders. Birds could not speak human. Neither could flying foxes as Augustus continued examining Blu as he tried to explain to the four humans before the group their reason for being here. Then Jill frowned at Blu and deduced what he was trying to say.

"Are you saying that those bats and four-winged birds are your new friends?" she asked. Blu squawked to confirm it. Behind the humans, Travis, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Ceres, Pluto and their respective mates Sunset, Sapphire, Zephyr, Chiquitita, Ruby, Orquidea, Esmeralda, Ultramarine, Cobalto and Lapis Lazuli looked on. Further away into the garden, Roberto, Brisa, Jojo, Felix, Lavender, Garrett, Turquesa, Kira and the chicks were talking with Ginger and Dash while Broccoli and Daisy talked with Eustace, Milo, Rosa, Clemont and Serena. Susan smiled at Bernardo, Jack and Jill.

"That sounds awesome," she said. Sandalwood gazed at the humans.

"Are you sure they are harmless, Mr Blu?" he asked. Blu raised a wing to tell him to be quiet for a minute, much to Sandalwood's annoyance. The awkward few moments continued as Blu continued trying to communicate with the humans the reason for Andromeda, Augustus and their families' presence. After this, Jack, Jill, Susan and Bernardo took it into their heads that the newcomers were Blu's new friends, so they stood back up and moved back to allow the archaeobirds and flying foxes to climb back into the tree. As they did that, Andromeda was slightly shaken after her first ever up close encounter with humans.

"Well, I guess that's enough of that awkwardness with those four," she said, "At least they are not poachers who would probably not hesitate to catch us for mere rare items."

"Oh, they're nothing of the sort, Andromeda," said Blu with a smile, "Even though Jack and Jill used to work for smugglers."

At this, the group stopped and shot the brown-eyed Spix macaw a look.

"Two of those humans used to steal animals from the environment?" asked Augustus in disbelief.

"They did but now they don't anymore," said Jewel as she came in to help the archaeobirds and flying foxes back through the branches. "They now work on this nature reserve."

"Fernando was another one," said Blu. Then Sandalwood turned round and gazed at Lucy as she took a picture of Phoebe, Squaw'tagnan and Arcturus with her rectangular thing before his eyes turned to two greyhounds and two cats in the garden as they chatted with Roberto and his family.

"Are those the city dogs and cats you were talking about, Mr Blu?" asked the little pup.

"Yes they are," said Blu, his gaze in line with Sandalwood's, "Those two dogs are Dash and Ginger while the two cats are Broccoli and Daisy."

"Interesting name for a cat," said Andromeda.

"That's a vegetable isn't it?" added Augustus, "I've seen some humans eat that green stuff on a boat when I was an adolescent and I overheard that it was called 'broccoli'."

"He's vegetarian just like his father," said Jewel, "He's never eaten a bird or fish."

Melissa, Stella, Luna, Sebastian, Soren, Anabelle, Acerola and Ferdinand gazed at Daisy and Broccoli and frowned.

"They look like margays," said Melissa.

"They're sort of like margays, aren't they?" said Blu, "But they are domesticated cats, specifically bred by humans to live in their places."

"Can we meet them?" asked Acerola excitedly. At this, Augustus shot his granddaughter a look.

"Well, I'm not sure what those two cats are like with furry flying creatures such as us," he said, "But…"

Melissa, however, had quite an opposite opinion. "Well based on what Blu said about those two cats being vegetarian," she said, "As well as those two dogs being bird friendly, I don't see any reason why we shouldn't meet them."

Stella, Luna, Sebastian, Soren, Anabelle, Acerola, Ferdinand and Sandalwood smiled hopefully at Augustus who still wore an uncertain expression on his face. Finally he relented.

"Okay," he said, but he hardened his frown, "But I want you guys to know, this is stepping WAY beyond the boundary of our safety rules about humans and city animals."

The other flying foxes, Blu and Jewel smiled and then prepared to fly to Broccoli, Daisy, Dash and Ginger.

Soon, the garden was alive with chatting animals. The flying foxes and the archaeobirds had introduced themselves to the four domesticated animals and had even allowed themselves to have their picture taken by Lucy, their timidity and wariness of these friendly humans having melted away, especially by the coaxing of Blu and Jewel that these humans were harmless. Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Travis, Ceres and Pluto and their respective mates were also present, while Frodo, Ellie, Diantha and Tom and their chicks had joined in after some reluctance. However, the Cuban and Dominican macaws were careful to coat their plumages in brown mud to conceal their species from view of the humans while they were in their sight for they did not want their species to be discovered. While Susan kept watch over Molly and Mary and Lucy, Jack and Jill went to upload the new pictures of the birds and bats Lucy had taken, onto a thing known to humans and the former domesticated birds like Blu as a laptop, and as the other birds and flying foxes chatted with Dash, Ginger and Daisy, Stella, Soren and Sandalwood sat beside Broccoli.

"I've been told that you are some of the flying foxes who are against the main colony's teachings about birds being vermin and the causers of the troubles like logging," said Broccoli.

"Yes, that's true," said Soren.

"Those teachings were a pack of lies," said Stella, "But it led the colony to the wrong and often very dark motivations such as slaughtering innocent birds and savagely driving out bird tribe sand clans to grab their land."

"Those two scars you see on Ceres's forehead and down her left chest and tummy side," said Soren, "Is the result of a narrow escape from death of one such violent invasion by those barbaric bats."

"She actually required those wounds to be stitched up according to her mate and sons," added Stella.

Broccoli gazed at Ceres and saw the long scar down her left side, as well as a shorter one spanning the width of her forehead. Then his gaze turned to Triton and Iris as they talked with Daisy.

"As for Triton, he's got some scars running up his entire left facial side," said Stella, "The result of another barbaric, hulking bat's attack on him when he tried to protect me, Luna and Sebastian from certain death when we were pups and my brother an adolescent."

"He's completely lost sight in his left eye as a result," said Soren, "Furthermore, the scars and damaged eye had affected his self-esteem but one of our friends has come up with a solution to cover up most of the damage."

"He's told me all about it as well as shown me the damage from that event," said Broccoli, "And… Eustace has lost a leg," he gazed at the eldest son of Sunset and Travis as he stood on his right talon, the only one he had left before thinking about Flor, Pluto and Lapis Lazuli's youngest first-brood daughter who was back in the jungle. "And Flor has quite a few scars as well, while Victor's quite large set of scars on his chest was the result of protecting Indigo during the ravine battle."

"Countless birds, and flying foxes as well, have suffered terribly when that colony was in existence," said Stella in an edgy voice, "I believe the suffering the colony has caused those birds and their own members has peaked when that deranged uncle of ours and his mate were leaders."

"What was the name of your uncle?" asked Broccoli.

"Cicatriz," said Stella with some unease due to the name's infamy, "That name, along with the name of his mate, Iracebeth, have become forbidden words since the Great Battle for the Sanctuary."

"Any mentioning of those names except during conversations about the Battle always stops general conversations," said Soren, "Especially with my father-in-law's clan and the macaws that had been held captive for brutal interrogation for it always makes them react distastefully or with fright."

"Ruby, Orquidea, Lapis Lazuli and Esmeralda are four of those macaws who have been captured for interrogation," explained Stella before a sigh escaped her mouth. "You honestly don't want to know about the horrors those poor macaws have had to endure during their time in that graveyard of a place that was the flying fox colony's territory."

"They, along with several other kidnapped birds that had survived, had been brutally tortured for information, and that ordeal has left those birds with permanent mental scars, which is why those four are sometimes awkward around us flying foxes," added Soren. Broccoli then gazed sympathetically at Esmeralda, Ruby and Orquidea as they kept shifting their talons while standing next to Augustus. Though they were used to Augustus's clan, they were still uneasy around flying foxes, even friendly ones after what Cicatriz and his minions had put them through for four whole days, and nightmares still plagued their sleep from time to time. Furthermore, Augustus still blamed himself for the damage these four macaws and the other rescued prisoners caused by his then colony-mates despite being told that it wasn't his fault.

Then Broccoli's gaze turned to Andromeda, Eragon, Spyro, Marella, Bambi and Altair as they perched with their bat-birds in one of the trees.

"And to see some of those bizarre dinosaur like-birds and those flying reptiles with my own two eyes is amazing," he said, "I still find it hard to believe that there is a flock of them still alive."

"Oh, according to Andromeda over there," said Stella, "There are other strange animals that are still living, like giant crocodile like fish and lizards with sails on their backs."

"That creature sounds like… _Dimetrodon,_ one of those strange reptiles with mammalian features," said Broccoli.

"There are also what Blu called ther-o-pods," said Stella, managing to say the rather complicated term, "Two-legged lizards that have bird-like hind legs."

"Really?" said Broccoli. As he said this, Sandalwood saw something on four-legged object humans called a chair. It was a pack of thin sheets, all with pictures and lettering on it. At this, the young bat pup, tugged by curiosity, jumped from Stella's breast and crawled towards the chair much to Stella's alarm.

"Sandalwood," called Stella and with that, she, Soren and Broccoli ran after him. Sandalwood climbed up one of the chair's legs and onto the platform where humans sat. As the other three gathered round him, Sandalwood gazed at the image on the first leaf.

"That's called a magazine," said Broccoli, "Humans use those for educational purposes, for entertainment and for discussing current events."

"Humans sure are strange creatures," said Stella with a perplexed frown.

"And… they have that cube-shaped thing with moving pictures as well," said Soren.

"That's called a television," said Broccoli, "That's used for the same purposes as magazines and newspapers."

Then Sandalwood took hold of the magazine and asked, "What's this on the first sheet?"

At this, Soren, Stella and Broccoli gazed at the picture on the cover of the magazine. It was a science-based mag and Susan had purchased this from a shop after interest pulled her to it. The picture featured several humans dressed in scientist outfits and holding a few animals. A large building was situated behind the humans, and above the entire image were the words 'Sanctuario del Paradíso'. Broccoli recognised the words as Bia, Virgil, Sirius, Einstein and Miles came by. Miles was carrying something in his talons, a stick with some fruit shell fragments hanging from it. He had begun to make a decorative hanging object and had set to collecting the materials after he had had his picture taken by Lucy with his brothers and parents.

"That's Portuguese for 'Paradise Sanctuary'," said the tabby cat, having learned Portuguese over the past three years. "It's a conservation region in Peru."

"Conservation?" repeated Bia, pulling the cat and three flying foxes' attention to her.

"The Sanctuario del Paradíso," said Broccoli, "It's a conservation region somewhere in Peru."

"Oh, so it is like a sanctuary to protect rare animals like the Blu Bird Sanctuary and the Sanctuary de Amazon here in Brazil?" asked Virgil.

"Sounds rather interesting," said Sirius.

"Not only do the Sanctuario del Paradíso Foundation protect rare and critically endangered animals," said Broccoli, before turning back to the picture. Bia and her family came over to look at the magazine picture. "But they also rescue rare animals from poachers and take them to the sanctuary to be nursed back to health."

"What sort of animals do they care for?" asked Einstein.

"Brazilian animals like Spix macaws?" asked Miles as he added another fruit shell piece to his construct.

"Animals from all over the world," said Broccoli, "African animals such as cheetahs, animals from New Zealand…"

"So basically, it is like a zoo?" said Virgil.

"Kind of," said Broccoli.

"Well, if that group of humans is devoted to rescuing animals from poachers then at least we know there are some caring humans outside of Brazil," said Soren with a firm smile. Just then, the group heard Blu's voice.

"Hey, guys, are you ready?" he called. Soren, Stella, Sandalwood, Bia and her family turned to face Blu who were surrounded by Venus, Zephyr, Justin, Carla, Sonia, Spica and Melody and Tiago, Matilda, Bellatrix and Bartholomew, and Charlotte, Músculo, Jason and Petunia. Nearby, Jupiter and Saturn were rounding up the others.

"Ready for what?" asked Stella.

"We're going to visit Diantha's parents Rafael and Eva," said Zephyr, "To introduce our grandkids to them."

As he said this, Diantha flew in with Tom, Aurora, Gladion and Lillie.

"Also, Mom and Dad will be expecting us," she said. At this, Soren, Stella and Sandalwood turned to Broccoli.

"Well, it sure is nice to meet you but maybe we could have a proper talk the next time we meet," said Stella with a smile.

"And I hope your meeting with Rafael and Eva goes well," said Broccoli but then a frown appeared on his face. "But be aware that they might have had more chicks."

Bia and Virgil shot the young tabby cat a look.

"They've had another clutch?" asked Bia. Broccoli gazed at her.

"I don't know but I wouldn't be surprised," said the cat, "Just be careful," his gaze then turned to Stella and her family, "And they might be very undisciplined as well, so just be careful with these newcomers."

"Yeah, we've recently been through an ordeal at the talons of some of their mischievous descendants as well," said Daisy as she walked in, a stern look on her face, "Some of them actually played a pitfall trap on me, Broccoli, James, Ebony, Pelusa and Nevado and then pelted us with fruit and seeds during our escape."

Disbelief tore through the group, especially Tiago and Matilda.

"A pitfall prank!?" shouted Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Ceres, Pluto and some of the others.

"You can't be serious!" added Zephyr. Sapphire, Chiquitita, Ruby, Orquidea, Esmeralda, Ultramarine, Cobalto and Lapis Lazuli shouted in agreement while the younger birds exchanged confused glances. Blu, however, remained calm.

"Those toucan chicks are still up to no good?" asked Blu warily. Neptune came over, a look of disgust on his face.

"We just need to be careful," he said, "The Blu Bird Sanctuary's become riddled with gangs of them and the last thing we want is any of them causing us trouble."

"Especially after what happened with Broccoli, Daisy and some friends including James," said Ultramarine.

"That pitfall prank only bruised James's shoulder," said Triton, "But it could have been worse."

"And some of those gangs can be extremely reckless," said Indigo. Violet, Iris, Victor, Milo, Eustace, Rosa, Clemont and Serena nodded in agreement. Blu and Jewel exchanged glances with Venus and Zephyr and also Carla, Justin, Matilda, Virgil and Charlotte before gazing back at Neptune.

"Well, if it is true that many of Rafael and Eva's offspring have become completely misbehaved, then we're gonna have to do something about it," said Blu firmly.

"Maybe Rafael and Eva could help in regards to that," said Jewel.

"Yeah, we can't have the Blu Bird Sanctuary residents living with gangs of toucans causing so much trouble," added Jupiter.

"We'll see what we can do," said Saturn. The others nodded in agreement. Then Bia and her family bade Broccoli and Daisy goodbye and joined Blu's side, followed by Stella, with Sandalwood on her breast, and Soren. Then the others gathered around the group. Milo, along with Eustace, Serena, Yolanda, Vincent, Oscar and Rosa, Clemont, Peach and Bruno came along but Travis and Sunset remained behind.

"You coming, Dad?" asked Eustace. However, he flinched when he got two glares in response to this question. Travis and Sunset were not at all happy with the idea of meeting those two toucans.

"No, you go ahead, son," said Travis firmly, "We're staying behind."

"We don't wanna get involved with those rabbit toucans again," put in Sunset. At this, Blu fluttered to the two cockatoos as Roberto joined the group with Brisa and Jojo, Felix, Lavender and their families after bidding Ginger and Dash goodbye. With them, Frodo, Ellie, Olivia, Sylvester, Alegria, Achilles and Pitaya, their species covered by a coat of mud, flew alongside Lavender, Garrett, Deneb, Lilac and Polaris.

"Look, just because they have had countless broods doesn't mean that they are condescending, you two," said the American Spix macaw in rebuke. However, under the rebuking gaze, he couldn't help but agree with Travis and Sunset's statement about Rafael and Eva being like 'rabbits'. 'They have had FAR too many chicks as it is,' thought Blu. He clearly remembered the first time of meeting Rafael with Jewel when they were chained together. They had already had seventeen chicks but that number has since multiplied over the years, and many of Rafael and Eva's older kids were no different. Then as soon as everyone had gathered round after saying goodbye to Jack, Jill, Lucy, Bernardo, Susan, Molly and Mary, the group was ready to leave. Andromeda gazed at the humans as she rode on her bat-bird Rouge.

"They certainly seem very nice," she said, "I guess revealing ourselves to them wasn't such a bad thing after all."

"Guess so," said Eragon.

"So, where to next, Blu?" asked Spyro, Altair clutching onto his back as he rode his bat-bird, Garnet. Marella hovered on her mount nearby with Bambi clinging to her. Blu smiled.

"We're off to see Rafael and Eva," he said, "They're expecting us, like Diantha said."

"Then what are we waiting for?" said Carla excitedly, "Let's go!"

"I can't wait to introduce our kids to Aunt Eva and Uncle Rafael," said Bia excitedly. Then with a cheer, the group took off and left in the direction of Rafael and Eva's hollow. Broccoli, Daisy, Ginger, Dash, Travis and Sunset watched the group leave.

"I hope it goes well," muttered Sunset as though it were a rainy day.

"Maybe Blu and Jewel could talk some sense into those two rabbit toucans about breeding like those big-eared mammals," said Broccoli.

"Not to mention the lack of discipline of their younger chicks and many of their grandkids," added Daisy.

"At least Diantha and her children are well-behaved," said Travis. The others nodded in agreement. Then the group left and followed Susan and her family into the house.


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8- intro to Rafael and Eva**

 **At Rafael and Eva's hollow**

Some visitors had dropped by a certain tree where a certain toco/keel-billed toucan couple lived. Rafael and Eva sat perched on the branch leading to the entrance/exit of their home, around two dozen or more toucan chicks gathered around them. Some of the chicks were their newest additions to their MASSIVE family while the rest were the offspring of Rafael and Eva's eldest, grown-up kids and their mates and thus the grandkids of these two toucans. They all had black and white or red-tinted cream plumages and most had orange and black beaks like Rafael. Only a few had lime green and magenta beaks like Eva. The two older toucans were struggling to keep the lot under control and many of the mischievous chicks kept wandering off. Eva tried keeping some of the chicks in the hollow while Rafael was smothered by a cloud of the rest as they clambered all over him like how human kids climbed a park climbing frame. However, despite the massive burden of so many kids around them, Rafael's brown eyes and orange and black tipped beak glowed with a hearty smile. However, the bulbous eyes and beaks of the visitors, which were Orion, Velocity and their respective mates Hermione and Merlin, had quite the opposite. They were frowning at the toucan couple and the massive number of toucan chicks surrounding them. Behind Orion, Hunter and Zelda peered out, unnerved by the sheer number of chicks. Rafael lifted his wings; the feathers laced with a few silvery streaks to show his age, and took hold of three of his grandkids as they climbed over his head while the other chicks jumped off their father/grandfather and began to chase each other around.

"I've got quite a massive family now, haven't I, Orion and Velocity?" said he, laughing heartily as he nuzzled his beak with the three chicks in his wings. At the hollow, Eva rebuked the chicks as they play-fought inside the tree, and the falcons could hear the sounds of mischievous laughter and thumping from the tree, much to the chagrin of the birds of prey.

"TOO big if you ask us," growled Velocity.

"Look at yourself;" said Merlin as some of the toucan kids piled on top of Rafael again, "You're swamped head to talon with _kids!"_

"Haven't you or your older children had enough kids already?" asked Orion.

"You must have almost eighty offspring now," said Hermione, "Not to mention countless _grandchildren_."

Zelda and Hunter gazed at their parents and then at the toucans, not wanting to be seen by the few dozen rambunctious kids. Rafael gazed at the falcons as he struggled to seize his kids and grandkids as they climbed all over him.

"Hey, come on now, you four," he said, wincing as one of the baby toucans tugged at his facial feathers while another accidentally shoved her foot over his eyelids. Rafael sniggered and picked off the toucan girl and held her with her cousins and nephews and nieces. "Eva and I just LOVE having kiddies. It's true that papa needs a break… OW!"

He winced as one of the toucan chicks poked him in the eye. Orion, an irritated sigh, shook his head and gazed back at Rafael as he scolded the chick while Velocity, Merlin and Hermione said nothing.

"I think it's about time we got serious in the subject, you two," muttered Orion. He then nodded to Merlin and Hermione to take the two young falcon chicks away for this was going to be a rather adult discussion. Hermione and Merlin did so and commanded Zelda and Hunter to come with them, leaving Orion and Velocity to talk with Rafael and Eva. However, before the discussion could go ahead, a few dozen wing-flap sounds reached the group's ears and within moments, a colourful group of birds, most of them macaws, and some flying foxes appeared.

"Hi, Rafael, hi Eva," said a familiar blue macaw at the front. At this, Rafael, Eva, Orion and Velocity, as well as Hermione, Merlin, Hunter and Zelda, saw the group of macaws, flying foxes, archaeobirds, cockatoos, toucans and bat-birds touch down on some branches and smiled.

"Well, look who's here," said Hermione, all disgust at Rafael and Eva's continuous chick having briefly gone.

"We're dazzled by a cloud of colours," said Merlin. Then Hunter and Zelda excitedly rushed towards the young chicks to greet them. However, so did the many toucan chicks surrounding Rafael and Eva and they charged at Blu and company as well. Blu and Jewel, together with Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Ceres, Roberto and Pluto and their respective mates Sapphire, Zephyr, Chiquitita, Ruby, Orquidea, Esmeralda, Ultramarine, Cobalto, Brisa and Lapis Lazuli all released surprised cries while Carla, Justin, Bia, Virgil, Matilda, Tiago, Charlotte, Músculo and the other couples including Stella, Soren, Sebastian and Anabelle, scooped up their chicks and pups protectively. Alarm also tore through Rafael and Eva.

"Whoa, kids, take it EASY!" cried the aged toco toucan but before the swarm of chicks could pounce onto Blu and company, four blurs, three slate grey and ivory and the other brown, shot in and took the playful attack of all the chicks. Blu's group all ducked as Orion, Velocity, Hermione and Merlin were sent careening over them and onto a branch.

"Good grief," cried Augustus in utter shock as he wrapped his wings protectively around Melissa, Luna, and also Stella, Sebastian and their mates and pups. Andromeda, Eragon, Spyro, Marella, Bambi and Altair and their bat-birds, all clumped into a protective ball, then slowly raised their heads. The others did the same and turned in the direction of the four falcons and saw them swallowed up in an attacking cloud of black, white and cream-red feathers and orange, black, magenta and lime green beaks. Diantha, Tom, Aurora, Gladion and Lillie looked on in shock as the toucan chicks (the latter three's new aunts and uncles and some of their countless cousins), playfully swarmed all over Orion, Velocity, Hermione and Merlin thinking they were Blu and company. Zelda and Hunter also looked on, having abruptly stopped their rush towards Blu's group.

As they watched the three peregrines and merlin try to pry off the rambunctious toucan chicks with Rafael and Eva's help, Milo, Eustace, Rosa, Clemont and Serena, their wings protectively wrapped around Peach, Vincent, Yolanda, Bruno and Oscar, gazed disgustedly at the number of toucan chicks.

"Don't tell me Rafael and Eva have had more kids, have they?" muttered Milo. The group winced as Orion's cries of pain erupted from the ball of feathers.

"Oi, Isabella, stop poking Orion in the face, will you!?" shouted Rafael's voice.

"Get off of Velocity's head, Danielle, Joel," shouted Eva to two toucan kids wrestling with Velocity. Then Io and Sheldon came in, Betelgeuse and Rigel in their wings.

"Huh, if those four falcons are struggling with that number of kids, then it's obviously worse for two toucans," said Io.

"I can see why," said Sheldon with a frown.

"There's no way WE could handle that many kids at once," said Callisto as she held Canopus and Katniss.

"I've never known a toucan family grow so large," said Athos.

"Hey, Rafael, do you need any help?" called Blu. Rafael shot Blu a glance as he struggled with about seven kids.

"Oh, sorry Blu, I'm busy at the moment… OW, OW, OW!" he replied; only to have some of the kids kick him in the face. The seven chicks laughed mischievously and slipped out of Rafael's grasp. Then suddenly, Eva's raucous voice exploded into the air like an explosion shockwave, making Blu's group wince.

"EVERYONE, IN LINE, NOW!" at this command, the toucan chicks stopped playfully wrestling with Orion, Velocity, Hermione and Merlin and immediately lined up on a branch before their mother/grandmother much to the relief of Orion, Velocity, Merlin and Hermione who lay in a battered heap on the branch. Rafael smiled.

"My lovely Eva's like a human army captain when it comes to kids," he crooned proudly, "None of our kiddies dare disobey her."

"What's an army captain?" asked Andromeda.

"It's a leader of a group of humans who go to war," explained Jupiter. Then Ruby's blue wings went to her hips and her face twisted into a scowl.

"Well if she's so good at keeping them kids in line," she muttered, "Then she should put those skills to good use!"

"That way we won't get these silly and over-the-top greetings from those rambunctious troublemakers," put in Orquidea.

"Resulting in anyone getting hurt," put in Saturn and with that, he gazed at Orion as he struggled to his feet with Uranus and Esmeralda's help. Pluto, Lapis Lazuli, Charon and Neytiri also went to help Hermione, Merlin and Velocity. The four falcons' plumage was a mess and they looked as though they had been dragged through a bush. Hermione disgustedly gazed at her ruffled plumage.

"I've spent almost an _hour_ preening my feathers to look nice," she muttered. Merlin then shot the toucan chicks as they fixed their attention on their mother/grandmother as she barked orders to them, the chicks listening intently, timidity at the authoritative toucan gripping them.

"At least those brats are listening to their mother or grandmother, however they are related to Eva," muttered the falcon disdainfully. Rafael's eyes then travelled to0 the chicks and pups.

"And I see that your offspring have had chicks of their own," said he to Blu, Mercury, Venus, Marts, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Ceres and Pluto and their respective mates.

"Yes," said Zephyr as he stood with Venus, Brisa and Roberto.

"And we have all become grandparents," said Mercury as he stood with Sapphire. Rafael smiled as his eyes travelled over Carla, Bia, Tiago and their families. Sirius, Einstein and Miles timidly hid behind their parents while Sonia, Spica, Melody, Bellatrix and Bartholomew boldly said hi to Rafael. Carla then leaned to the level of the young chicks.

"This is our uncle Rafael," she explained, "He helped your grandparents to fall in love."

The five chicks gazed at Carla and Justin in curiosity. Next to the Spix macaws, Betelgeuse and Rigel, Io and Sheldon's daughters, as well as Europa and Byron's three chicks Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka; Ganymede and Mimas's hybrid chicks Cytosine, Guanine, Adenine and Thymine and Callisto and Athos's kids Canopus and Katniss, gazed either shyly or curiously at Rafael and Eva, as well as the few dozen toucan chicks.

"Is that all their family, Mommy?" asked Canopus to Callisto. Callisto gazed at Athos, not knowing how to answer this but her green-winged mate shrugged. Callisto was reluctant to explain to her ruby (scarlet/green-winged hybrid) son and daughter the fact that there were even more members of Rafael and Eva's huge family. Then Charlotte, Jojo, Felix and Lavender's offspring, Jason and Petunia, Vega and Winona, Austin and Diego, and Deneb, Lilac and Polaris, came forward. Brisa walked over to Rafael to introduce her grandkids and nephews and nieces as soon as she was sure that Rafael and Eva's kids had calmed down.

"Rafael, Eva," she said, "I would like you to meet our grandkids."

Saturn and Orquidea then brought their grandkids, Dione and Porthos's sons Procyon and Peter, Titan and Brooke's chicks Castor, Pollux and Poppy, Enceladus and Trixie's chick Mira and Tethys and Oberon's chicks Cressida and Fomalhaut forward while Mars and Chiquitita brought forth Alexandre and Estelle's chicks Xander and Kayley at their son and daughter-in-law's permission. The other grandparents did the same.

Uranus and Esmeralda brought forward Miranda and Aramis's daughter and son Capella and Achernar, Titania and Ash's sons Basil and Antares, and Umbriel and Benjamin's chicks Perdita, Aldebaran and Cecil. Neptune and Ultramarine also introduced their granddaughter Gertie, Victor and Indigo's daughter while Mercury and Sapphire introduced their granddaughter Arcturus, the only daughter of Phoebe and Squaw'tagnan. Pluto and Lapis Lazuli introduced their three grandkids, Saiph (Blueberry and Aiden's son) and Regulus and Denebola (Charon and Neytiri's son and daughter) while Cobalto and Ceres brought in Carmen and Oceano, the offspring of Azul and Fernanda. Soon, a colourful line of macaw chicks had formed and Rafael and Eva began to admire each brood as well as introduce themselves. At the end of the queue, Stella and Soren placed Sandalwood while Sebastian and Anabelle placed Acerola and Ferdinand. Behind the three pups, Spyro and Marella's chicks Altair and Bambi and Ellie and Frodo's chicks, Olivia, Sylvester, Pitaya, Achilles and Alegria stood, as well as Diantha and her family. Milo, Eustace, Rosa, Orion, Velocity and their families (apart from Milo who did not have a mate and chicks) looked on from the sidelines as Rafael and Eva began to admire the first group of chicks, Blu and Jewel's grandkids starting with Carla and Justin's daughters, the few dozen toucan chicks looking on.

"I can see why Travis and Sunset don't want to drop by and say hello to the toucans," said Hermione, understanding the reason as her bulbous eyes gazed at the audience of toucan chicks, "Rafael and Eva have been having one clutch of chicks after another as had many of their older kids, and Travis and Sunset could not have another clutch of eggs."

"It's because Mom and Dad feel small and insignificant whenever they see the countless offspring of those two toucans, Hermione," said Eustace as he stood by Serena, Yolanda, Vincent and Oscar, "Especially when they found that they could not conceive again."

"They wouldn't dream of having so many chicks to the point that they can't handle them anyway," said Serena, before her gaze turned to Saturn and Orquidea, "I know those two have had quite a large first brood with seven chicks but based on their information and experience it was a real struggle to raise that many chicks on their own…"

"It's not because our parents couldn't raise that many offspring, Serena," said Milo, "They know how burdensome that would be if they had so many offspring at once," he then nodded to the audience of toucan chicks, "It's because when our parents see how many offspring Rafael and Eva and many of their older kids are having they feel belittled and that Rafael and his massive family are showing off and that…"

"I don't think Rafael and Eva would brag and boast about their numerous offspring," said Clemont in disagreement, "By my calculations, I think their love of having kids far outweighs their pride in producing one clutch after another."

"I kind of disagree with that," said Orion with a frown. Velocity, Hermione and Merlin nodded in agreement.

"Especially if many of those chicks are so badly behaved," put in Eustace as he perched on his one foot.

While the falcons and cockatoos watched on, Rafael and Eva had finished admiring Blu and Jewel's eight grandkids. Rafael held Miles, the youngest son of Virgil and Bia, and admired the construct the little chick had in his wings.

"Wow, your son's made that?" asked Rafael. Mile raised the product of sticks, vines and fruit shell pieces for the toucan to see.

"It's a mobile," said he, using one of the human words his parents had learned, "It's for my family's hollow when we return to our home."

Virgil and Bia smiled at this loving suggestion while Sirius and Einstein looked on excitedly.

"It would make a great decoration for our home, bro," squeaked Einstein.

"I love things like that," said Sirius. Rafael then put Miles down and he scuttled over to his parents' side. Carla, Justin, Sonia, Spica and Melody looked on.

"Could you make one for our hollow as well, cousin?" asked Spica, "I could do the calculations of the length, and I know one number I could use to make the mobile look nicer."

When Carla and Justin shot their daughter a confused look, Spica clarified what she meant.

"The golden ratio which has symbol 'phi' and a value of 1.61803398…" the little chick began but Justin cut her off.

"Look, I KNOW!" he snapped, making Spica jump, "You don't have to go into the nitty-gritty of your maths. Not everyone could understand what you understand, you know."

Spica gazed back at her father while laughs rolled through the crowd.

"She's just like her maternal grandfather, aunt and her cousin Miles," said Tiago with a smile.

"Very much like Blu if you ask me," said Venus as she stood by Zephyr. Blu and Jewel smiled while Carla and Justin shot the group a look of embarrassment.

"Oh, how humiliating," muttered Carla, a wing on her forehead, "The best singer in her family aiming to be a star with a daughter that's so much like my father and sister than me…"

"Hey, Bellatrix is no different, sis," said Tiago as Rafael admired his daughter and her brother, Bartholomew.

"She can understand the golden ratio as well," said Matilda before her head turned to Ganymede and his blended family. "So can Ganymede and his sons and daughters over there."

Ganymede replied with a smile while Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine and Thymine said nothing. Mimas smiled at her scarlet mate. The others also smiled. However, some of the birds were not very happy at all. Many of Rafael and Eva's chicks and grand-chicks glared at Miles and Spica but instead of impressed looks, their looks were laced with immense jealousy but none of the birds noticed. Then after Rafael and Eva had examined Bellatrix and Bartholomew, and then Jason and Petunia, the two chicks of Charlotte and Músculo, followed by Roberto and Brisa's grandkids, Winona and Vega (Jojo and Kira's daughters), Austin and Diego (Felix and Turquesa's sons) and Deneb, Lilac and Polaris (Lavender and Garrett's three daughters), Rafael and Eva smiled.

"These seven take after you in so many ways, Roberto," said Rafael as he examined the chicks, "Can they sing well?"

"Oh yeah," said Roberto, "They all like performing and singing," his gaze then rested on Vega and Winona and then moved over to Polaris who blushed.

"Our daughter can sing well like her grandfather," said Garrett as he gazed proudly at Polaris.

"He's a real um… what was the name of that human singer with the deep voice again?" said Lavender to Carla, Bia and Tiago and their mates.

"Elvis Presley," said Justin.

"That's it," said Lavender, "He's an Elvis Presley in the making."

"It will probably show when she reaches adolescence," said Garrett. Polaris, at this, shot her parents an embarrassed look. This talent was also met with jealousy by audience of toucan chicks. One of them, named Isabella, gazed bitterly at Polaris.

"So she is likely to have a voice like some beautiful human woman singer, eh?" she hissed, "How unfair!"

Her siblings and cousins also gazed bitterly at Polaris and her two sisters and cousins as they moved aside to allow the rest of the chicks and also the bat pups to meet Rafael and Eva. The mixed group of red, blue-and-gold, Lear's, blue-throated, green, glaucous, hyacinth and hybrid macaws, flying fox pups and also Frodo and Ellie's kids and Andromeda and Eragon's grandkids stood in a row on a branch before the toucans, allowing the couple to examine each one.

"Uncle Rafael, Aunt Eva," said Alexandre as he sat with Estelle and his brothers Phobos and Deimos, "These are my and Estelle's chicks, Xander and Kayley."

"Say hi," said Estelle to the two pure green-winged macaw chicks. The brother and sister did so as Rafael and Eva smiled at them.

"They're so cute," crooned Eva lovingly. Mars and Chiquitita smiled at each other as she said this. Then Rafael moved on to examine the chicks of Io, Sheldon, Europa, Byron, Callisto and Athos, as well as Ganymede and Mimas's Catalina chicks. Jupiter and Ruby looked on.

"Wow, you certainly have got quite an interesting mix of grandkids, Jupiter and Ruby," said Rafeal.

"Betelgeuse and Rigel here are three-quarter scarlet and one-quarter green-winged," explained Io, "Since my mate Sheldon here is a half-scarlet, half-green-winged…"

Betelgeuse and Rigel raised their wings in a greeting gesture to Rafael.

"Our chicks, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka are pure scarlet macaws," said Europa, gesturing to her three chicks.

"Jupiter and Ruby's only pure scarlet grandkids," said Byron with a proud smile. Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka, who resembled triplets to such an extent that they could only be told apart by their eye colours and in Mintaka, the length of her head feathers, all squeaked 'hi' together to Rafael and Eva. Eva lifted the three chicks to admire them closer, much to the surprise of the two brothers and sister while Rafael turned to admire Canopus and Katniss, the half-green-winged, half-scarlet or ruby offspring of Callisto, a scarlet macaw and Athos, a green-winged macaw.

"Our son Canopus and daughter Katniss are hybrids like Ganymede and Mimas's chicks," said Callisto, "But since Athos and I are both red macaws, their hybrid features are not as obvious."

"However, if you check their wing contours," said Athos, which Rafael did and saw the green, yellow and orange bands in the contours that were normally green in the green-winged macaw and yellow in the scarlet macaw. Canopus and Katniss gazed curiously at the toco toucan in return.

"I can see they're definitely ruby macaws alright," said Rafael, withdrawing his head from the two chicks, "Just like their uncle Sheldon."

"You've seen a ruby macaw before?" asked Sheldon. Nearby, Eva placed Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka back down on the branch and they retreated behind Europa and Byron.

"I had a ruby macaw friend when I was young," Rafael explained, "Her mother was a green-winged and her father was a scarlet macaw. I met her in the jungle that is now the Blu Bird Sanctuary. It was before I met my lovely dragonfruit Eva."

Betelgeuse and Rigel winced in revulsion at this.

"What was her name?" asked Io.

"Gwendoline," said Rafael with a proud smile, "She was a lovely ruby macaw, so full of peaches, so sunny. Anyway, moving on…"

He turned his attention to Adenine and his siblings.

"And I can see that these four are hybrids as well," said he as Adenine, Guanine, Thymine and Cytosine backed away somewhat.

"They're Catalina macaws," said Ganymede, "A cross between a scarlet and blue-and-gold."

"As you can see, our genes have mixed in our four kids, Adenine, Guanine, Thymine and Cytosine," said Mimas. Rafael then admired the four chicks' vivid orange-red fronts and cyan, green, blue and sea-green blended backs. Eva passed by and examined, Castor, Pollux and Poppy, the sons and daughter of Titan and his mate Brooke; Peter and Procyon, Dione and her mate Porthos's sons; Mira, the hybrid daughter of Enceladus and his hyacinth mate Trixie and Cressida and Fomalhaut, the hybrid daughter and son of Tethys and her great green mate Oberon while Saturn, Orquidea, Iapetus and Rhea looked on.

"Looks like Enceladus and Tethys have some hybrid offspring as well," said Eva, "A blue-and-gold/hyacinth hybrid and two blue-and-gold/great green hybrids."

"They're called Bluffon's macaws," said Oberon as Cressida and Fomalhaut introduced themselves to Eva, "While Mira is an emerald macaw."

Mira timidly hid behind Trixie who assured her that Rafael and Eva were fine and trustworthy. Then Saturn came forward.

"Yes, we also have a set of interesting grandkids as well," he said proudly. Rafael then admired Saturn and Orquidea's grandkids.

"Well, I've never seen a hyacinth/blue-and-gold hybrid before," he said as he admired Mira as she stood between Trixie and Enceladus, "Neither have I seen a blue-and-gold/great green hybrid," he turned and admired Cressida and Fomalhaut as they sat between Tethys and Oberon who nuzzled their heads together lovingly and proudly.

"Benjamin and Umbriel's offspring, Perdita, Aldebaran and Cecil are also hybrids," said Titan, a nod to Umbriel and her family, "As are Titania and Ash's kids Basil and Antares but their hybrid features are not as obvious."

Rafael and Eva then turned to examine those chicks, along with Miranda and Aramis's chicks Capella and Achernar. When they got to Benjamin and Umbriel's three kids, they were mesmerised by the colourful plumages of the trio.

"They're so colourful," crooned Eva as she admired the rainbow of colours in the plumages of Perdita, Aldebaran and Cecil. From the toucan chick audience, some of the chicks gazed jealously at the trio of Verde offspring of Umbriel and her scarlet mate as they looked on proudly.

"Wish I was as colourful as them as well," muttered Isabella jealously. While Eva continued to admire Umbriel and Benjamin's three chicks and their range of colours in their plumage, Rafael turned to examine Arcturus, Squaw'tagnan's only daughter and Mercury and Sapphire's granddaughter; Gertie, Indigo and Victor's daughter whom they already met, along with Iris, Triton's new girlfriend; Saiph, Regulus and Denebola, the grandkids of Pluto and Lapis Lazuli and offspring of Blueberry, Aiden, Charon and Neytiri; Oceano and Carmen, Azul and Fernanda's two chicks and grandkids of Cobalto and Ceres, and also Olivia, Sylvester, Achilles, Alegria and Pitaya as well as Altair and Bambi, Spyro and Marella's chicks, and Aurora, Lillie and Gladion, Diantha and Tom's chicks. Rafael and Eva also admired Sandalwood, Acerola and Ferdinand, Augustus and Melissa's grandkids and pups of Stella, Soren, Sebastian and Anabelle but when they examined Ellie and Frodo's chicks, they were confused as to why they were covered in brown mud. At this, Frodo came forward and brushed off some of the mud from his plumage and his kids'.

"It's to conceal our species from human view," he explained, "We're still uncertain as to whether to show our real species to the humans or not."

"You're from the group of Cuban red, Dominican green-and-yellow and purple-and-pink macaws rescued by some friendly flying foxes in the Amazon rainforest, aren't you?" said Rafael.

"We are, yes," said Ellie.

"They're from the 'El Pueblo de Lily' village in the Sanctuary de Amazon," said Augustus, "They're some of Carla and company's friends."

"I see," said Rafael. He then turned to Sandalwood, Acerola and Ferdinand while Augustus, Melissa, Soren, Stella, Anabelle, Sebastian and Luna looked on. "And I see you've become the proud grandparents of three pups," said he. He especially admired Sandalwood who shyly raised a membranous wing in a greeting gesture.

"That's Sandalwood, our son," said Stella.

"And these two are Acerola our daughter and Ferdinand, our son," said Sebastian. Soren and Anabelle stood by their respective mates.

"They're nice names," said Rafael, "I have a son called Ferdinand as well. He's a proud father of twenty-six offspring."

Augustus and his family, at this, shot the toucan a shocked look as the toco toucan's beak widened into a very proud smile.

"How many chicks does this son of yours have?" asked Augustus in disbelief.

"Twenty-six!?" blurted out Sebastian as he scooped his son up.

"Seriously," muttered Stella as Rafael continued to admire her son. Soren then shot a gaze at Milo, Eustace and Rosa as they sat with Clemont, Serena, their offspring and the falcons and saw that their faces were laced with disapproval and disgust.

"Anabelle, Stella, Sebastian, Luna, look," said Soren in a low voice. At this, the four bats, along with Augustus, Melissa, Sandalwood, Ferdinand and Acerola, and also Andromeda, Eragon, Spyro, Marella, Altair and Bambi, followed Soren's gaze and found the sour looks on the cockatoos' faces.

"Those glares on those crested parrots look like looks of jealousy," said Andromeda. Pluto and Lapis Lazuli came in.

"More like looks of sheer bitterness," said Pluto before leaning to tell Augustus something, a wing covering his beak.

"Don't get me wrong but I have a feeling that our toucan friend likes showing off his massive family," he whispered. Augustus just said nothing.

"Hey, Rafael," said Eva, pulling Rafael's attention away from Sandalwood and his cousins and also Altair and Bambi. "Our daughter Diantha has also had chicks."

"Excuse me, my friends," said Rafael politely and left to see Diantha's family. Frodo came in, his suit of mud partially wiped away from his face and upper body, revealing the orange and red plumage of his species on those areas.

"I have a bad feeling about that toucan's attitude when it comes to family size," he said in a low voice and with a frown.

"Well, whatever it is, I don't like it one bit," muttered Eragon, his fore-wings folded.

"He's always had so many chicks since we first met him," said Blu and Jewel. Then Augustus tipped his head to one side.

"You know, I kind of agree with those two cockatoo parrot parents of Milo and his brother and sister," he said, "I think Rafael and his mate are showing off their massive clan of a family and he's passed it on to some of his older kids."

"Pity," said Blu. The others nodded in agreement. While the others looked on, Rafael and Eva admired Lillie, Gladion and Aurora.

"I'm so glad you've set to having kids of your own, my dear daughter," said Rafael as he held Lillie and Gladion. From the audience of toucan chicks, many of those chicks gazed at their new cousins or first cousins, once removed with smiles on their beaks. Diantha, who held Aurora, only looked on with a small smile.

"Yeah, but we won't be having any more chicks until these three have grown up," she said. Rafael gazed at her with surprise.

"We're sorry, Rafael," said Tom as he sat beside his mate, his wing draped over her shoulders, "But if we have too many chicks, it would cause havoc."

"But we've managed to get by with twenty kids before with few problems," said Rafael. At this, Diantha shot her dad a look.

"Are you expecting _me and Tom_ to have more clutches until we have about two-dozen offspring!?" snapped she. Tom also gave a disapproving look. Rafael, at first taken aback by Diantha's sudden retort, then calmed down and admired Gladion and Lillie some more.

"No need to snap," said he, "I'm just telling you the facts."

He playfully tickled Gladion's face with his wing, much to Gladion's amusement. Diantha looked away and frowned.

"Dad," she said, "There are countless other bird families who know that having too many chicks at one time can lead to disastrous results," she turned to look back at Rafael, "And that could be difficulty to control that many rambunctious kids… having to feed them all… tuck them all into nest… I can't stand the thought of flooding our hollow with dozens of offspring like how so many of my siblings have done. It's just too absurd."

"Well, who am I to tell you what to do, my dear daughter," said Rafael with a smile, "If having several clutches is too much for you then don't go ahead with it. Anyway, let's return to the others. I bet they have a lot to catch up on."

Diantha sighed and with that she, Tom, Gladion, Lillie and Aurora, together with Rafael and Eva, returned to the group.

Soon, the whole group had launched into a chat about various things. Subjects included how things were back in the Sanctuary de Amazon, the wellbeing of those that had opted to stay behind such as Jasmine and Annette, Phoebe's younger sisters, and also Augustus's new clan and their helping and running of the El Pueblo de Lily villagers raise their next generation of chicks and pups and so on. While the adults chatted, the kids played. Rafael smiled as Carla, Bia, Tiago and Charlotte and their respective mates Justin, Virgil, Matilda and Músculo's chicks played with some of their kids when Isabella, one of the toucan chicks, came up with an idea.

"I know, why don't we split up and play hide and seek or tag some other games?" she asked. As she said this, Sandalwood, Acerola and Ferdinand, together with the offspring of the red, blue-and-gold and green macaws including Betelgeuse and Rigel, and Adenine, Guanine, Thymine and Cytosine, came in.

"Hide and seek?" asked Betelgeuse with a smile.

"Tag?" said Sirius as he sat with Einstein. Miles, however, remained fixed on his mobile and had tied a piece of coconut shell to another extension via a vine.

"Sounds like fun," said Sonia as she sat with Spica and Melody. Bellatrix, Bartholomew, Jason and Petunia also nodded.

"But who's going to play what game?" asked one of Benjamin and Umbriel's chicks, Perdita.

"We can't play surf on the lilypads since there are no lilypads here like there is in the Spix macaws' ravine," said Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka together. Canopus, Katniss, Adenine and his siblings and cousins including the blue-and-gold macaw cousins, all smiled. Isabella smiled as the other young chicks, among them Altair and Bambi, Spyro and Marella's chicks, Arcturus (Phoebe and Squaw'tagnan's daughter), Saiph (the son of Blueberry and Aiden), Denebola and Regulus (Neytiri and Charon's chicks) and Carmen and Oceano (Fernanda and Azul's chicks) came in. From the adult group, Carla, Bia, Tiago, Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto and Azul watched.

"They're making fast friends with our chicks and the chicks of our older offspring, aren't they?" said Rafael with a proud smile.

"I guess so," said Carla.

"Your granddaughter Isabella looks like she's trying to organise things," said Bia.

"I hope they have fun with their games," said Tiago. However, Io and her siblings and Azul wore uncertain faces.

"Um… I'm not sure," murmured Io warily.

"What if those toucan chicks are planning something troublesome," said Europa, her face twisted into a suspicious scowl.

"That's the last thing WE need for our kids," muttered Ganymede, "Getting up to serious mischief."

"Not to mention us in trouble with our own parents should anything happen to those kids of ours," said Callisto.

"That's right, especially with the grand-pups of the flying fox clan leaders involved," said Azul in agreement. He hated to think how Augustus and Melissa would react if Sandalwood, Acerola and Ferdinand fell in with the wrong crowd. At this, Rafael sat between them and put his wings around the group's backs.

"Ah, our kids and the grandkids we are looking after have some good sense," he said, trying to assure the eight, "I'm sure they are well aware of what they are planning."

Carla, Bia and Tiago smiled while the other five's faces remained uncertain. However, under the assured smiles, Carla and her siblings felt uncertainty gnaw at them as well. Can they trust Rafael and Eva to allow the toucan chicks to play with their kids? From the other side of the adult group, Eustace, Milo, Rosa, Orion and Velocity watched on with frowns on their faces while Clemont, Serena, Hermione and Merlin chatted with Neptune, Pluto, Ultramarine, Lapis Lazuli and some of the others and as Vincent, Yolanda, Bruno, Oscar, Peach, Hunter and Zelda played nearby. Just then, Isabella had finished organising the groups and the activities and had finished explaining the arrangements.

"That sounds like a plan, Isabella," said Carmen, "I like it?"

"I like the game of tag," said her brother Oceano.

"Hide and seek sounds fine with us," said Adenine. Guanine, Thymine and Cytosine all nodded in agreement.

"Sandalwood, would you like to go into the pirates group with us?" asked one of Isabella's siblings. Sandalwood, at this, gazed at the toucan chicks uncertainly.

"Um… I'm not sure if Mom and Dad would approve…" he began but Isabella flew over to him and put her wing around the orange-yellow bat pup's shoulders.

"Oh, come on," she said, dragging Sandalwood along, "You'll love it."

"Oh, oh, oh okay," murmured Sandalwood shyly and joined the group that was going to play pirates. He wanted to protest but couldn't. The rest of the chicks and pups then joined the groups planning on playing hide and seek, tag and some other games. As soon as the group of kids had sorted themselves, Isabella shouted, "Right, let's split up and play our games!"

The kids, apart from some such as Diantha and Tom's three, Lillie, Gladion and Aurora, all cheered and with that, the group prepared to go in separate directions. Neptune watched as the kids split up.

"Don't go too far, you lot," he called. The others such as Blu and Jewel turned to see the kids leave.

"We won't," called Neptune's granddaughter Gertie as she left with some of the toucan chicks with Saiph, Regulus, Denebola, Arcturus, Oceano and Carmen and several others. Soon, the kids had left. Stella watched on as Sandalwood followed the group planning to play a game of pirates while Sebastian watched Acerola and Ferdinand leave with those planning to play tag.

"Rafael, are you sure that our pups will be fine with those toucan kids?" asked Stella uncertainly.

"Oh, don't worry, my friend bat," said Rafael, assured that the toucan kids had sense, "If there's something wrong, Eva and I will know."

"Well, I hope you do," said Blu warily. Jewel, together with Roberto, Brisa, Zephyr and Venus and the others including Andromeda and Eragon exchanged glances. Then Spyro called his bat-bird, Garnet and hopped onto his back.

"I'll follow the group which Altair and Bambi have gone with and keep an eye on them to make sure that they don't get into any trouble," he said and with that, he commanded Garnet and off the two set in Altair and company's direction. Vincent and Hunter decided to follow Sandalwood's group as well so they left after Sandalwood's group.

"Okay, don't go too far," called Eustace.

"We won't," shouted Vincent in reply until he and Hunter were out of earshot. Eustace gazed at Milo, Rosa, Clemont, Serena, Orion, Velocity, Hermione and Merlin and resumed the chat.


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9- a terrible accident part one**

While their parents and grandparents continued to chat about various subjects, among them the acting up of the activities in the Sanctuary de Amazon from Blu and company, the kids had spread out to play their planned games. In one group, Sandalwood followed the group of toucan chicks that had chosen 'pirates' as their game. The group was led by Isabella and consisted of ten of the toucan chicks including herself. As the group touched down at a certain hollow where some items such as leaves and fruit shells the group will use as pirate attire was stored, Sandalwood looked on in curiosity.

"So what will we be doing in this game of pirates?" he asked. Isabella took out a fruit shell piece tied to a vine and handed it to him while the other toucan chicks donned the other items. They used leaves for bandanas, fruit shell pieces on vines for pirate eye patches and sticks as weapons.

"You'll see in a minute, um… what was your name?" asked Isabella as she handed Sandalwood a stick.

"It's Sandalwood," said the amber bat as he took the stick. Isabella smiled.

"Well, Sandalwood, it's gonna be fun," said she cheekily. Sandalwood gazed at her and then at the fruit shell piece on a vine in his wings.

"You wear that around your head with the fruit shell piece over your eye," said Isabella, "That way we resemble actual pirates wearing eye patches."

She then took the vine and fruit shell and tied it around Sandalwood's head, the fruit shell patch over his left eye. After this, Isabella stood back and admired Sandalwood's 'pirate-ish' look.

"You look awesome," said she, before reaching out to raise Sandalwood's wing, the one holding the stick, so that it was positioned like a pirate's sword, "In fact, you really do resemble a really mean and scary looking pirate with those membrane wings and dog-like facial features."

Sandalwood did not reply. However, inside, he felt uncertainty chew away like a woodpecker pecking at wood as he thought how his parents and grandparents would approve of this. Wouldn't they mind if one of their family members dressed as a rogue pirate and played like one?" as Sandalwood thought this over, Isabella turned to her brothers, sisters and young aunts and uncles.

"Right, is everyone ready?" she asked. The other toucan kids turned to her, all dressed in their pirate outfits. Some wore leaf bandanas around their heads while some wore the fruit shell eye patches like Sandalwood. Some also had larger fruit shells worn over their heads, similar to Victor but carved out to resemble pirate hats and all were armed with sticks like swords. Sandalwood examined the toucan chicks and felt the uncertainty within him peck away even more inside him. This was beginning to feel familiar for some reason. However, flying fox pups being flying fox pups, he still went along with the plans. The toucan kids also armed themselves with slingshots taken from human stores and leaf-bags full of fruit. Isabella who had a fruit shell hat placed over her head and a fruit shell eye patch covering her right eye, gave one of the leaf-bags to Sandalwood.

"Here you go," she said, "Can you carry one of our bags of ammo please?"

Sandalwood reluctantly took it and as soon as she was ready, Isabella called out, "Right's let's go!"

The other toucan chicks cheered and with that, the group lofted, or in Sandalwood's case, dropped, into flight and left to begin the game. As the group left, from a cluster of leaves, a pair of falcon eyes and cockatoo eyes watched the toucan chicks and Sandalwood as they disappeared into the trees. Vincent and Hunter who had followed Sandalwood and Isabella's group, had been hiding and spying on them but when they saw how the group had dressed themselves as well as what other things they had besides the attire, disapproval welled within them.

"I don't like this, my friend," said Hunter in a low voice, "Seems like they're planning on causing mischief."

"And one of the grandsons of Mr Augustus is right with them," said Vincent. He then frowned suspiciously. "Let's follow that lot and see what they are planning to do."

"I hope it's not anything too naughty," said Hunter worriedly. With that, the leaves rustled as the young cockatoo and falcon left their hiding place and after Sandalwood and Isabella's group. Though Hunter and Vincent were an immature falcon and an adolescent cockatoo respectively and still young, they had good sense even though Hunter was at times mischievous but never to the same extent as many of Isabella's siblings, cousins and young aunts and uncles.

 **Meanwhile**

While Isabella's group went off to play pirates, the group of toucan chicks accompanied by Bellatrix, Bartholomew, Sirius, Einstein, Miles, Sonia, Melody, Spica, Jason, Petunia and Diantha and Tom's kids Gladion, Aurora and Lillie had touched down on the forest floor. The group was led by Joel, one of Isabella's many, many brothers and in this group, there were eight toucan chicks not counting Gladion and his sisters.

"Why are we on the ground, Joel?" asked Bellatrix curiously.

"You know it's potentially dangerous around here," said Sirius as he examined the surroundings as though a predator was lurking nearby, waiting to leap out at any moment. Nearby, Miles sat next to a rock adding another branch to his mobile of fruit pieces and sticks, not interested in what Joel's group was planning.

"Yeah, there could be jaguars, snakes and all sorts," said Spica, "You know what my aunt Bia said about forest floor predators."

Bartholomew, Einstein, Sonia, Melody, Jason, Petunia and Gladion, Lillie and Aurora also wore wary faces. However, Joel and his group were confident as they fiddled in a patch of ferns for something they had concealed in them

"It won't take long, folks," said Joel as he removed something from the ferns, "Just bear with us."

The ten Spix macaw chicks and the offspring of Carla, Bia, Tiago, Charlotte and their mates Justin, Virgil, Matilda and Músculo including Miles who remained fixated on his mobile as he finished tying the new piece to it, as well as Diantha and Tom's three chicks gathered around Joel and his siblings and two young aunts and uncles as they pulled out large, stiff slabs of bark wood attached to sticks with strong vines and placed them before the Spix macaws and Gladion and his sisters.

"What are those?" asked Bartholomew.

"They look like those human digging tools called spades and shovels," said Einstein.

"That's exactly what they are," said one of Joel's sisters. The Spix macaw chicks, Gladion, Lillie and Aurora exchanged confused glances.

"Then what would we want with spades and shovels?" asked Gladion. Joel walked up to him and passed one of the tools to him. His other wing clutched another spade and his face bore a slight mischievous look.

"We're gonna dig a hole and then cover it with dirt, leaves, and other forest stuff," said Joel with a wide mischievous smile on his orange and black beak.

"And then we're gonna lie in wait and watch an unsuspecting animal walk over the hidden hole and fall right into it just for laughs," said another of Joel's sisters. The Spix macaw chicks and Gladion and his sisters shot the eight toucan chicks a look.

"You mean a pitfall prank?" squeaked Lillie warily.

"Correct guess, cousin," said Joel with a wide smile. At this, the Spix macaws and Gladion and his sisters all flinched with the sting of shock and disbelief and the mobile dropped out of Miles's wing and landed on the floor, a heap of vines, fruit shells and sticks.

"You want US to help YOU to dig this pitfall prank and cause someone to FALL INTO IT!?" shouted Sirius. Joel and the other seven toucan chicks nodded.

"But wouldn't that cause injuries to the victim?" asked Spica.

"By my calculations, I think that a fractured leg or wing resulting from a fall into a pit at about adult greyhound height or around three to four feet would be about…" said Bellatrix as she went into nerd bird mode, "twenty-five percent."

When the toucan chicks looked on confused at Bellatrix's terminology, Spica stepped in to explain.

"In other words, a broken leg or wing," said she with a frown.

"That's right," said Petunia, "Seriously, Joel, guys, we can't play a prank that would result in an injury like that."

"Our parents could kill us if we hurt anyone else that badly," said Gladion. Lillie and Aurora nodded in agreement. At this, Joel, a frown replacing his mischievous look, stepped forward.

"Look, it's just for laughs, guys," he protested, "It won't hurt a cat or monkey or something."

"Besides that," added another toucan chick, "We wouldn't even dream of breaking anyone's leg or wing."

However, the reluctance never left the faces of Bellatrix, Bartholomew and their eight cousins and Gladion, Lillie and Aurora, and they just stood there, silent at the idea, especially since their parents, Tiago and Matilda included, aunts and uncles, both biological and extended, grandparents and the other adults would disapprove of them playing such an injurious prank on someone, especially after hearing of pitfalls causing injuries to humans before if they were dug deep enough. If pitfalls could potentially harm humans, they could also potentially harm animals as well, even if they were shallow.

 **Meanwhile**

Back with Sandalwood's group, Isabella had stopped and taken cover in the shadow of a densely leafed tree. With them, Sandalwood also hid but as the progress of this 'game' of theirs continued, the uncertainty continued to grow inside him, and the words, 'Maybe I shouldn't have gone along with this' repeated in his mind in increasingly louder echoes. As the amber furred flying fox continued to be troubled by this thought, Isabella peered out from a cluster of leaves and locked onto a target with two of her brothers. Her orange and black beak was marked with a wide, mischievous grimace and her brown eyes were piercing like a cat on the hunt at the target.

"Aha," she whispered, "Our first 'victims'…"

As she said this, Sandalwood followed Isabella's glare and saw that it was aiming at a hollow in the trunk of a large tree. In the tree lived a family of blue-and-gold macaws. Sandalwood remembered Saturn telling him that he had lived in one of the trees outside Rio with Orquidea and Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Titan and Iapetus when they were chicks before they ventured into the Amazon rainforest after Blu and company. However, the blue-and-gold macaw family appeared to be an extended family gathered together for the mother and father and their three chicks weren't the only ones occupying it. The three chicks were playing chase with several other blue-and-gold chicks while the father was tossing out some old moss and feathers. Nearby, a couple of aged blue-and-gold macaws whom Sandalwood deduced must be the parents of either the father or his mate inside the hollow, were talking with some other blue-and-gold macaws. Beside the elderly couple was a stack of various fruit, presumably gathered by the blue-and-gold macaw family ready for lunch. It truly was a lively family and Sandalwood was surprised that the Blu Bird Sanctuary blue-and-gold macaws were somewhat different from the blue-and-gold macaws that lived in the Sanctuary de Amazon. Unlike those macaws that mostly lived together in a tribe, the blue-and-gold macaws of the Blu Bird Sanctuary lived in close proximity with birds of other species. The differences were hard for the little flying fox to comprehend but as he continued to be mesmerised by curiosity about the blue-and-gold macaws living here, Isabella's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Are you ready, Sandalwood?" asked the toucan chick. Sandalwood, at this, shook his head and gazed at the chick wearing the leaf bandana and fruit shell eye patch over her right eye.

"Oh, um," he said as confusion briefly clouded his bearings, "I was just… er, what are we going to do exactly?"

One of Isabella's brothers came in, a wide mischievous smile on his beak.

"We're gonna leap out at those blue-and-gold macaws and prank 'em with our sticks and pelt their tree with our ammo," he said gleefully, "And while they are distracted, we're gonna nab that pile of fruit for a laugh."

Sandalwood, at this, was taken aback by this revelation.

"Let me get this straight," he said, "Are you meaning that we're gonna stir up trouble and then steal their fruit!?"

"As part of the prank," said Isabella. Sandalwood looked this way and that and gazed back at the toucan chicks.

"Problem?" asked one of Isabella's brothers. Then Sandalwood gazed at the stick in his wing.

"This is not at all right," he murmured after a pause. The toucan chicks frowned.

"What do you mean this is not at all right?" asked Isabella.

"You're beginning to behave like a coward," said another of her brothers.

"Yeah, you're costing us our patience," added another toucan chick. The other toucan chicks also made their impatience clear by frowning at the young flying fox. Sandalwood, timidity gripping him like a predator, then began to struggle to find words. The pressure mounted as the glares from the toucan chicks continued piercing him and he began to feel panic set in. Behind the group, two pairs of eyes watched the drama unfold. Hunter and Vincent who had followed Sandalwood and Isabella's group, continued to watch as Sandalwood began to shake and shoot frightened glances this way and that as though he wanted to fly for it. Isabella tipped her head to one side.

"I believe this has something to do with your parents' involvement in the fight against some psycho flying foxes out in the Amazon sanctuary, ain't it?" she asked, making Sandalwood jerk his head up at the mentioning of the Great Battle for the Sanctuary. The other toucan chicks nodded in agreement. It was obvious that these toucan chicks had heard of the events of the war between the Sanctuary de Amazon birds and the colony flying foxes three years ago apparently from Rafael and Eva who were involved in it. Isabella then smiled meanly.

"Is that why you're so afraid to participate in this game, Sandy?" she crooned, "You're so afraid that you might become like those colony bats with their weapons?"

"We heard that you're the grandson of the brother of that deranged and demented bat that led the colony," said one of the other chicks, "What was his name again, Scarface or sommat?"

Sandalwood, at this, glared at the chicks in shock until finally, outrage took over. Gazing at the stick in his wing, he threw it down in disgust before rising his wings to the eye patch and yanking it off his head and throwing that down.

"It's NOT like that, okay!?" the amber bat bellowed. His voice was so loud that it reached the ears of the blue-and-gold macaws and their attention was pulled to the tree in which Isabella and company hid.

"What in the world?" murmured the elderly female macaw in a hushed voice.

"…and there's no WAY I'm gonna cause those blue-and-gold macaws trouble by SPLATTERING FRUIT ALL OVER THEIR TREE AND STEALING THEIR FRUIT!" spat Sandalwood at the top of his voice, much to the shock of the toucan chicks. A moment of awkward silence hung over the young toucans and the flying fox until finally, Isabella broke it.

"I think it's time for a penalty for our cowardly bat friend, I think," she said to the other chicks, much to Sandalwood's fear.

"Yeah," said the other toucan chicks in unison, making Sandalwood's nerves flare up all the more. Sandalwood was about to consider flying for it when suddenly, the sounds of wing flaps reached the group's ears. Isabella shot a horrified glance in the direction of the sounds' source.

"Our cover is blown, fly for it!" she bellowed. Then her mean gaze turned to Sandalwood. "Seize this bat as well!"

Then before Sandalwood could act, he was ensnared by toucan talons and whisked out of the tree in a blink of an eye. From their cover, Hunter and Vincent followed as a small flock of yellow and aqua blue birds with green foreheads flocked around the tree. However, the toucan chicks and Sandalwood had already gone.

Some time later, the toucan chicks had found a quiet place with Sandalwood in their clutches, unaware that they were being followed by a young cockatoo and falcon and as soon as they had found that spot, Isabella's brothers threw Sandalwood down. The flying fox slammed hard onto the tree branch but before he could get up, three pairs of toucan chick talons landed on his neck and chest, pinning him. Vincent and Hunter then hid behind another cluster of leaves and looked out as Isabella commanded some other toucan chicks.

"Get some strong vines," called she. Obediently, her comrades rushed off to get what Isabella had ordered. While they did that, Isabella turned to the pinned and restrained Sandalwood, her stick posed as a sword held close to him with its tip at his throat.

"As punishment for blowing our cover and acting cowardly, flying fox," said Isabella in a pirate-like voice and a one-eyed facial expression to match, "You're gonna walk the plank."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Sandalwood fearfully. Isabella didn't reply. Instead, she backed away as her comrades returned with some green tendrils and the next thing Sandalwood knew; he was bound wing and foot with the vines by the toucan chicks. Vincent and Hunter watched on in horror.

"Oh, NO!" cried Vincent, his crest flared. Hunter then spread his wings to leap out.

"What are you doing?" asked Vincent.

"I'm gonna jump out and rescue that flying fox," said Hunter, "And then report it to our parents. If not, Mr Augustus will kill us if those toucan chicks do anything to his grandson."

No sooner than these words had left his beak when suddenly, "Aha, spies caught red-feathered!"

At this, and with a strike of dread like a stone, the falcon and cockatoo turned to be greeted by five pairs of meanness-laced eyes above five orange and black beaks, all with either fruit shell hats or leaf bandanas and a stick in their wings. Then one of the toucan chicks shot the tip of his stick right at Hunter's face.

"Aaarr, you're comin' with us," he barked in mock-pirate voice, much to the falcon and Vincent's shock. Then minutes later, Vincent and Hunter were tied to a tree branch with more vines while Sandalwood was bound with his wings tied to his body and feet tied together. As soon as the three were restrained, Isabella called out to her comrades, "Now, put the rebellious flying fox onto the plank!"

"What plank!?" cried Sandalwood. He got his answer by getting shoved along the arm of a branch towards its end by black feathered wings. Sandalwood cried in fright as he found himself perched on the branch's tip, but immense fear gripped him more like snakebite as he realised that the branch's end was met with a massive drop ending directly into a reflective, rippling surface. Several rocks protruded through the surface and the silvery patch was bordered by more solid banks of dirt and grass, and Sandalwood saw some silvery creatures weave through the transparent ripples from his perch. At this, he immediately recognised the scene and cried loudly in fear. From their restraints, Vincent and Hunter struggled. Sandalwood's cries of fear echoed through the trees, reaching the ears of Bellatrix's group on the forest floor.

"I'm telling you now, Joel, we're not digging the pitfall trap," shouted Sonia fiercely, her mother's assertiveness taking control.

"Yeah, we'd end up in serious trouble," put in Gladion. Bellatrix, Bartholomew, Sirius, Einstein, Miles, Melody, Spica, Jason, Petunia, Aurora and Lillie all nodded in agreement but Joel and his group replied with sour looks on their faces, their wings grasping the wooden spades and shovels.

"You lot are seriously spoiling our fun," growled Joel bitterly.

"Yeah, you're a bunch of spoil-sports," said one of his sisters, much to the flash of offense of the eyes of some of the Spix macaw chicks. Bellatrix was about to retort, her aunt Carla's bossy streak about to manifest itself when suddenly, she heard distressed cries. At this, she, along with the other Spix macaw chicks, and Gladion and his sisters, froze. Joel and his comrades exchanged confused glances.

"Do you guys hear that?" asked Bellatrix.

"Sounds like someone's in pain," said Bartholomew.

"Or in trouble," said Sirius.

"Is it a bird?" asked Sonia, "Like one of our friends from Uncle Jojo, Aunt Lavender and Uncle Felix's families or something?"

Gladion, at this, shot the Spix macaw chicks a dreaded look.

"Sounds more like a bat," he said. The moment he said this, dread tore through the Spix macaws, Lillie and Aurora like a shockwave. Joel and his comrades, however, remained confused but nothing could prepare the group for what happened next for Bellatrix had managed to recognise the owner of the distressed voice.

"SANDALWOOD!" she screeched at the top of her voice and with that, her blue wings shot out and lofted her into the air.

"Bellatrix," cried Sirius as he also lofted into flight with Miles (who dropped his mobile again) and Einstein in tow. Sonia, Melody and Spica also followed, as did Petunia and Jason, and then Gladion, Lillie and Aurora. Joel and his comrades also followed.

"What about our pitfall prank?" asked Joel after the group. At this, Jason shot the toucan chick and his comrades a fiery glare.

"Not now, Joel," he snapped, "We've argued enough over that insignificant subject as it is!"

"But now, we have a friend that needs help," added Petunia. Joel, at this, shot his comrades a look who shrugged.

Sandalwood shuddered like a leaf on the end of the branch as his eyes gazed at the massive drop leading to the lake of water before him. Behind the terrified flying fox, Isabella, her face creased into a mean pirate look, aimed her stick like a sword at Sandalwood's back. Vincent tried to protest but the toucan chicks restraining him and Hunter yelled at him to shut up and not interrupt. However, Hunter was using the sharp fishhook-like claws of his talons to quietly break through the strands of the vines, taking care not to arouse suspicion in the toucan chicks. Disgust at the toucan chicks' gangster-like behaviour was burning within him like a massive campfire. It was truly on borderline being malicious bullies and he wanted to free himself from the restraints to fetch the adults in pronto.

"Sandy-bud," said Isabella, getting Sandalwood's name wrong and her stick aiming at Sandalwood's back, "What do you have to say for yourself?"

Sandalwood, his wings tightly bound to his sides by the vines, gazed at the toucan chick timidly.

"Choose your words wisely, rebel," said one of Isabella's comrades in a pirate-like voice, "Or you're goin' overboard."

Sandalwood tried to think of something to say. He was so trapped in the vice-grip of fear that his tongue was stuck in his throat. However, he was unaware that Isabella and her comrades were only bluffing. They were simply using this trick as a form of teasing him but teasing or not, as Vincent and Hunter could clearly see, this was still borderline malicious. Hunter continued severing his restraints with his talon claws as Isabella continued taunting Sandalwood who continued to shudder. He wanted to fly but with his wings bound, he knew he had no chance. Furthermore, Sandalwood was yet to know how to get out of being entangled in vines but because he was so young, his jaw strength was still too weak to sever the strong, thick tendrils binding him. Flying foxes used their teeth to bite their way out of vines similar to how macaws used their beaks. With that and his ability to fly tied up, Sandalwood felt much trapped.

"Have you got anything to say at all, bat?" asked Isabella, her stick pointing tauntingly at Sandalwood's upper back. At first Sandalwood remained silent but then he began to beg Isabella and her comrades to free her and also Vincent and Hunter.

"P-p-p-p-please untie me," he begged. He flinched as the stick's end in Isabella's wing jabbed into his back.

"I'm afraid I can't do that until you confess to us why you refused to go along with our plans, bat," said Isabella in a grown-up sort of voice.

"Not to mention blow our cover," put in one of her brothers. Then laughs rolled through the group much to Sandalwood's offended look and the outraged glares of Vincent and Hunter, the latter who continued cutting through the vines with his talon claws.

"Untie him at once, you lot," barked Vincent. However, a stick appeared and struck the bark above his head, startling him.

"Be quiet, ya crested loudmouth," shouted the owner of the stick, which was one of Isabella's brothers.

"And wipe that look off ya face an' all," said another toucan chick in a rather inappropriate sort of voice for a chick his age. Vincent felt a flash of outrage at the toucan chicks' attitude. 'Now where did they hear such disrespectful talk!?' the cockatoo thought, 'Certainly not from Mr Rafael and Mrs Eva for they would never speak like that, and we would _never_ speak like that to our own parents neither.'

Then an idea as to where the toucan chicks had got this talk from entered the young cockatoo's head, an idea he didn't like. As Vincent thought about this and as Hunter began to focus on breaking the last of his and Vincent's restraints with the oblivious toucan kids not looking, some blue forms exploded from between some trees but the moment they appeared, things were sent into utter chaos.

While Sandalwood continued trying to desperately protest to Isabella and her comrades to free him, some familiar Spix macaw chicks appeared out of nowhere, the first being Bellatrix and Bartholomew. When the two chicks of Tiago and Matilda saw the scene before their eyes, especially Sandalwood who was tied up and placed on the end of a branch before a long drop, horrified gasps entered their beaks as horror flared within them. Their gasps drew the attention of the toucan kids armed with sticks and dressed like pirates, as well as the bound Sandalwood, Vincent and Hunter over to the pair and then without thinking, Bellatrix surged forward, straight towards Isabella and Sandalwood while Bartholomew made a beeline for Hunter and Vincent, seconds before Sirius, Einstein, Miles, Sonia, Melody, Spica, Jason, Petunia, Gladion, Aurora and Lillie appeared.

"SANDALWOOD!" cried Bellatrix as she rushed towards him. Isabella and her comrades nearest to Sandalwood were startled by the sudden appearance of the blue comet that was Bellatrix. As shock flared within them, they cried and scattered, dropping their sticks in the process. However, as they scattered, one of the toucan chicks accidentally crashed into Sandalwood and what happened next sent horror ripping through the Spix macaw chicks, Vincent, Hunter, Gladion and his sisters and also the toucan chicks themselves including Isabella. The force of the impact from the toucan chick sent Sandalwood teetering towards the end of the branch and then off the end. Because his wings were tightly bound to his sides, Sandalwood could not pull himself out of the fall. Hunter and Vincent broke out of their restraints with Bartholomew's help when they heard Bellatrix's horrified cry, as well as that from Sirius, Einstein and Miles, Sonia, Melody and Spica, Jason, Petunia and Gladion, Aurora and Lillie.

"SANDALWOOOOOD!" screeched Bellatrix as the helpless and bound flying fox plummeted from the branch end. Sandalwood screamed at the top of his voice as he hurtled through space. Then Vincent and Hunter launched themselves from the branch and dived down after Sandalwood as he continued to plummet, Bellatrix following. While they did that, Gladion turned to Sirius, Einstein and Miles.

"YOU THREE GET OUR MOMS AND DADS!" he cried. Sirius and his brothers nodded and darted off to find Carla, Bia, Tiago, Blu, Jewel and the other adults while Gladion, Lillie, Aurora, Sonia, Melody and Spica, Jason and Petunia began to confront the toucan chicks.

"What DO YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING!?" bellowed Sonia at Isabella. Isabella and her comrades, stricken by fear at the enraged Spix macaw chicks and also Gladion and his sisters, could not find words but then one of Isabella's brothers cried out to Sandalwood as he continued to scream and plummet. Vincent and Hunter continued diving down after him. Vincent flapped his wings like mad while Hunter, being a falcon, had his wings tucked by his sides. Behind, Bellatrix tried to catch up but due to her size, she found it a challenge.

"Hang on, Sandy!" cried Hunter as he closed in on Sandalwood. The ground continued rushing upward as Sandalwood continued to plummet with Vincent and Hunter continued to dive after him to rescue him. However, Bellatrix saw something nasty sticking out from the bank of the lake, right in Sandalwood's path. At this, horror flared within her like an explosion.

"Hunter, Vincent, look OUUUUT!" she cried. At this, the falcon and cockatoo turned their attention from Sandalwood and saw what Bellatrix saw: a mesh of thorny stems. And Sandalwood was falling straight towards it, Hunter and Vincent not far behind. Furthermore, there was not much time to snatch Sandalwood out of the air and brake before those thorns.

"Oh, RATS AND MICE!" screeched Hunter and with that, he made a split-second decision, lurched forward and tackled Sandalwood away from the thorns. However, the young peregrine falcon could not stop himself and crashed right through the thorn mesh while Vincent managed to pull himself out of the dive but crash into a tree trunk. Falcon cries of agony erupted as Hunter fell through the thorny bush while a cockatoo's cries were cut off as Vincent slammed into the tree trunk. Sandalwood, however, was sent careening straight into the water of the pond where he was swallowed up in a splash, much to the horror of Isabella, her comrades and also Sonia and company. Bellatrix then screeched Sandalwood's name and without hesitation, dived right into the spot where Sandalwood had landed.

"Bellatrix!" cried Sonia. Melody and Spica then rushed down to see to Vincent and Hunter while Gladion came in with some vines. At this, Melody and Spica froze but Gladion, an insistent look on his face, commanded them to see to Vincent and Hunter.

"You two look after Vincent and Hunter while we rescue Bellatrix and Sandalwood!" he cried. Melody and Spica obeyed and dived down to where Vincent and Hunter had crash-landed while Gladion, Lillie, Aurora, Sonia, Petunia and Jason went to work in rescuing Bellatrix and Sandalwood who were in the lake.

 **Meanwhile**

Blu and company continued talking with Rafael and Eva. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Ceres had been on a foraging trip and had brought back some fruit for the group to eat. Now the adult birds and Augustus, Melissa, Stella, Luna, Soren, Anabelle and Sebastian the flying foxes were munching on some fruit during their chat. Orion, Hermione, Merlin, Velocity and Zelda, however, had gone out hunting for some meat.

"So yes, things are going well in the Sanctuary de Amazon," said Blu as he feasted on a mango with Jewel, Carla, Bia, Tiago, Kira and also Zephyr, Venus, Justin, Charlotte, Matilda, Virgil and Roberto, Brisa, Jojo, Felix, Lavender, Garrett, Turquesa and Músculo. "Birdlife is flourishing in the area where the flying fox colony used to live and everything is harmonious…"

Frodo and Ellie smiled as they fed Sylvester, Olivia, Alegria, Achilles and Pitaya some fruit.

"The Sanctuary de Amazon has not seen violence or war since the Great Battle," said Frodo.

"And we hope it stays that way," said Augustus. The others nodded in agreement. Then Pluto gazed into the trees.

"I wonder how our kids are doing," he said.

"Well, I hope they are alright," said Andromeda firmly, "Because if they're getting up to trouble, I would like to know."

"Oh, they'll be fine, my friends," said Rafael, "Just don't worry about them."

"Our kids are sensible," said Eva. Some of the other birds felt their nerves calm by the soothing words but some, such as Carla, Bia and Tiago, and also Stella, still felt uncertain gnaw at them. It was then that the flapping sounds of three pairs of small wings reached the groups ears, accompanied by frantic shouts of three boys.

"MOM, DAD, GRANDPA BLU, GUYS!" cried one. At this, all adult eyes turned and landed on three young male Spix macaw chicks as they exploded from some trees and land clumsily onto a branch. Bia and Virgil, concern for their three sons, Sirius, Miles and Einstein overtaking them, flew over to the panting chicks, followed by the others.

"Whoa, steady on, sons," said Virgil as he helped Sirius and Einstein to their feet while Bia helped Miles.

"What's all the fuss?" asked Bia. Carla, Tiago, Matilda, Justin, Músculo, Jojo, Felix, Lavender and Kira, Turquesa and Garrett all gathered round, along with the others.

"You look like you've escaped a poacher," said Athos, commenting on Sirius, Einstein and Miles's frightened looks. The three brothers' feathers were on end and their eyes were laced with sheer terror. At this comment, Callisto shot Athos a glare.

"Has something happened?" asked Phoebe, Squaw'tagnan, Mercury and Sapphire accompanying her. Then after Sirius, Miles and Einstein had got their breath back, they began to speak.

"It's SANDALWOOD!" cried Sirius.

"He got KNOCKED OFF THE END OF A BRANCH!" added Miles. At this, horror tore through the group and the skins under their facial feathers or fur in the case of the flying foxes went deathly pale. Stella and Soren especially swayed for Sandalwood was their son. Then Einstein spoke.

"He appeared to have been bound with his wings tied," he shouted. At these words, Zephyr shot Rafael and Eva a worried look.

"I think this is a good time to be worried, you two," he said. Then Blu and Augustus glared at Sirius and his brothers.

"Take us there RIGHT NOW!" screeched both the Spix macaw and flying fox at the same time. Sirius, Einstein and Miles nodded rapidly and lofted into flight. Blu, Jewel, Zephyr, Brisa, Venus and Roberto followed, along with Carla, Bia, Tiago and the other Spix macaws and also Augustus and his family. Rafael and Eva, along with Mercury, Sapphire, Phoebe and Squaw'tagnan, Pluto, Lapis Lazuli, Charon, Neytiri, Blueberry and Aiden and Ceres, Cobalto, Azul and Fernanda followed the Spix macaws, and Neptune, Ultramarine, Indigo, Victor, Triton, Iris and Violet, and Eustace, Serena and Milo followed them. As the group left, Mars, Chiquitita, Jupiter, Ruby, Saturn, Orquidea, Esmeralda, Uranus, together with Phobos, Deimos, Alexandre and Estelle, Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, Mimas, Athos, Byron and Sheldon, Enceladus and Trixie, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Titan and Iapetus, Brooke, Porthos and Miranda, Aramis, Ariel, Umbriel and Benjamin, Titania and Ash and Oberon, all scattered to gather the rest of the kids. Before leaving, Indigo was gripped by worry for her daughter Gertie. She shot a glance at Frodo and his family as they watched over Olivia, Sylvester, Alegria, Achilles and Pitaya who had opted not to go with the toucan chicks..

"Stay here with Olivia and the other four kids until we get back!" cried she.

"Okay, and I hope you rescue Sandalwood in time," cried Frodo but Indigo was out of earshot. As the group scattered in various directions, Andromeda, Eragon, and Marella with Altair and Bambi jumped onto their bat-bird mounts.

"I'll alert Travis, Sunset and Orion and Velocity and their mates while you chase down Spyro and his bat-bird mount Garnet," commanded Andromeda to Eragon and Marella. Then her gaze hardened. "I have a bad feeling about those other toucan kids."

Eragon and Marella nodded and with that, the two archaeobirds commanded their bat-birds to fly off in Spyro's direction while Andromeda and Rouge hurried off to find Travis, Sunset and the falcons.


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10- a terrible accident part two, a domino effect**

 **Meanwhile**

Gladion, Lillie, Bartholomew, Sonia, Petunia and Jason continued frantically sorting the vine while Isabella and two of her brothers flew over the surface of the water trying to look for a flash of amber and blue. While they did that, Spica and Melody, Sonia's sisters, were seeing to Vincent and Hunter with the rest of the toucan chicks. Guilt was boiling within Isabella and her group like heated water as they frantically tried to redeem themselves by helping, but not only have they endangered Sandalwood and also Bellatrix but Hunter and Vincent as well. As Spica shook Vincent, the older son of Eustace and Serena who lay at the foot of the tree after hitting its trunk and crashing to the floor, awake, Vincent opened his eyes.

"Vincent!" cried Spica, "Are you alright?"

Vincent, at this, wearily raised one wing, the one that got caught between his body and the tree trunk during the impact to his head but felt excruciating agony shoot through it.

"AAAARRGH!" he bellowed and grasped his wing with the other.

"Don't move that wing," shouted one of Isabella's cousins. Then Vincent's terrified gaze shot this way and that as he looked for Hunter.

"Where's Hunter?" he cried. It was then that the group heard Melody scream in horror. At this, Spica and the toucan chicks shot horrified gazes in Melody's direction as she examined something in the lower region of the thorny bush.

"Hunter!" cried Melody as she desperately tried clawing her way through the mesh of stiff sticks and sharp needles. Spica, Vincent and the toucan chicks gazed through the crisscrossing mesh of thorns and stems and saw a feathered form wedged unconscious amongst them, his wings and talons sprawled out along some of the stiff stems. Hunter's brown plumage was crisscrossed with scratches where the thorns had slashed his plumage as he fell through the mesh. Blood was oozing out of many of these gashes and some thorns were piercing his skin and his head was drooped, eyes shut. However, he was still breathing but it was laboured. Melody continued desperately trying to claw her way through the mesh to get to Hunter but was forced to give up when one of the thorns caught her talon. Melody jumped back from the sharp pain inflicted by the thorn and gazed at her foot. A little bead of blood dripped down her ankle from a scratch. Overcome with immense fear at the dire situation, Melody began to hyperventilate and panic, tears flooding her eyes and trickling down her cheeks. Her terrified gaze shot this way and that. 'Where are Sirius and his brothers and the grownups?' she thought desperately. While Melody continued to panic, Isabella's voice exploded from above the pond, drawing the petrified chick, and Spica, Vincent and the toucan chicks' frightened gazes out into the pond.

"I can't find them ANYWHERE!" cried Isabella.

"Keep looking!" retorted Gladion as he, Lillie, Aurora, Petunia, Jason and Sonia dropped the vine towards them. Isabella and her two brothers took the end and threw it into the water, hoping that Bellatrix would grab hold of it when she surfaced.

Under the water, Bellatrix was struggling to drag Sandalwood, who was still bound, to the shore. The moment she had entered the water, Bellatrix had seized Sandalwood by the vines binding him but had been unable to swim for macaws weren't designed to swim. As a result, she and Sandalwood had sunk to the bottom and were desperately struggling to get to shore, although they had landed in the shallower part of the lake. To make things direr, the lungs of both the Spix macaw chick and the flying fox pup were beginning to shout for air, making Bellatrix more desperate to get to shore pronto. However, thanks to her smartness she had inherited from her aunt Bia through her father Tiago, Bellatrix had been looking for a submerged root as soon as she had seized Sandalwood and had snagged her talons on it for she remembered that the roots of nearby trees sometimes entered ponds and lakes, especially near the shore. This done, and with her beak and wings gripping onto Sandalwood by the vines and the body, Bellatrix began to haul herself and Sandalwood ashore. Flashes of metallic silver blinked as fish darted by as Bellatrix continued to struggle along, Sandalwood shooting desperate gazes this way and that. Some small clouds of sediment were kicked up as Bellatrix pulled herself long the root closer to the bank. Above the water, Isabella continued desperately searching for Bellatrix and Sandalwood where they landed in the water, shouting their names but still getting Sandalwood's name wrong while Gladion and company continued hovering in the air with the vine dropped down. While the panic continued to rage among Isabella's group, Bellatrix emerged from the water at the bank under a sheet of leaves of some ferns. The moment her head and that of Sandalwood were above water, sharp gasps were drawn in to fill their lungs while coughs forced water outward. Puffing and panting and coughing as well, Bellatrix gave a few final hard tugs on the root and heaved herself and Sandalwood onto dry land. Bellatrix's feathers and Sandalwood's fur were sodden wet and both were trembling from the whole ordeal, but Sandalwood was most traumatised and was breathing with terror. As soon as they were ashore, Bellatrix set to untying Sandalwood's bounds while the sodden and frightened flying fox pup gasped and shuddered like a leaf. After this and all the vines were tossed aside like small snakes, Sandalwood's wings finally free to move, Bellatrix flopped down and gasped with relief but it didn't take long for Isabella's cries of her name and Sandalwood's name to reach her and the pup's ears. At this, she turned to shout to Isabella and Gladion and company to draw their attention to her and Sandalwood's location.

 **Meanwhile**

Commotion had erupted in another part of the forest. Some more toucan chicks, those that had gone off to play hide and seek with Adenine and his siblings Guanine, Thymine and Cytosine, red macaw cousins Betelgeuse, Rigel, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka, Canopus and Katniss and Estelle and Alexandre's chicks Kayley and Xander were fleeing from a mob of enraged macaws, parakeets and conures, laughing out loud and giggling. With the flock were the said macaw chicks, and they wore terrified facial expressions as they flew alongside the cackling toucan chicks.

"I TOLD YOU it was a bad idea to add pranks to the residents while playing hide and seek, Danielle," shouted Adenine as he flashed glances back at the chasers. He flinched as he heard one of the golden conures bellowed, "Just WAIT until I get hold of YOU for frightening MY CHICKS, you bunch of PESKY BRATS!"

Danielle and her siblings and young aunts and uncles released mischievous laughs as she heard this. However, Betelgeuse and Rigel shot the toucan chick a disgusted glare.

"You LIED to us," bellowed Betelgeuse.

"You said nothing about adding pranks on the other residents to our game, Danielle," put in Rigel. Danielle smiled at Io and Sheldon's daughters.

"Oh, it was to make hide and seek more fun," she said nonchalantly. Then one of her sisters flew in, a mischievous smile on her face.

"And it sure was fun drawin' all over that green-winged macaw family's hollow with the fruit paint after we found Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka, wasn't it?" she flashed a glance at another of Danielle's siblings and also the three triplet offspring of Byron and Europa. The toucan chicks nodded in agreement but Alnitak and his brother and sister wore guilty faces thrown in with the terror as well.

"Mom and Dad, Grandpa Jupiter, Grandma Ruby and the others are gonna kill us if they find out what we have done," said Alnitak timidly.

"We shouldn't have gone along with that prank," said Alnilam guiltily. Mintaka let loose a scream of fright when she heard a snarl from one of the green-winged macaws and continued flying on. Katniss, Canopus, Kayley, Xander, Adenine, Cytosine, Guanine and Thymine also had guilt boil in their terror as well for they had been talked into pulling off naughty pranks as well. Katniss, Canopus, Kayley and Xander had been talked into throwing fruit at some parakeets by three of Danielle's siblings as soon as they had been found while the Catalina chicks had reluctantly participated in shooting small seeds through hollow twigs at some sun parakeets and accidentally making some of their chicks cry. Betelgeuse, Rigel, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka, however, did not participate in any of the pranks but they still knew that the group was in trouble. There was no doubt that the group was in trouble and the macaw chicks could sense the negative reaction their parents and grandparents were going to exhibit when they hear about this.

As the group dove into hiding in a patch of flowers, making the mob of enraged residents stop into a hover and shoot angered glances this way and that, Adenine's ears picked up the flapping sounds of large wings. At this, the oldest son of Ganymede and Mimas turned and saw some adult macaws, familiar ones, rush in. It were Mimas, Ganymede, Callisto, Athos, Sheldon, Byron, Europa, Io, Phobos, Deimos, Estelle and Alexandre accompanied by Mars, Jupiter, Ruby and Chiquitita.

"Mom, Dad," cried Adenine when his eyes spotted Ganymede and Mimas and with that he, Cytosine, Guanine and Thymine charged over to their parents while Canopus and Katniss rushed over to Callisto and Athos, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka rushed over to Byron and Europa, Kayley and Xander hurried over to Estelle and Alexandre and Betelgeuse and Rigel rushed over to Io and Sheldon. As the chicks met their parents, Byron heard the sounds of enraged comments shooting into the air like flares.

"Where are those troublesome macaw and toucan chicks that scared my kids!?"

"Or pelted us with fruit and seeds!?"

"I can't find them anywhere!"

At this, Byron shot the red and Catalina chicks a suspicious look while Europa, together with Io, Ganymede, Callisto, Jupiter and the others, shot Danielle and her comrades a frown. However, Canopus, Katniss, Kayley, Xander, Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine and Guanine already had tears streaming down their faces and sobs escaping their throats, the guilt finally overflowing. Mars, Jupiter and Chiquitita went off to resolve the rage of the residents as they continued searching for the toucan chicks and macaws while Betelgeuse began to explain.

"Danielle and her comrades talked us into participating in those naughty pranks," she said to a displeased Io and Sheldon. However, the couple had a more important issue on their minds.

"We'll see to this later," said Io, "Right now, we have a dire situation involving one of the flying fox pups to deal with."

At this, dread ripped through the red and Catalina chicks.

"Which pup is it?" asked Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka together.

"Ferdinand?" asked Rigel. Xander, Kayley, Adenine and his three siblings, Canopus and Katniss exchanged worried glances as Mars came in, leaving Jupiter and Chiquitita to continue to apologise to the residents and that they will deal with it.

"Never mind about that, we've got to go where Blu, Mercury, Venus, Ceres, Neptune, Augustus and some of the others had gone now," the grandfather of Xander and Kayley said seriously.

"It's a very serious issue," said Phobos. He turned to Deimos, Alexandre and Estelle but they were already gone, Xander and Kayley in tow. The others prepared to follow but before leaving, Jupiter shot Danielle and her comrades a furious look, making them wince. It was like being faced with a raging tornado.

"YOU LOT are coming with us!" barked the father of Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. Danielle and her comrades exchanged glances and obediently followed Jupiter and the others.

 **Meanwhile**

Blu, Jewel, Venus, Zephyr and Augustus, Carla, Justin, Bia, Virgil, Tiago, Matilda, Charlotte and Músculo, Melissa, Stella, Soren and Luna, Rafael and Eva, Diantha and Tom, as well as Ceres, Triton, Iris, Eustace, Milo, Serena, Yolanda and Oscar continued charging after Sirius, Miles and Einstein as they rushed to the location of where Sandalwood's fall had taken place. Sebastian, Anabelle, Jojo, Kira, Garrett, Lavender, Felix, Turquesa, Roberto and Brisa, together with Phoebe and Squaw'tagnan, Mercury, Sapphire, Neptune, Ultramarine, Indigo, Violet and Victor, Cobalto, Azul and Fernanda, Rosa and Clemont had split away from the group to find Vega, Winona and the other chicks while Ceres, Triton, Iris and Milo had opted to help Blu's group.

"I hope our son Sandalwood hasn't fallen into something nasty like near a snake's den or something," cried Stella, terror lacing her face as all kinds of horrible scenarios about her son rushed through her mind.

"Oh, do try to keep calm, my white flower gem," said Soren more calmly, though underneath the calmness, he was equally worried for Sandalwood too, "We'll cross that river when we come to it."

Zephyr and Venus shot Stella's mate a surprised look. Despite the direness of the situation and the sheer worry he harboured, Soren was unusually calm while Stella was flooded with utter panic, terror and worry. However, Zephyr came to the conclusion that it must be a parental trait difference whenever a kid was in trouble or danger: most mothers were more often prone to showing their utter panic and distress while fathers were more often able to conceal the flood of terror more effectively. Zephyr remembered exhibiting this while Venus was more prone to panic attacks when for example, three of their four their first-brood chicks, Justin, Matilda and Virgil, had gone to Guyana to look for the legendary treasure. Jewel also had this trait while Blu was also calmer though he, too, sometimes had panic outbursts but how parents reacted to hearing their children ending up in trouble seemed to vary between individuals.

"I believe those toucan chicks might have done this to him," growled Bia fiercely, "If so, when I get my talons on…"

However, she broke off the threat when her sons called out, "Here we are!"

At this, Bia and Virgil, along with the others, charged on. In the process, Triton's leaf bandana which he used to cover the left side of his face and eye, came loose and then fell off. The leaf bandana flew from his head and slapped right into Rafael's face. At this, he removed it with his talon and shouted, "Triton, you've dropped your bandana!"

However, Triton was too consumed by panic to hear and didn't answer. Seeing that he was too engrossed in flying to Sandalwood's location, Rafael kept hold of the leaf.

As Blu's group exploded from some leaves and branches with Sirius, Einstein and Miles at the front, one of Isabella's brothers managed to spot a flash of blue under a sheet of fern leaves while Isabella and some of the other toucan chicks continued searching for Bellatrix and Sandalwood in the water.

"There she is," called the chick. At this, Isabella, along with Gladion, Lillie, Aurora, Petunia, Jason, Bartholomew and Sonia who held the vine, followed the chick's point and saw the flash of blue under the ferns. However, they heard the shouts from a group of familiar adults.

"Grandpa Blu, Grandma Jewel, Mom and Dad are here," called Sonia. At this, Gladion and the others turned and saw Blu, Jewel, Zephyr and Venus and the others charge in behind Sirius, Einstein and Miles.

"Oh, glad you've come," said Gladion. Then a female white bat and her mate rushed in.

"Where's Sandalwood!?" demanded Stella. Isabella and some of her siblings flew in to answer the question when suddenly, they froze stiff as Triton, Ceres and Eustace flew in and slowed to a hover. The toucan chicks' eyes were fixated on the long scar streaking like a river down the left side of Ceres's rich yellow torso, the stub that remained of Eustace's left talon as well as his single right foot, and the unsightly scars running up Triton's left facial side and the clouded left eye situated in the path of those streaks, fully open and exposed without the leaf bandana to cover it. The trio, at this, froze in return when they saw the horrified looks on the toucan chicks' faces. Then some of Isabella's siblings let loose piercing screams of terror, especially at Triton's scarred left facial side.

"ARRGH, it's a SCARFACED HYACINTH MONSTER!" screeched one of them. At this, the eyes of Iris, Carla, Bia, Tiago, Justin, Charlotte, Matilda, Virgil, Músculo and some of the others, especially Augustus, Melissa, Stella, Soren and Luna, flashed in utter disgust at the insensitivity of the toucan chicks, but Triton was forced to retreat as the offensive comment stabbed him deep like a porcupine spine, Iris following him to comfort him. He flew to a tree branch to take a moment to tend to the stab wound just as Rafael came in with Triton's dislodged bandana which Iris took and quickly helped Triton to tie the leaf back over his blind eye and scars, concealing them. Back in the air, Stella asked Isabella the same question.

"Where is Sandalwood?" she asked, barely controlling her urge to shout. Isabella pointed to where Sandalwood and Bellatrix were.

"Down there with Bellatrix," she said. At this, the adult birds and flying foxes followed Isabella's point when suddenly; the group heard two girls shout.

"Help, it's Hunter and Vincent!" called Spica.

"Vincent's broken his wing while Hunter's caught in a thorn bush!" cried Melody. At the mentioning of Vincent's name, Eustace, Milo, Serena, Yolanda and Oscar shot the two younger daughters of Carla and Justin and flew over to her, Carla, Justin and Sonia in tow.

"You lot take care of Hunter and Vincent while we see to Bellatrix and Sandalwood," cried Blu. With that, the group split up. Spica and Melody led Eustace, Milo, Serena, Yolanda, Oscar, Carla and Justin to the spot where Vincent and Hunter were and touched down. The moment their talons made contact with the soil, Eustace, Yolanda, Oscar and Serena rushed over, or in Eustace's case, hopped, to Vincent, who lay there under the care of three of the toucan chicks with his broken wing placed carefully across his chest while Milo, Carla, Justin.

"Vincent!" cried Eustace and with that, he hurriedly hopped over to his older son's side. As he did, one of the toucan chicks said, "Don't touch his left wing! It's broken."

Eustace, together with Serena, Yolanda and Oscar and Spica then examined Vincent's left wing. The bony part was abnormally kinked and Vincent was in agony, his face twisted in pain.

"We're gonna have to get him to Tulio's Aviary right away," said Serena urgently. Then Eustace shot the young Spix macaw and toucan chicks a furious look.

"How did he end up like this!?" he demanded. At this, Spica's fiery glare was directed at the toucan chicks, indicating that they, along with Isabella and the other accompanying chicks apart from Gladion, Lillie and Aurora, were the ones who started this whole mess. It was then that the group heard a piercing scream from Carla explode behind Eustace, Serena, Yolanda and Oscar, making them snap their heads around in her, Justin and Melody's direction. But when they saw how frightened the three Spix macaws looked, the colour drained from the cockatoos' faces.

"Hunter's stuck in that thorn bush!" cried Justin. Eustace hopped over on his single right talon and looked into the mesh of thorns and stiff twigs. As he did that, he heard laboured and pained breathing and saw a hapless, blooded form struggle to move in the trap of needles and stems.

"We're gonna have to get him out of there and fast," said Eustace.

"Orion and Hermione's gonna blow their tops off if they hear about this," murmured Carla worriedly. Then Justin clamped his beak onto one of the stiff stems of the thorn bush and attempted to bite through it. A foot away, Vincent tried to move but Yolanda and Serena steadied him.

"Don't move," commanded Serena which Vincent obeyed, especially with the excruciating pain in his left wing. Justin continued to grunt and unleash all his strength into his jaws to snap the stem until finally, he severed it. However, it had exhausted his energy. Glaring at the stiff sticks and thorns with groaning jaw muscles in the form of pain, he said, "Looks like a job for Triton and Iris, I think."

"Triton and Iris?" repeated Carla. Justin shot her a look.

"They're hyacinth macaws who are larger than us Spix macaws and because of that, their beak strength is greater," he said, "They might be able to break through these tough stems and shoots better than us."

Then one of the toucan chicks came in.

"I'll fetch 'em," he said but Serena stormed past him, a look of thunder about the whole situation flaring on her face.

"No, I'll do it," she snarled, making the toucan chick back away in fear, "You've helped enough!"

Then before anyone could stop her, her wings were spread and she lofted into flight.

Back with Blu's group, Tiago, Matilda, Bartholomew, Soren and Stella hovered above the water gazing at the sodden Bellatrix and Sandalwood. Tiago could see the pile of green vines lying like small snakes beside the young flying fox's body and that the flying fox pup's face was flooded with trauma and fright. Behind Tiago and the other three, Blu, Jewel, Zephyr, Venus and the others hovered, their sights also on the Spix macaw chick and flying fox pup. Much to Augustus, Melissa and Luna's relief, Sandalwood was alive and well. The toucan chicks and Isabella, meanwhile, stayed with Rafael and Eva.

"We gotta get you both out of there," said Tiago urgently. Bellatrix gave her father a relieved look for she could not fly herself due to her sodden feathers and Sandalwood's wing membranes were drenched but then Tiago saw Sandalwood begin to tremble like an earthquake going through his body. Pushing the concern away, Tiago, Matilda, Bartholomew, Stella and Soren flew towards the pair when suddenly, Matilda spotted something move in the vegetation behind Bellatrix and Sandalwood. It resembled one of the vines that lay discarded by Sandalwood's sodden body but it was thicker. Blu came in and concentrated on the moving vine to identify it. However, when recognition took hold, horror flared within him.

"It's a SNAKE!" he cried. This sent panic surging through the rest of the group, especially Tiago, Matilda, Bartholomew, Virgil, Bia, Sirius, Einstein, Miles and Augustus, Melissa, Luna, Stella and Soren. Bellatrix and Sandalwood's parents surged forward as the chick and pup; fear and dread gripping them like jaguar jaws, slowly turned to see the source of the terror behind them. Furthermore, they heard hissing shudder the air behind them.

"Bellatrix, Sandalwood, don't move!" cried Blu, "Just stay still!"

"Don't look, Bellatrix," said Virgil. Too late. Bellatrix's eyes landed on the source of the hissing sound and the thick scaly vine and came into contact with a pair of reptilian eyes and a flickering v-shaped tongue that darted out at regular intervals. The moment her eyes landed on the reptile, Bellatrix emitted a piercing scream while Sandalwood froze; his throat too stiff to emit a scream. The thing, which was a snake, then reared up and opened its mouth, exposing a shiny pink interior armed with a pair of jaguar-claw like spikes protruding from the top jaw. Rafael, Eva and Isabella and her comrades flew in and hovered.

"Get them out of there, Tiago and Stella, NOW!" cried Rafael in horror. Tiago, Matilda, Bartholomew, Stella and Luna looked up and saw that the snake was ready to pounce, its glistening dagger like fangs poised to strike at Bellatrix and Sandalwood. Horror flaring within them, Tiago barked at Bartholomew to stay back and surge towards his daughter and Stella and Soren's son. Luna and Blu followed in to help.

"HURRY!" cried Jewel. Then as the three adult Spix macaws and three adult flying foxes neared Bellatrix and Sandalwood, the snake's head and upper body surged forward. Everything happened in slow motion as Bellatrix and Sandalwood froze in horror as the serpent lashed towards them, its cat claw like fangs, glistening and sharp, aimed for their bodies. The fangs then protruded further from the upper jaw, beads of lethal liquid oozing from the tips, until finally, the fangs plunged into flesh as the snake bit into its victim, but it was not that of Bellatrix and Sandalwood. Nor was it the flesh of Tiago, Matilda, Soren or Stella. A piercing scream of agony exploded as Bellatrix and Sandalwood were whisked away from the serpent by their parents and Blu but what they and the others saw turned their blood to pure ice. Luna was screaming like a flying fox possessed as the snake gripped her leg hard. Then Augustus and Melissa flew in, enraged flying fox screeches exploding from their mouths and the parental instinct to save their daughter volcanically erupting. They lunged at the snake and without hesitation; Augustus slashed his foot claws over the snake's eyes, making it release Luna's leg. Then Melissa jumped onto the snake's back and began to savagely bite and claw at it to drive it away. While Melissa clawed and bit at the reptile, some feathered forms joined in and began to help drive the snake away or even kill it; Jewel, Zephyr, Venus, Bia, Virgil, Charlotte and Músculo had come to help. While the carnage was occurring, Tiago, Matilda, Stella, Soren and Blu carried Bellatrix and Sandalwood, along with Bartholomew, to the safety of the trees, but Sandalwood was screaming and crying.

"Please PUT ME DOOOOWWWN!" he bellowed, tears of terror falling from his eyes. He kept flashing terrified glances at the ground and every time he did, his membranous wings went to his face and covered them, whimpers of fright escaping his mouth.

"Look, we're not far from the trees now," said Blu firmly. Stella and Soren carried Bellatrix with Tiago and Matilda helping while Bartholomew flew alongside the group, concerned and relieved eyes on his sister and the bat pup. As they flew over the site where Vincent and Hunter had crashed, Soren gazed downward and saw that Triton and Iris had managed to help Carla, Justin, Eustace and Serena to break Hunter out of his painful thorny prison. Now the young falcon, his body covered in dried slashes and thorns sticking out, was being carefully carried away by Triton and Carla while Eustace and Serena gently carried Vincent with his broken wing, Oscar and Yolanda in tow. Then as Blu and the other four placed Sandalwood and Bellatrix onto a thick branch, Jewel's group had managed to drive off the snake and carry Luna to safety. It was then that Blu, Tiago, Matilda, Soren, Stella, Sandalwood, Bellatrix and Bartholomew were met by a colourful crowd of some familiar feathered forms. Rafael, Eva, Isabella and her comrades then came in and saw the forms, which were Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, Sapphire, Chiquitita, Ruby, Orquidea, Esmeralda, Lapis Lazuli, Ultramarine, Roberto and Brisa. With them were Sebastian, Anabelle, Acerola and Ferdinand.

"We've managed to round up the other chicks," said Mercury.

"And also the other toucan chicks," put in Sapphire angrily, "They're waiting with Frodo and his family."

"Did you manage to rescue Sandalwood?" asked Jupiter. However, he got his answer when his brown eyes landed on the bat pup who was shaking and trembling violently, his fur and membranous wings still wet from falling into the lake. At this, Sebastian, Anabelle, Acerola and Ferdinand rushed forward.

"Sandalwood," cried Sebastian. As Sandalwood was swallowed up by a cloud of fur and membranous wings, he continued shaking violently. Furthermore, his frightened gaze was darting this way and that at the drops from the branch. As he was being hugged by his uncle and aunt, Sandalwood gazed down one side of the branch but when he saw the drop, his nerves jumped as the sting of fear struck them. He jolted back into Blu's wings and began to shudder violently.

"Please TAKE ME DOWN TO THE GROOOUUUND!" he wailed. This was met by worry from Stella, Soren, Tiago, Matilda, Blu, Bartholomew and Bellatrix but before they could pinpoint the reason why Sandalwood was behaving like this, there was commotion nearby. Jupiter and Saturn saw the group rise from below.

"Rafael, Eva, Carla, Eustace," shouted Jupiter as he rushed forward.

"What happened?" asked Saturn. Rafael, at this, put his wings up.

"Let's just get Luna, Hunter and Vincent to the aviary for treatment first," he said. At this, Anabelle and Sebastian and the others exchanged worried looks.


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11- the damage has been done, dealing with it but it goes horribly wrong**

 **A few minutes later**

Blu and company stood on either the roof or the ledge of an open window of Tulio's Aviary, very worried expressions lacing their faces. Carla and Justin stood with Sonia, Melody and Spica as did Bia and Virgil with Sirius, Miles and Einstein, Tiago and Matilda with Bellatrix and Bartholomew and Charlotte and Músculo with Petunia and Jason. Accompanying these four families were Zephyr, Roberto, Brisa and Jojo and Kira and their chicks Winona and Vega, Felix and Turquesa with Austin and Diego, Lavender and Garrett with Deneb, Lilac and Polaris. Next to the Spix macaws stood Mars and Chiquitita accompanied by Phobos, Deimos and Alexandre with his mate Estelle and chicks Kayley and Xander, Io and Sheldon with Betelgeuse and Rigel, Europa and Byron with Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka, Ganymede and Mimas with Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine and Thymine, and Callisto and Athos with Canopus and Katniss. Jupiter and Ruby were at the window with Blu, Jewel and Venus. The red and Catalina chicks apart from Betelgeuse, Rigel and Alnitak and his brother and sister wore very ashamed facial expressions for participating in the naughtiness with some of Rafael and Eva's rambunctious descendants, and their parents glared at them with angry looks on their faces. When Adenine gazed up at his scarlet father Ganymede, he cringed at his glare and bowed his head again.

Next to the red macaws stood Orquidea and Esmeralda, Saturn and Uranus being at the window. With the female blue-and-gold macaw and great green or Buffon's macaw stood Dione and Porthos with their sons Procyon and Peter; Titan and Brooke with their two sons Castor and Pollux and daughter Poppy; Enceladus and his hyacinth mate Trixie and their hybrid daughter Mira; Tethys and her great green mate Oberon and their hybrid chicks Cressida and Fomalhaut; Miranda and Aramis with Capella and Achernar; Titania and her military mate Ash and their sons Basil and Antares; Umbriel and her scarlet mate Benjamin and their hybrid chicks Perdita, Aldebaran and Cecil, and Rhea, Iapetus and Ariel stood with Esmeralda and Orquidea. Nearby, Neptune and Ultramarine stood with Triton and Iris, Indigo, Victor and Violet and Indigo and Victor's daughter Gertie. The hyacinth macaws were accompanied by Sapphire, Lapis Lazuli and Ceres, Mercury, Pluto and Cobalto having gone to the window with Blu and some others, and Phoebe, Squaw'tagnan and Arcturus; Blueberry, Aiden, Saiph, Charon, Neytiri, Regulus and Denebola, Azul, Fernanda, Oceano and Carmen. Also there were Travis, Sunset, Eustace, Milo, Rosa, Clemont, Serena, Yolanda, Oscar, Peach and Bruno the cockatoos, Rafael, Eva, Diantha, Tom, Gladion, Lillie and Aurora the toucans; the toucan chicks having been taken back to their parents' hollow including Rafael and Eva's own in the case of their new chicks, by Rafael and Eva who then rushed off to join Blu's group; Orion, Hermione, Velocity, Merlin and the latter two's daughter Zelda, and Cometa and Lightning and their chick Spike the falcons (or merlin in Hermione's case), Frodo, Ellie and their five kids, two biological kids Olivia and Sylvester and three adopted kids Alegria, Achilles and Pitaya; Andromeda, Eragon, Spyro, Marella, Altair and Bambi the archaeobirds and their bat-bird mounts, and Sebastian, Anabelle, Ferdinand and Acerola the flying foxes. Augustus, Melissa, Stella and Soren were on the ground at a safe distance from the Aviary entrance with Sandalwood for he did not want to be on the roof with the others.

All the birds and flying foxes wore a mix of devastated, guilty, stunned, distressed, angry and disgusted looks on their faces. The past few minutes had gone by like a whirlwind but it had been utterly frightening and devastating for everyone: Luna had to be rushed to the Aviary as the venom from the snake began to work its sinister effect on her body, sending her into a state of shock while Vincent and Hunter had to be carefully carried to protect the former's broken wing and the thorns embedded in the latter's body, and Sandalwood kept screaming and crying as he was carried by his parents, constantly shouting at Soren and Stella to put him down and crying in fear at the height below him as Stella flew along with him clutched to her breast. He was only relieved when the group had arrived at Tulio's Aviary. After Luna, Vincent and Hunter's emergency admission and things had settled down, Bellatrix had come forward to explain everything to the group including the adults that had happened, such as when one of the toucan chicks had knocked Sandalwood off the end of the branch when she rushed forwards upon seeing him tied up with Isabella and her comrades taunting him with sticks, how Hunter ended up crashing into the thorn bush while he tried to save Sandalwood but had to tackle the flying fox away from it for he did not have time to snatch Sandalwood and pull himself out of the fall into it in time or both he and Sandalwood would have been badly injured, particularly Sandalwood's membranous wings. She also told how Vincent, who had managed to pull himself out of the dive to avoid the thorn bush, ended up crashing into a tree trunk and breaking his wing. Furthermore, Bellatrix had explained her daring rescue of Sandalwood in the lake by diving into the water and hauling him ashore, much to Tiago and Matilda and the others' alarm. Bellatrix had been harshly rebuked by her parents for diving into water and told that it was a very foolish thing to do and that she could have drowned, though Tiago remembered saving Matilda from a similar predicament years ago. After Bellatrix had explained her part of the story, Sandalwood came forward to explain his part leading up to the incident, including how the toucan chicks had attempted to talk him into wreaking havoc for a family of blue-and-gold macaws dressed as pirates, which lead to his being tied up and put on the end of the branch.

As Bellatrix and Sandalwood were explaining every single detail of the accident to the group, Andromeda and Rouge had turned up with Orion, Velocity, Hermione, Merlin, Zelda and also Cometa, Lightning, Spike, Travis and Sunset and when these cockatoos and falcons had heard the news of what had happened, they had been utterly horrified. Furthermore, Broccoli and Daisy had tagged along and had also heard the news. Now Travis, Cometa and their company brought in by Andromeda had been utterly gripped by worry and concern, especially Orion and Hermione for Hunter was their only son and also Spike, Velocity and Merlin's nephew, Zelda's cousin and Cometa and Lightning's grandson. It truly was a devastating time for everyone.

Neytiri and Charon gazed worriedly from the roof at Augustus, Melissa, Soren, Stella and Sandalwood as they continued to comfort him, Regulus and Denebola flanking them.

"Will Sandalwood be alright?" asked Neytiri in a low voice.

"I hope so," said Charon, "But he didn't seem very happy about joining the rest of us up here."

As he said this, the green macaws came in. Aramis, accompanied with Miranda, Capella and Achernar, wore a look of thunder on his face.

"I can NOT believe what those toucan kids have done to that poor flying fox pup," he growled.

"He could have drowned," added Miranda.

"Not to mention the domino effect it had on Orion and Hermione's son and the son of Eustace and Serena," put in Ariel and with that, she flashed a sympathetic gaze at the cockatoos and falcons and saw the concerned looks on Orion, Hermione, Eustace and Serena's faces. Then Umbriel and Benjamin glared at Adenine and his three siblings, and Kayley, Xander, Canopus and Katniss as they stood with Ganymede, Mimas, Estelle, Alexandre, Athos and Callisto as they continued to bow their heads in shame.

"And I hope those eight over there will learn a very important lesson from all this as well," growled Benjamin fiercely, "If I, Regina and Alfonso were ever caught pelting other birds with seeds or fruit or scaring other chicks, our mother Pearl and father Felipe would surely burn up."

He shuddered as he remembered the previous times Felipe exploded, and Felipe, similar to Eduardo did sometimes sport a fiery temper.

"Those toucan chicks are honestly very naughty and out of control," said Umbriel in disgust, before her gaze changed to a look of concern as she gazed down at Sandalwood as he cried in his mother's chest, "But I sure hope that Sandalwood is alright."

As she said this, Titania and Ash came in and leaped from the roof's rim.

"Where are you going?" asked Charon.

"To check on him," replied Ash as he and his Buffon's mate descended towards Sandalwood, his parents and maternal grandparents. Basil and Antares, not wanting to crowd the flying foxes on the ground, stayed with their relatives but they, like every other chick and also Acerola and Ferdinand, Sandalwood's cousins, were very concerned for him.

"How's he doing, Augustus?" asked Titania as she and Ash touched down near the flying foxes. Augustus and Melissa looked up at the great green/military couple with saddened looks on their faces.

"Not good, I'm afraid," murmured Augustus, "Though he hasn't sustained any injuries from the fall," his gaze returned to Sandalwood as he continued weeping into Stella's chest, Stella gazing down at him and Soren draping her with his wing, "He's refusing to be lifted off the ground."

"And every time we try to do that," said Melissa, "He always enters a serious panic attack and we have to return him to the ground again."

Nearby, Broccoli and Daisy walked up to the group while Titania and Ash gazed at Sandalwood worriedly. As the two cats approached the group, Titania glared at them.

"I have a question for you two about the toucan chicks," she said, "Augustus here has been asking us about them on the way to here."

"Yes," said Broccoli.

"Have those toucan gangs always been very naughty and out of control?" asked Titania.

"According to Neptune and his family…" began Daisy but she was suddenly cut off by the sounds of wing flaps. At this, the cats, flying foxes and two green macaws turned and saw Porthos and Dione flutter down to them.

"Guys," said Porthos, "We've just received a report from Blu and the other observers about Hunter, Vincent and Luna. We have some good news and we have some bad news."

"How are they?" asked Daisy urgently. Dione and Porthos touched down.

"The good news is, Vincent's fractured wing is treatable, as is Hunter's injuries since Tulio and his team are specialist bird surgeons besides ornithologists," said Dione. When Augustus, Melissa, Stella and Soren gave a confused look, Broccoli said, "Bird studiers."

"Also, there's a specialist flying fox vet present who is able to treat Luna's venom poisoning," said Porthos. Relief surged through the group.

"Oh, that's excellent news," gasped Melissa.

"She's been admitted just in time, otherwise it would have been too late with fatal results," said Dione.

"What's the bad news?" asked Soren, extinguishing the relief in the others. Dione and Porthos's faces fell.

"The bad news is," said Dione, "I'm afraid those three casualties are going to have to stay in Tulio's Aviary for quite some time."

"Also, Hunter's health is uncertain," said Porthos, "His body has been so badly lacerated by the thorns from the fall into that thorn bush that the ornithologists aren't sure of his survival chance in surgery."

"What's 'lacerated' mean?" asked Augustus, confusion at another human term flashing within him.

"It means slashed and cut by sharp objects or needles," explained Daisy, "In this case, thorns."

At this, horror flared within the bats and also in Titania and Ash. Then another thought came to the green macaws' minds.

"Orion and Hermione," murmured Titania worriedly. Back on the roof, there was weeping and sobbing from a certain female merlin bird. Hermione had her face buried in her wings, weeping hard and sobbing loudly while Orion, her peregrine mate, stood with a disbelieving, devastated look on his face. Blu, Jupiter and Ruby stood before them while Cometa, Velocity, Lightning who held Spike, Merlin and Zelda stood around Hunter's parents comforting them. Around the falcons, the macaws, cockatoos, archaeobirds and toucans, and Sebastian, Anabelle, Acerola and Ferdinand looked on with sympathetic eyes, some even hugging each other. Rafael and Eva also looked on as Hermione fell to her knees, crying loudly and shedding tears like rain, speechless. However, the toco/keel-billed toucan couple soon found themselves on the receiving end of an extremely bitter glare from one of the falcons. Orion pierced the toucans with that glare, and Rafael could see that the bulbous eyes surrounded by yellow rings of skin read, "You're REALLY in trouble now, you pair of irresponsible rabbit toucans!"

Cometa, Lightning, Velocity, Merlin, Travis, Sunset, Eustace and Serena then glared at Rafael and Eva with the same acidic looks, making the two toucans wince and shudder. Diantha and Tom also glared at the couple, but their looks were laced with tears besides disgust. Gladion, Lillie and Aurora, however, shuddered and felt sick to the stomach, clearly ashamed to be part of a MASSIVE family of toucans, many of which were rambunctious gangsters who loved to cause masses amounts of trouble.

 **Later**

Evening had fallen on Rio and the Blu Bird Sanctuary, and it was nearing bedtime for the chicks and pups. Blu and company had considered looking for some hollows to sleep in but Tulio and Linda, after being alerted of their presence and seeing their grandkids, offered them to stay in some birdhouses they had constructed and nailed to trees outside their cottage if Blu and company ever decided to come and stay in Rio. Though Blu and company were glad for Tulio and Linda's generosity, some, such as Zephyr and Jewel, still insisted that some of the group members sleep in natural hollows. Andromeda, Augustus, Frodo and their families were amazed by how much Tulio and Linda, along with Fernando, their adopted son and former smuggler like Jack and Jill, cared for the animals much like Susan, Lucy, Bernardo, Jack and Jill and had begun to establish a trust in the trio like how they had done to Mercury and company's former owners.

Sandalwood lay in a bed of moss in a hollowed out base of a tree, the entrance concealed by rocks to prevent ground predators like margays from accessing the hollow. Since he had refused to be carried by Stella and Soren to a tree hollow higher up through the canopy with the rest of the flying fox family, Stella and Soren had been forced to look for a ground alternative. Outside the entrance, the rock pile partially disassembled to allow an opening for entry, the evening sunlight bathed the jungle outside, drenching it in a beautiful golden colour. Sandalwood felt excruciating guilt boil within him. He felt sorry with himself for deciding to go with Isabella and her comrades in the first place. 'If only I hadn't gone along with them, I wouldn't have been tied up, Hunter and Vincent wouldn't have been hurt, Aunt Luna wouldn't have been bitten by a snake and Bellatrix wouldn't have drowned,' he thought tearfully. A great tear welled in the corner of his eye and ran down the amber fur of his cheek and a sob escaped his throat. Guilt-ridden, the young flying fox pup rolled over onto his back. He had heard what had happened to Vincent and Hunter, and had witnessed his aunt get bitten by the snake that would have turned him and Bellatrix into dinner had she, along with Matilda, Tiago, Blu, Stella and Soren, as well as some of the others including Augustus and Melissa, had not intervened in time. Now Luna was being cared for in Tulio's Aviary by that flying fox specialist who was by now working to get rid of the poisons of the snake venom from her body while Vincent's damaged wing was being fixed. However, Sandalwood's biggest concern was for Hunter who, according to Blu and the other observers, had a chance that he may not survive surgery to remove the thorns embedded in his body due to how they were embedded and the number. Some vital organs may have been pierced and Sandalwood shuddered violently at the thought of Hunter passing away and the subsequent heartbreak of Orion and Hermione and their relatives. Hunter was a young falcon with his whole life ahead of him. Furthermore, he was the only son of Orion and Hermione who will not have another clutch until they were sure that he was capable of taking care of himself.

Sandalwood's mind then wandered to the whole incident of his fall itself including how Hunter had pushed him out of the thorn bush's path and into the water and how Bellatrix had to dive in to save him. This incident was remarkably similar to how Tiago had rescued Matilda from drowning. Matilda had been tied up and bound to a rock and shoved into a deep puddle by a deranged member of a bird gang led by a frigatebird whom Carla and some others had encounter in Guyana during their Indiana Jones-like quest for Jurassic Jungle and its natural reserve of treasure dangerously guarded by a flock of predatory bat-birds. Ruby's incident in the dreaded flying fox colony's territory was also along those branches but she had not been tied up like how Matilda was, with another key difference being the fact that she had been almost completely stripped of her plumage, the feathers painfully torn out by her interrogators as part of their sadistic torture process to extract information from her. Sandalwood and other flying fox pups of his generation including Acerola and Ferdinand, his cousins, only understood the gist of how the flying fox colony lived and how they viewed and treated birds, but since it was a grownup topic, he had only been told part of the story.

Sandalwood's mind then moved on to the thought of flight and being lifted off the ground. The thought of being taken into the air greatly terrified him and seeing the macaws, cockatoos, falcons, the archaeobirds on their bat-birds and the other flying foxes fly high in the air and land in the tree branches sent shivers down Sandalwood's spine. Looking up at the high branches of the trees above his head, as well as the upper edges of the artificial buildings humans called houses and cottages made Sandalwood's head spin and bring back the traumatising memories of his fall from a high branch when the toucan chicks led by Isabella scattered, one of them accidentally knocking him off the branch. Memories of his wings being stuck to his sides, unable to spread out to pull him out of the fall also made Sandalwood shake violently. 'Those toucan chicks had bound me with my wings tied to my sides and threatened to throw me off that branch end,' Sandalwood thought, 'They thought it was funny and perhaps didn't think of the consequences that would follow especially when Bellatrix rushed in to save me…'

As these thoughts swirled in his mind, Stella's voice reached his ears.

"Hey, son," said his albino mother, pulling his attention out of his thoughts towards her. Stella entered the tree hollow with some fruit in her wings. "I've brought you dinner."

She came up to the moss bedding and sat it down by Sandalwood's head. Sandalwood gazed at it and breathed a sigh, before extending a wing and picking up a bunch of berries. However, when Stella saw tears fall from her son's eyes, her heartstrings were strained. 'I can't believe those toucan chicks would be so irresponsible,' she murmured in her mind. Outside Stella and her family's makeshift ground hollow, Soren was standing with Augustus, Melissa and some of the macaws, among them Blu, Jewel, Mercury, Sapphire and also Diantha and Tom, Gladion, Lillie and Aurora's parents, talking. The four macaws and toucan couple comforted Soren who was clearly upset over the whole incident.

"Is it my fault that Hunter had fallen in a thorn bush, Vincent had broken his wing, and Aunt Luna has been bitten by a snake?" asked Sandalwood to Stella as he began eating, "Also is Bellatrix to blame?"

He shuddered at the thought of Bellatrix bearing masses amount of shame for the whole incident. Stella, tears in her eyes, extended a chalky grey wing to her son's cheek and rubbed it.

"No," she said, much to Sandalwood's relief, "According to her grandparents Blu, Jewel, Venus and Zephyr, you, along with her, had been blatantly honest about what has happened." Stella's gaze then morphed into a frown, "However, we're gonna try and sort this. Jupiter, Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto's father, has suggested that we visit the parents of the toucan chicks that had been with us and have a word with them, starting with Isabella's parents…"

Just then, she heard her mate's voice.

"Are you ready, Stella?" asked Soren. Stella looked up at her mate as Sebastian came in.

"I'll take care of Sandalwood, sis," said Sebastian kindly, "You go and visit Isabella's parents with some of the others."

"We've confronted Rafael and Eva about whose Isabella and her siblings were and they had told us that Marco, one of their older sons and his mate Anastasia are them," said Soren. Stella then stood up to leave the ground hollow but not before turning to Sandalwood to give him a goodnight's kiss and a hug.

"I'll be right back after we have dealt with this, honey," she said affectionately. Sandalwood relished the comfort of his mother's warm embrace and shed a tear. Then after she broke the hug with her son, Stella left with Soren and exited the ground hollow, leaving Sebastian to care for his nephew and lull him to sleep with a bedtime story, hoping it would make him feel better.

 **Later**

Stella and Soren, together with Jupiter, Tiago, Matilda (who had left Bellatrix and Bartholomew with Bia and Virgil), Jewel, Travis, Augustus and Cometa, flew through the jungle. The sun had almost completely set and the darkness of the night was slowly eating away at the sun's light in the sky above. Faint glitter points indicating stars were slowly emerging out of the sun's light. Around the group, diurnal (day active) birds and other animals had turned in for the night in their nests and hollows and the air was rather quiet. In the daytime, the canopy was alive with the sounds of birdsong and flashes of various colours of feathers but at night, there was almost no sound save for that from the activities of the nocturnal animals living on the Blu Bird Sanctuary as they prepared for the night ahead. However, Stella kept her focus on flying to Isabella's family's hollow where one of Rafael and Eva's many, many sons, Marco, lived. Stella was glad to have company come with her, including her own mate, for arguments were not her thing at all and since Bellatrix, Hunter and Vincent had been involved, Tiago and Matilda, along with the former's mother and latter's mother-in-law and paternal grandmother of Bellatrix and her brother, Jewel; Hunter's paternal grandmother and Orion's mother Cometa and Vincent's paternal grandfather and Eustace's father, Travis, had decided to come along to serve as backup for Stella and Soren. As they passed through the quiet canopy, the moonbeams bathing it in a sea of silver, Jewel wore a look of thunder on her face.

"You know, when we meet those parents of Isabella and her siblings," she growled, "I'm gonna give them a piece of my mind."

"Well, you're gonna have to restrain that urge, Jewel," said Jupiter firmly.

"Yes," said Travis, "Otherwise it could destroy the friendship between you guys and Rafael and Eva."

"Well, whether that's gonna happen or not," said Augustus firmly, "We've got to resolve this. That's more important than the friendship you folks have with those two toucans."

As he said this, the target hollow emerged out of some adjacent trees. Travis and Cometa recognised it having been here before.

"There it is," Travis said. Stella and Soren gazed at the size of the tree.

"It's massive," murmured Soren, "A hyacinth macaw family could live in it."

"Never mind about its size," muttered Jewel, "Let's just get this over with."

"Yes," put in Cometa angrily. She was clearly livid at Isabella's parents for what had happened and wanted to get this thing sorted ASAP. Soren then refocussed on the task as the group touched down onto the branch leading to the hollow which was covered by a curtain of flowery vines. As they did, they heard the sounds of a female toucan singing some sort of lullaby from the inside. The nine exchanged glances until Stella decided to make the first move by knocking. As she stepped towards the hollow entrance, Travis wore a stern facial expression.

"Marco can at times be very arrogant and obnoxious, so be careful," he said.

"Okay, here we go," Stella said and with that, she knocked onto the wood with a membrane wing. At first, there was no answer until finally, a male voice said, "I'll get that, my darling Anastasia."

Then within seconds, the sound of talon-steps on wood was heard and the vine curtain was lifted, revealing a black Rafael-lookalike toucan with a black-tipped orange beak and reddish-cream facial patch and belly like his mother Eva's. When his brown eyes spotted Stella, Soren, Cometa, Jupiter, Matilda, Tiago, Jewel, Augustus and Travis his orange beak widened into a smile.

"Well, hello-o-o, my peregrine falcon, scarlet, Spix and cockatoo friends," he crooned cheekily, ignoring the three flying foxes, "What brings you to my lovely hollow filled with my and Anastasia's forty-one beautiful offspring at this time of afternoon?"

As he said this, Travis mouthed the word 'forty-one' in disbelief. It was obvious that Marco and his mate had been having more chicks, as had some of Marco's many, many siblings. Then another black toucan with an orange beak with a black tip, white front and green eyes appeared. She was slender and had a cluster of spiky feathers behind her head. Her gaze was as cheeky as her mate Marco's as it scanned the group.

"I guess you must be Jewel, Tiago, Matilda, Jupiter, Cometa and Travis," she said, "We heard all about you guys and that great fight between you birds and a colony of deranged flying foxes for the Sanctuary de Amazon from my lovely mate Marco's parents Rafael and Eva, is that true?"

Jewel, Jupiter, Cometa, Matilda, Tiago and Travis exchanged glances while Stella, Soren and Augustus just stood there, surprised at Anastasia and Marco's knowledge of the Great Battle. However, Jupiter firmly stepped forward.

"That subject's not important," he said, "We've got an issue here regarding your kids such as Isabella and some of her siblings."

Marco and Anastasia's heads tipped to one side. Behind them, Isabella and her siblings that had participated in the cruel prank on Sandalwood leading to his accident slowly peered from behind their parents, wary and fearful looks on their faces. Jupiter then nodded to Stella, Soren and Augustus, "These are Sandalwood's parents and grandfather and they have come to have a word with you."

With that, the hulking scarlet macaw backed away to allow Stella, Soren and Augustus to speak. As the three flying foxes came forward, Marco and Anastasia made condescending smiles.

"I believe you three are from that colony of deranged bats that almost took over the macaws' territories, am I right?" asked Marco obnoxiously. Augustus, Soren and Stella's eyes flashed with disgust at the attitude of the toucan and his mate. Jupiter, Cometa, Jewel, Travis, Tiago and Matilda exchanged glances. They clearly didn't like this couple's attitude either.

"We were but we don't have time to discuss this," snapped Augustus, ignoring Marco's obnoxiousness, "We're here to talk about what your chicks have done to my grandson and also my daughter and son-in-law's son Sandalwood."

"Amongst other domino effects their deeds have had following that," put in Soren.

"Such as what happened to Vincent, the grandson of Travis, my grandson Hunter and also Luna, Stella's sister and Augustus's other daughter," added Cometa. Marco and Anastasia rose one of their eyebrows.

"Oh, and what's that?" inquired Marco. Augustus nodded to Stella who stepped forward to explain. Anastasia smiled as she examined Stella's white fur and reddish eyes, but it was not a nice smile. 'She looks like she had not slept a wink for months based on those bloodshot eyes, and she looked as though she had seen a massive monster based on her white fur,' she thought insensitively. However, Stella did not notice her mockery of her albinism. Neither did Soren and Augustus for they were too focussed on sorting the issue out.

"Your daughter Isabella and some of your other daughters and sons have put our son Sandalwood through a very traumatising ordeal," explained Stella, barely able to restrain her anger, "They tied him up with his wings bound to his sides and then shoved him off the end of a branch right into a lake."

"However, he almost fell into a thorn bush," added Soren, "If it wasn't for the son of Cometa's son Orion and his merlin mate who intervened and shoved that flying fox out of the way and landing him in the lake," he nodded to Cometa, "Sandalwood would have been seriously injured."

"Like how my grandson Hunter was," said Cometa, backing Soren's explanation up.

"And our daughter Bellatrix had to dive right into the lake to rescue him," put in Tiago, "Which in of itself is a very dangerous move as she could have drowned alongside Sandalwood."

"Sandalwood is badly traumatised as a result," said Stella. Anastasia and Marco listened to the story, but their faces were rather nonchalant, much to the disgust of the three flying foxes, the scarlet macaw, three Spix macaws, sulfur-crested cockatoo and peregrine falcon. Then Tiago came forward, a look of outrage on his face.

"Aren't you at all horrified at that?" he growled, his feathers bristling.

"If our kids did something horrible like that to another chick or flying fox pup," said Jewel, making Tiago and Matilda look her way, "I'd have fainted from sheer shock and disbelief and would have given our kids a serious punishment."

"Same here," put in Jupiter. Travis, Tiago, Matilda, Cometa, Augustus, Stella and Soren nodded in agreement. However, the seriousness of the situation did not budge the nonchalant looks on Marco and Anastasia's faces, but they did feel a flash of sympathy for what has happened.

"Oh, we're ever so sorry about the whole thing, you nine," said Anastasia in a not-very-serious tone of voice, "Is that flying fox pup alright?"

All six birds and three flying foxes' heads, marked by cross faces, shook from side to side.

"No, he is not," snapped Augustus, "He's now very afraid of heights."

"Thanks to your kids including Isabella," added Stella, "He's refusing to be picked up off the ground, much less climb onto an overhang for take-off now."

Marco and Anastasia gazed at each other and then back at the three bats and six birds. Isabella and her siblings continue to gaze fearfully at the visitors at the entrance.

"Oh, our kids were just playing," said Marco, "Nothing wrong with that. Kids will always get up to mischief," he gaze then travelled to Tiago and Matilda, "Kind of like how you both got up to mischief when you were chicks."

As he said this, Jupiter folded his wings, a look of disgust marking his face.

"I don't like his nonchalant attitude," he muttered.

"It's true that Tiago and Matilda got up to mischief from time to time when they were kids," said Jewel, "But they never ever did anything very serious such as pitfall traps or anything that is injurious to their victims, and they never will."

"Look, kids do at times get mischievous but what your kids have done to Stella and Soren's son goes beyond vandalism or even bullying," snarled Tiago, his mother's fiery streak beginning to show itself.

"They could have killed Sandalwood," out in Matilda, "And what's worse, Vincent, the son of Eustace and Serena and Travis's grandson has suffered a broken wing while Hunter, Cometa's grandson and Orion and Hermione's son, has been badly lacerated or slashed by thorns when he fell into a thorn bush saving Sandalwood… because of your kids!"

"His life might be on the line in the Aviary based on how the horrible needles have become embedded in his body," put in Cometa, "Orion and Hermione might lose their son as a result."

"And Bellatrix could have drowned for another thing," added Jewel, "Not to mention Stella's sister being in a critical condition after getting bitten by a snake after Bellatrix had rescued Sandalwood."

"And as a result," added Jupiter, "it has left the rest of us totally devastated and heartbroken with a lot of shattered pieces to clean up," a sigh escaped his beak, "We didn't come to Rio for it to turn into a total disaster at the wings of your irresponsible, careless kids."

"Especially for Augustus and his family," said Jewel, gesturing to Augustus and his daughter and son-in-law, "We came here to give our grandkids a tour of Rio, not for it to be shattered into pieces thanks to your kids and the kids of your siblings."

"Speaking of that, some of my grandkids have already been in dire trouble for participating in the seriously naughty pranks with another group of toucan kids," put in Jupiter. Marco and Anastasia continued to listen, their facial expressions unchanged. Jupiter, Jewel, Travis, Tiago, Matilda, Cometa, Augustus, Stella and Soren glared back in utter disgust at the couple at their indifference to the seriousness of the consequences. There was a moment of tense silence hanging over the group but then finally, Marco broke it but to the utter surprise of Stella and Soren's group, it was a look of thunder.

"Look, are you accusing our kids of being attempted MURDERERS!?" snarled the toucan at the top of his voice, making the three flying foxes, three Spix macaws, scarlet macaw, peregrine falcon and sulfur-crested cockatoo jump back and flinch. Marco then gestured to his kids, among them Isabella and her siblings that had knocked Sandalwood off the end of the branch. "Our kids may be rascals but they are NOT MURDERERS!"

"They may be rambunctious, but they WOULD NEVER DO SUCH A THING!" added Anastasia. The nine visitors glared back at the couple with taken aback faces but Marco swept on.

"If there's anyone who was an attempted MURDERER," he bellowed, before his eyes settled accusingly onto Tiago, Matilda and Jewel, "It is your DAUGHTER!"

"SHE was the one who bound that poor pup and shoved him off the end of a branch, according to Isabella here," said Anastasia, much to Tiago and Matilda's extreme disbelief, "YOUR DAUGHTER was the one who intentionally had that young cockatoo slam into that tree and break his wing, that peregrine falcon boy crash land into that thorn bush and almost drown that flying fox pup, not our kids."

"They never HAD ANYTHING TO DO WITH IT!" shouted Marco. The colour drained from the skins under the feathers and fur of the birds and flying foxes, and Tiago and Matilda felt lightheaded and unstable. Jewel, Jupiter, Cometa, Augustus, Stella, Soren and Travis also glared back at the couple, stunned. THAT was what Isabella and her siblings had told their parents, that Bellatrix was an attempted murderer!? SHE was the one who tied Sandalwood up and shoved him off the branch end on purpose!? Isabella and her siblings weren't INVOLVED, they say!? Stella and Soren then shot Isabella and her siblings behind Marco and Anastasia an astonished glare. It was obvious that these toucan chicks had been telling their parents that fabricated pack of lies that Tiago and Matilda's daughter was the one who set off that chain reaction of events leading to Sandalwood's fear of heights and flying, Vincent's broken wing, Hunter's critical situation with the thorns and Luna's snakebite, and as the ridiculous information that had come out of Marco and Anastasia's beaks were absorbed by the nine's brains, more force applied from the smug smiles on Marco and Anastasia's beaks, Jewel, Tiago, Matilda, Cometa, Travis, Jupiter, Soren, Augustus and Stella continued standing there, still as statues until finally, Matilda was pushed to breaking point. Overcome with dizziness and disbelief, the Venus lookalike swayed and then toppled. Jewel, Travis, Augustus and Cometa, at this, caught her and then laid her down onto the branch while Tiago felt his stomach lurch. As Jewel and the other three lowered the fainted Matilda down onto her back, Tiago shot Marco and Anastasia an outraged glare but the two toucans' beaks kept the smug smiles.

"I should think so as well," said Marco meanly, "You oughta question your skills as parents."

"What kind of parents are you two, to have a daughter that loves tying up bat pups or even bird chicks for that matter," added Anastasia, "and then shoving them off the end of a branch and watching them get badly injured for the fun of it?"

That did it. The fiery streak Tiago got from his mother Jewel reached critical. Without thinking, the young male macaw and only first-brood son of Blu and Jewel advanced towards Marco and Anastasia, raised a wing and without hesitation; he slammed it hard into Marco's face, much to the horror of the others. Marco, a cry of shock, toppled from the hollow entrance and fell off the branch from the impact. Tiago, still fuelled by wrath, jumped off the branch and pounced onto Marco.

"I'm gonna RIP YA FEATHERS OUT!" he bellowed and with that, a vicious brawl ensued. Anastasia, startled by Tiago's violent temper, ordered her many, many kids to stay inside the hollow before leaping off the branch to help her mate. Jewel, Jupiter, Augustus, Stella and Soren also leaped off the branch, leaving Travis and Cometa to tend to the fainted Matilda.

"Stay with Matilda while we deal with this," commanded Jupiter. Cometa and Travis nodded and continued to tend to the fainted Spix macaw while the others went to deal with the brawl between Marco and Tiago.

Tiago and Marco spun along a branch, a blurred barrel of blue, black, orange and cream-white. Both the toucan and the Spix macaw had their talons on each other's throats and their beaks were snapping wildly to tear out feathers. As their pursuers followed them, Jupiter shouted at the two to break it up.

"STOP IT, YOU TWO!" he barked. Tiago and Marco fell off the edge of the branch and plummeted through the canopy. Anastasia, Jupiter, Jewel, Soren, Augustus and Stella followed. The brawling Spix macaw and toucan continued hurtling through the canopy until they crashed into a patch of ferns. Several pairs of eyes from on-looking nocturnal animals gazed at the fighters in fear. Marco heaved Tiago off his front and stood up but Tiago jumped up and attempted to slash his talons across Marco's face just as Jupiter, Jewel and the three flying foxes, and Anastasia landed.

"HOW DARE YOU CALL BELLATRIX A MURDERER!" screeched Tiago as he lashed at Marco in an attempt to scratch him again, only for the toucan to dodge, "HOW DARE YOU DESCRIBE HER A SADISTIC PSYCHO CHICK WHEN SHE'S NOTHING OF THE SORT! YOU THINK ENDANGERING SOMEONE'S LIFE IS SOMETHING TO LAUGH ABOUT!?"

He slashed his talons across Marco's chest and this time, his talons hit home. Marco bellowed loudly as Tiago's talons opened a small wound on his chest, tearing out some red-cream feathers in the process. Jupiter drew in a horrified gasp at the escalating violence between the two males. If intervention didn't happen soon, Tiago and Marco's fight would escalate into a savage, bloody battle. Tiago was about to lunge at Marco to scratch his face when suddenly, three pairs of membranous wings latched onto his wings and restrained him. Augustus, Stella and Soren pulled him back despite his fiery protests while Jupiter, Jewel and Anastasia restrained Marco.

"LET ME GO AT ONCE!" bellowed Tiago, his eyes still brown volcanoes but the three bats refused to.

"Look, SNAP OUT OF IT and PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER!" barked Augustus. When he saw Tiago refusing to respond or lessen the fire in his eyes, he commanded Soren and Stella to restrain his wings while he went round to the front of the enraged Spix macaw. Augustus then clasped his wings onto Tiago's cheeks and yanked his beak close to his muzzle.

"TIAGO!" cried the flying fox at the top of his voice. Behind Augustus, Jewel, Jupiter and Anastasia had managed to quench Marco's wrath. Tiago continued writhing in the wings of Augustus, Soren and Stella, his eyes still ablaze with brown flames but when he found himself looking into Augustus's stern eyes, his membranous wings clasped onto his cheeks, he let his anger fizzle out and clamed down. As Tiago went slack, Augustus released his head. However, the Spix macaw's wrathful eyes remain fixated on Marco. As soon as things had calmed down, Jewel, without hesitation, went straight over to Anastasia and Marco and slapped the couple hard across the faces.

"Jewel!" barked Jupiter but Jewel ignored him. After inflicting Marco and Anastasia sharp pain with her slaps, Jewel glared at them with fiery teal eyes.

"Now listen, you PAIR OF IRRESPONSIBLE, PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR PARENTS!" she bellowed, "I want you to do US ALL A favour, especially Bellatrix, Sandalwood, and also Cometa and Travis's families!"

In the canopy above, Cometa and Travis flew by, a limp and still-fainted Matilda in their talons. Marco and Anastasia glared back at the fiery teal-eyed macaw as she screeched, "YOU ARE TO STAY WELL AWAY FROM OUR FAMILIES AND GET THOSE KIDS OF YOURS UTTERLY DISCIPLINED! IS THAT CLEAR!?"

Marco and Anastasia, at this, glared at Jewel before opening their wings and taking off to return to the hollow.

"If there's ANY CHICK THAT NEEDS DISCIPLINING," retorted Marco as he and Anastasia left, "It's THAT CHICK OF YOURS, BELLATRIX! SHE SHOULD BE THE ONE WHO NEEDS DISCIPLINING, NOT OUR KIDS!"

"And TELL HER TO STAY WELL AWAY FROM OUR HOLLOW AND KIDS TOO!" screeched Anastasia and with that, she and her mate disappeared through the canopy. Jupiter, Jewel, Tiago, Soren, Augustus and Stella, at this, prepared to return to the place where they and the others were staying by following Cometa and Travis who waited for them in the canopy with Matilda in their talons.

"That went well (!)," muttered Soren flatly as he climbed onto a rock ledge to jump off and take flight, Augustus and Stella following him. Jupiter, Jewel and a very outraged and distressed Tiago followed.

"Let's just get back to our places of stay," said Jupiter in a low voice. Jewel then flashed a fierce glance at Anastasia and Marco's hollow and followed the others. She could not believe that those two toucans had the audacity to call one of her granddaughters a murderer and describe her as a psychotic chick. Outraged, she left the scene, wanting to get away from the arrogant pair of toucans and their many, many chicks as quickly as possible.


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12- devastation and disappointments for Blu's group**

 **Some time later**

The birds from Blu's group that had gone off to confront the parents of the toucan chicks over other matters besides that of Sandalwood returned to their place of stay, the birdhouses Tulio and Linda had built and nailed to the trees next to their cottage and the natural hollows nearby, their faces laced with sheer disappointment and distress at the fruitless results. Among these birds were Ganymede, Europa, Byron and Mimas, who had gone to visit the parents of the other toucan chicks, such as Danielle, to confront them about their chicks' negative influence on their own chicks such as Adenine and his three siblings and Canopus, Katniss, Xander and Kayley being persuaded into participating in naughty behaviour during their game of hide and seek, such as scaring chicks of the other residents, and pelting the adult residents or their trees with fruit and seeds. But like Tiago's group, Ganymede's group had come away empty-winged, the same results embedded in them as Tiago's group like porcupine spines.

In Sandalwood and his family's ground hollow, Sandalwood lay asleep in the bed of moss with Sebastian, his uncle watching over him. Sebastian had sung a lullaby to his nephew and Sandalwood had drifted off to sleep despite the whirlwind of guilt still engulfing him. As he watched his nephew sleep soundly in the moss bed, Sebastian heard the sounds of wing flaps outside the ground hollow. At this, he turned, left Sandalwood's side and walked over to the entrance to be met by a group of birds, his father Augustus, sister Stella and brother-in-law Soren.

"Did you guys manage to resolve the problems?" he asked. When he saw the very sad looks on Soren and Stella's face, as well as the thunderous look on that of Jewel, Sebastian's ears fell with his face. Those thunderous or disappointed looks were mirrored on the faces of the other birds as well. Ganymede and Mimas looked utterly outraged while Jupiter was visibly upset. Behind Jupiter, Sebastian could see the outline and flashes of blue of Matilda and Tiago, Matilda having recovered from her faint. The two sat together, Matilda leaning onto Tiago's chest and Tiago with his chin on her crown and wing draped over her back. Sobs escaped from Matilda while nearby, Cometa and Travis talked. Jewel came up to Sebastian and stood by him, her anger simmering.

"We've just visited Marco and his mate Anastasia, the parents of Isabella," she growled, "But unfortunately, it did not end well."

Then Stella came in, tears running down her cheeks.

"They accused Tiago and Matilda's daughter Bellatrix for setting the whole thing off by binding and pushing our son off that branch end," she said in an edgy voice, "They blamed her for our son's fear of heights and Vincent and Hunter's mess, and they also called her an attempted murderer…"

Sebastian, at this, shot Stella a flabbergasted look as Stella then broke down, her membranous wings covering her face and tears falling from her eyes like waterfalls. Soren draped her with his wing and led her inside the ground hollow.

"Sandalwood's asleep," said Sebastian. Soren nodded in thanks to the warning and disappeared with Stella into the hollow partially covered by rocks. After the couple had gone, Ganymede stepped forward. His face was twisted into an outrageous look and his feathers were bristled.

"We've been to visit Danielle's parents about the peer pressure their kids exhibited on our four Catalina chicks and their red macaw cousins including Xander and Kayley, Alexandre and Estelle's chicks," said the scarlet macaw, describing Alexandre and Kayley's chicks as 'cousins' of Adenine, Guanine, Thymine and Cytosine and Betelgeuse, Rigel, Canopus, Katniss, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka though Xander and Kayley were not biologically related to these macaws for Alexandre was not biologically part of Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto's family, "But they directed the blame square on our chicks as being the troublemakers and starters of that trouble stirred up for that group of macaws and parakeets instead."

"Though they are in trouble and are grounded for the rest of the trip," added an equally enraged Mimas, "I just cannot BELIEVE the indifference those parents had to their troublemaking offspring's behaviour," the blue-and-gold macaw kicked a nearby rock in frustration, "Not to mention THEM branding us as bad parents."

"We also heard that Tiago's been in a fight with Marco," said Ganymede, his gaze on the despondent Tiago and his mate, "Is he alright?"

"Yes, but I believe it was very silly of him to throw himself into a fight with that toucan like that," muttered Jupiter angrily, "It was a very inappropriate response."

"Well, that big nosed brat did have it coming," said Jewel smugly, "Especially with how he described Bellatrix. No-one describes my granddaughter or ANY of our grandkids like that. Venus and Zephyr would have been absolutely offended as well had they heard that since Bellatrix is also their granddaughter. Given the choice, I'd have clawed that arrogant look of that toucan's face."

"Yeah, but it was still inappropriate," said Jupiter adamantly, "That action is likely to set off some serious consequences," a look of worry came upon his face as he thought of the friendship between the group and Rafael and Eva. If those two hear that Tiago had attacked one of their sons, they were not going to be pleased. As Jupiter said this, Tiago turned and gazed despondently at the scarlet macaw, a tear of guilt falling from his left eye while Matilda continued to sob her heart out in his wing. Augustus breathed a sigh.

"Fatherly love can be very volatile sometimes," he said, "If anyone ever said anything like that about my son or two daughters," he nodded to Sebastian, "when they are nothing of that sort, I'd likely explode as well."

Suddenly, the group heard the sounds of pattering of paws on the forest floor soil and plants and within moments, two greyhounds, one a light grey male and the other a black female with a white patch between her eyes, appeared much to the surprise of the group.

"James and Ebony," said Jupiter.

"I thought you two were at your club," said Ganymede.

"What are you guys doing out here?" asked Jewel.

"Are you the new flying fox friends of Blu and company?" asked James to Augustus and Sebastian who nodded.

"We heard what happened to one of your young pups, as well as Travis, Sunset, Cometa and Lightning's grandsons from Broccoli and Daisy," said Ebony in concern. When the two greyhounds saw the thunderous or sombre looks on the faces of the group, their faces turned from shock and horror to sorrow and sympathy, especially when James saw Tiago and Matilda sitting nearby in a shadow, Matilda constantly sobbing her heart out.

"What has happened now?" asked James. Jewel shot the greyhound a fiery look.

"What do YOU think?" she retorted.

"More toucan trouble?" replied Ebony.

"Yes," snapped Jupiter equally thunderously, "For example, Marco and Anastasia branded Tiago and Matilda's daughter Bellatrix as an attempted murderer and psycho chick and the one who deliberately started the whole mess with Sandalwood."

At this, the two greyhounds gazed at each other and then looked back at the scarlet macaw in utter disbelief.

"But that's not what Broccoli and Daisy told us," said James.

"According to those two cats," said Ebony, "Bellatrix and Sandalwood said that it was the toucan chicks that caused the mess which started with those chicks tying Sandalwood up and placing him on the end of a branch for not participating in a planned mischievous prank and then one of them accidentally knocking that poor pup off the branch end, still bound, when Bellatrix surged towards them in panic."

"That's a natural reaction, no surprise," said Augustus, "If I saw a friend in that situation, I'd do the same thing as well and try to save them."

As he said this, two large navy blue birds with yellow facial markings, one wearing a fruit shell hat, appeared. Neptune and Victor then walked over to the group, a suspicious frown on their faces.

"It seems that those big orange and black or lime green and magenta billed brats have all been making up stories to get out of trouble based on the other cases I've heard from the others, such as with Sandalwood and Adenine and company," Neptune muttered, "And put the blame on someone else so that the consequences would be deflected away from the true culprits and at them instead," Neptune folded his wings, "And I believe Danielle and her siblings and cousins have done just that with Adenine, Cytosine, Guanine, Thymine and also the red macaw chicks including Betelgeuse and Rigel, Io and Sheldon's daughters regarding the trouble stirred up for some residents…"

"I've talked about this problem with Dino, the patriarch of a family of another toucan species, the chestnut-mandibled toucan, who lives next door to us. Him and his family and other relatives are not at all like many of Rafael and Eva's negligent older offspring and always ensure that the younger members of the family are well disciplined and respectful of the other residents. Dino, his mate Gemma and their three chicks, Raymundo, Josephine and Dino Jr. and the other relatives that live with them such as Josephine's sister, two nephews and brother-in-law had been some of the most recent victims of trouble from a gang of some of Rafael and Eva's rambunctious descendants," said Victor, "That incident involved the destruction of a cluster of flowers Dino and Gemma had planted just outside their hollow entrance for they love flowers and decorations but when they went to complain to the parents of the toco/keel-billed mixed toucan chicks, those parents set the blame on Dino and Gemma's three chicks as being the ones who destroyed the flowers, not their own kids, so it seems that the kids of Rafael and Eva's older offspring are not only adept at causing trouble but also denying it as well."

The others shot the two hyacinth macaws a surprised look.

"What makes you say that?" asked Ganymede. Neptune turned to him.

"We've been through that as well," he said, "After that incident with my granddaughter Gertie and I and Ultramarine went to visit the parents of some of those rambunctious chicks; they told us that their kids did not upset Gertie and that she upset herself to attract attention. That was what prompted us to move to another part of the Blu Bird Sanctuary besides the trouble from that gang of toucan kids. Dino and his chestnut-mandibled toucan family moved with us for they had had enough of the toucan gangs' antics as well."

"So you've been having the same problems with those toco/keel-billed mixed toucan brats as well?" asked Jewel.

"Yes," said Victor with an indignant face.

"So have some of the city pets such as me and Ebony, along with Daisy, Broccoli, Pelusa and Nevado," said James, "Didn't Broccoli and Daisy tell you about the pitfall trap prank one group pulled off on us when you visited Susan and Lucy's cottage, the one that resulted in my shoulder getting bruised?"

He gazed at the spot on his shoulder where his bruise was from where he had landed when he, Ebony, Broccoli, Daisy, Nevado and Pelusa fell into that pit dug by one gang of toucan pranksters

"Yes but we thought it was a one off," said Jupiter. James and Ebony, however, shook their heads, as did Neptune and also Travis and Cometa who walked in.

"The Blu Bird Sanctuary's jungle has become infested with toucan kid and adolescent gangs, all offspring of Rafael and Eva's grown-up kids," said Cometa, "And all they do is get up to a variety of serious naughtiness."

"They sometimes vandalise and ransack the hollows of other bird families, including other toucan families that are not part of Rafael and Eva's massive clan," said Travis, "One golden conure family reported to us that their home had been turned into a hurricane disaster-like zone while they had been out with their young chicks that had just learned to fly with nesting material thrown about and the inside of their hollow littered with fruit mess…"

"Those grandkids of Rafael and Eva also like to pelt other residents and also city animal visitors with fruit and seeds and also tie them up and pelt them with sticks," said Cometa, "And at night," her face morphed into a disgusted look, "Oh, nights are the worst, honestly. Some of those toucan gangs like to make an absolute racket right through to the early hours of the morning…"

"For instance," said Neptune, "While we were trying to put Gertie and Violet to bed, we kept hearing the sounds of extremely loud screeching and squawking somewhere outside our trees," Neptune's eyes closed as frustration boiled within him, "Anyone would have thought a bunch of feathered wolves were flying amok and howling outside our supposed-to-be quiet and peaceful community but it was just _awful._ It woke up young chicks, among them Dino and Gemma's three, Raymundo, Josephine and Dino Jr and their cousins, and sent them into hysterical crying, drove parents and other birds around the tree branches and sent shivers down some other birds', especially elderly birds', spines. _"_

"They seem to have nothing better to do, honestly," said Cometa, "Not to mention the fact that their parents, half of them being Rafael and Eva's grownup children, weren't bothered about disciplining them."

"It's just utterly NIGHTMARISH," snarled Travis, his yellow crest flaring and baby blue eyes ablaze with anger. Jewel, Jupiter, Augustus and Sebastian stared at the falcon, cockatoo, hyacinth macaw and two greyhounds for a while until finally, Jupiter broke the silence.

"Sounds like Rafael and Eva and many of their offspring have definitely been breeding like mad while we were in the Sanctuary de Amazon greeting our new grandkids into the world," he muttered, "We heard that Marco and Anastasia now have _forty-one_ chicks when we went to visit them to complain about Sandalwood's incident but it's getting a bit late to talk about this," he gazed at the starry night sky, "Now if you excuse me, my grandkids will be wanting me to say goodnight to them."

And with that, he opened his large wings and took off into the canopy above. Jewel then walked over to tend to Tiago and Matilda while James and Ebony said goodnight to the group before leaving.

"I hope you find a way to sort this big problem out tomorrow," said James as he left.

"We've just GOT to, James," said Cometa seriously, "We've just GOT to, especially for the sake of everyone's health on the Blu Bird Sanctuary after what happened to my grandson, Vincent and Luna."

But the two greyhounds were already out of earshot. Augustus and Sebastian then prepared to turn in for the night but Augustus gazed in to the ground hollow at the sleeping forms of Sandalwood in the moss bed and Stella and Soren hanging nearby from a root near Sandalwood's bed, sound asleep.

"And we hope that we could help Sandalwood to overcome his fear of heights as well," said he.

"We heard he's been refusing to be carried," said Cometa. Just then she heard Velocity's voice through the canopy. At this, she turned and glanced at her daughter.

"Oh aye, Velocity wants me to say goodnight to Zelda," she said, "Also, Lightning will be waiting for me with Spike, as will Orion and Hermione who will be facing a very difficult night tonight for the worry for the son will be hanging over them like a black cloud. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

And with that, the peregrine falcon took off. Travis turned and followed, also saying goodnight to Augustus, Sebastian and Neptune and to Jewel, Tiago and Matilda. The cockatoo's heart sank when he saw how distressed the Spix macaw couple looked.

"We've got to do something about those toucan kids," murmured Travis under his breath. Jewel gazed at him with an agreeing face, having heard this statement.

"I'll see you tomorrow morning," said Jewel. Travis nodded and disappeared into the canopy. Neptune, Augustus and Sebastian remained on the forest floor, gazing at each other.

"And I sure hope Luna, Hunter and Vincent are alright, especially Luna and Vincent," said Neptune. Sebastian and Augustus gazed at the larger hyacinth macaw.

In one of the birdhouses, one built for Tiago and his family, Bellatrix lie in her moss bed in her room with Bartholomew opposite her. Tiago's birdhouse had been constructed with two compartments: one for Tiago and Matilda and another for the chicks. Bellatrix's eyes were flooded with massive tears of guilt as her mind played through the incident that had happened today.

'It's all my fault,' she thought, 'If only I hadn't rocketed towards Isabella's group while Sandalwood was perched on the end of that branch with his wings bound, the fall wouldn't have happened, Vincent and Hunter wouldn't have been badly hurt, and Miss Luna wouldn't have been bitten by that snake.'

A few hard sobs escaped her throat as she began to cry. Bartholomew also had the same guilty feelings churning away in his mind like the water of a rapid in the Amazon River. As he tried to drift off to sleep, a tear emerged through his eyelids and ran down his cheek. Outside the brother and sister's compartment, three toucan chicks, Gladion, Lillie and Aurora, quietly touched down on the platform of Tiago and his family's birdhouse and peered into the hole at the two Spix macaw chicks. However, Bellatrix had heard them. The three chicks of Diantha and Tom, unlike their many, many cousins and young aunts and uncles, wore genuinely guilty and remorseful looks on their faces after what has happened.

"Are Bellatrix and Bartholomew alright?" asked Lillie in a low voice.

"We heard what our cousin Isabella's parents had said about Bellatrix from Mr Travis and Mrs Cometa when they explained to Mr Zephyr, Mrs Venus and Mr Blu," said Gladion in a hushed voice. His face then became pale, "And believe me, those three weren't impressed."

Then a look of outrage flashed on Aurora's face.

"How can those things be true!?" she snarled in a hushed voice, "It were Isabella and her comrades that had Sandalwood bound and placed on the end of that branch in the first place, not Bellatrix, Bartholomew or anyone else for that matter."

"And Bellatrix is certainly not a murderer," put in Gladion. His sisters nodded in agreement. Just then, the three well-behaved toucan chicks saw a light blue form appear.

"Shouldn't you three be in bed?" asked Charlotte with a frown on her face, "It's getting late and your mother and father are asking for you."

The three toucan chicks gazed at the sister of Matilda and Tiago's sister-in-law and began to weep.

"We're sorry about what happened to Sandalwood, Bellatrix and whoever else that was hurt," said Gladion in an edgy voice, tears oozing out of his eyes.

"I think we should share the blame too," said Lillie and Aurora together. Charlotte hardened her gaze as Bellatrix peered out of her family's birdhouse.

"Look, just obey my command will you!?" she commanded in a firmer, authoritative voice. The toucan trio nodded and took off in the direction of their parents who were waiting for them on a branch across the clearing. As the trio disappeared, Blu appeared, his gaze fixed on Gladion and his sisters as they flew over to Diantha and Tom.

"You know something, Diantha and her family are the only members of Rafael and Eva's massive clan I know of who are not naughty or negligent like the other offspring of Rafael and his screechy mate," he said with a frown.

"Not to mention the fact that they show genuine guilt and tell the truth whenever they have done something wrong," said Charlotte.

"Yeah, but like Bellatrix and the others that were there, they're not to blame for Sandalwood's incident," said Blu. Charlotte then turned to Bellatrix and Bartholomew in her brother-in-law and sister's hollow for she and Blu had come to check on them. However, she saw Bellatrix and Bartholomew peer at her and their paternal grandfather through the entrance, having noticed their presence already.

"Grandpa Blu, Aunt Charlotte," murmured Bellatrix, more tears spilling down her face, "Is what happened today really my fault?"

Blu and Charlotte came over to the daughter of Tiago and Matilda and her brother. Charlotte put a wing on Bellatrix's cheek.

"No it isn't, sweetie," said Charlotte gently, "It's entirely the fault of Isabella and her comrades and their parents," a frown then came over her face. 'Marco and Anastasia called my niece Bellatrix a murderer and described her as a psycho chick who loves causing accidents to other birds and flying fox pups,' she thought, 'How could they say such things?'

"Where are Mommy and Daddy?" asked Bellatrix, more tears falling from her face.

"We want a hug from them," added Bartholomew, tears also falling from his eyes.

"They're on the ground at the moment," said Blu gently, "They'll be up shortly."

Bellatrix and Bartholomew then both launched into an uncontrollable sobbing fit and leaped into Charlotte's wings as their emotions erupted and overflowed explosively. Charlotte, a tear falling from her right eye, wrapped her wings around the two sobbing chicks and uttered a gentle, 'Shhh', as her nephew and niece sobbed into her chest feathers. Blu came in and joined the hug. From a distance from the group embrace, Músculo, Charlotte's mate, looked on. He had finished putting Jason and Petunia to bed in his and Charlotte's birdhouse, designed to have three compartments so he and Charlotte, Jason and Petunia had their own rooms. Músculo sorrowfully looked on as he watched his mate hug Bellatrix and Bartholomew with Blu as Jojo, Felix and Lavender came in.

"Our first day in Rio seemed to have crashed and burned, hasn't it?" said Jojo quietly. At this, his brother and sister shot him a glare.

"More like ruined by Rafael and Eva's rambunctious grandkids," snapped Lavender in a hushed voice.

"Especially for Augustus's family regarding Sandalwood," put in Felix, his three-layered crest spiked out somewhat. Músculo turned to them.

"It's ruined our visit to Rio for everyone, actually," said he, "Not only Augustus's family but also Tiago and his family, Blu, Jewel, and also the rest of us," he turned to watch the outline of Augustus as he flew up to his chosen hollow with Melissa, "But out of all of us, Augustus and his family have taken the worst of it. Not only has Sandalwood been traumatised, Luna has been badly affected too."

Felix, Lavender and Jojo turned to watch Augustus sympathetically as he flipped upside down to hang from the rim of the hollow as flying foxes did when they prepared to go to sleep or rest. The trio then prepared to go to bed.

"And I hope Vincent and Hunter are alright as well," murmured Lavender.

"Goodnight, Músculo," said Jojo as he left with Felix and Lavender.

"Goodnight, you three," said Músculo as the three left. He then turned to wait for Charlotte as she said goodnight to Bellatrix and Bartholomew with Blu moments before Tiago and Matilda appeared.

 **Meanwhile**

Lightning had returned to Tulio's Aviary to check on his grandson Hunter, Vincent, the grandson of Travis and Sunset and Eustace and Serena's older son, and Luna, the sister of Stella and Sebastian and one of Melissa and Augustus's daughters. He had gone back to check on things at Tulio's Aviary as soon as Zelda, Velocity and Merlin had gone to bed, and Orion and Hermione had been coaxed into sleep, as well as Spike, his and Cometa's newest addition to the family. The sky overhead was strewn with a sea of starry glitter, the moon nothing more than a silver c-shaped sliver hovering in the sky. A few wisps of cloud also hovered, partially covering the star sea as they drifted gently past. However, Lightning wasn't in the mood for stargazing for his mind was on the more important things such as the aftereffects of Sandalwood's accident. The peregrine falcon had perched on a window ledge watching the nightshift Aviary staff carry out their usual tasks as well as the birds that rested here in the main medical room. Some of the staff checked the materials of the cages of the birds present to see if they required replacing, some examined the injuries of more birds dotting the worktops while some were cleaning and doing other jobs. The Aviary was practically alive with the sounds of human conversations and bird squawks and Lightning flashed a smile at some of the colourful feathered forms perched on the blades of a ceiling fan that rotated slowly for the safety of the birds. However, that smile soon faded as Lightning's bulbous eyes travelled to the sleeping form of white fur and chalky membranous wings in one of the cages. Luna was asleep, having been treated of her snakebite and the venom in her body successfully purged and her leg, the one that the snake had bitten, wrapped in a bandage. Lightning knew that Tulio's Aviary had a variety of antidotes used for treating venom poisoning of birds that had been bitten by snakes and one of those antidotes must have been used on Luna. Though he felt sorrowful at the fact that Luna was still in the Aviary, Lightning was glad that she had been treated, but he could not find any sign of Vincent or Hunter. 'They must still be in surgery,' he thought.

Lightning shuddered as the events of today leading to Vincent, Hunter and Luna's injuries and Sandalwood's fear of heights replayed in his mind. He remembered seeing the horrified looks on Orion and Hermione's faces when they saw their son slashed with gashes with countless thorns sticking out of his body, as well as Vincent's broken wing, the terrified look on Sandalwood's face as he was carried, his cries demanding that he be put down. Lightning also flinched and shuddered at the memories of seeing Luna go into shock from the venom during the emergency transport. Not to mention the searing pain erupting from the bite point where the snake's fangs had penetrated adding to the albino flying fox's ordeal. It was indeed a horrifying sight and it was likely that Lightning would struggle to get that out of his head in a few weeks to come. As his mind swam about through these scenes as well as watch the nightshift staff in Tulio's Aviary at work, the sounds of wing-flaps pulled his attention to two more peregrine falcons as they approached him to join him.

"How are Luna, Vincent and Hunter, Lightning?" asked Cometa as she flew in and touched down beside him on the window ledge. She was accompanied by Orion who could not sleep at all, the thoughts about Hunter on his mind all the time.

"Luna's fine by the looks of it," said Lightning, nodding to the bundle of white fur and membranous wings in one of the cages, "Looks like the venom in her body's been successfully neutralised. However, I cannot see any sign of Vincent and Hunter. They might still be in surgery."

Orion sighed, a sombre look on his face. It was then that the trio saw a group of surgeons emerge from the operating rooms. One of the surgeons, a male dressed in pale blue and white robes with a mask over his nose and mouth and some sort of cap covering his hair, walked over to one of the cages with a bundle wrapped in a towel to an empty cage and gently placed it in there. Then after checking the food and drink bowls and tube and the bedding, the surgeon closed the cage door and left.

"Looks like Vincent's surgery has finished," said Lightning as the surgeon moved away to reveal a bundle of white feathers with an orange-tinted crest on his head. Orion and Cometa gazed and saw Vincent; his left wing in a cast as he groggily gazed around the main medical room began to try and go to sleep. It was obvious he still had some anaesthetic in his body and it would take time for it to wear off. Gladness bubbling within the three falcons that Eustace and Serena's older son was sure to make a good recovery, the trio turned to the group of surgeons as they talked, hoping to get a glimpse of the other casualty that was Orion and his merlin mate Hermione's son. Orion had hope boiling within him and he was twitching with restlessness.

"Please, give us good news about our son," he murmured. Cometa and Lightning also looked on with hope in their bulbous eyes. A few agonising minutes passed until finally, the chatting stopped and the three falcons got a glimpse of the surgeons' faces. However, their facial expressions were the exact opposite to what the three falcons had hoped for. At this, Lightning, Cometa and Orion's faces fell, especially Orion as he began to tremble with dread as he watched one of the men, Tulio who was on a nightshift tonight, walk over to the lead surgeon. Lightning then opened his wings and carefully entered the room, taking care not to get noticed by the humans or the other birds, approaching the group of surgeons as they talked over the results with Tulio. Orion and Cometa were left perched on the ledge, their hopeful eyes gazing at Lightning as he perched on a cabinet close to the surgeons and Tulio for a few agonising minutes but after that, Lightning returned, but his face was not at all sparkling. Instead, there were massive tears falling from his eyes.

"What's the news of Hunter?" asked Orion urgently, Cometa looking on in silence. However, the only response Orion got from his father was a sombre look of silence. At first, Orion and Cometa gazed at the falcon in shock until finally it dawned upon them. As the dreadful and tragic realisation set in, Orion stood there, his skin deathly pale beneath his slate grey facial feathers, his wings lying limply by his sides and his upper body swaying like a branch in a strong wind.

"I'm… I'm so… so sorry… Orion," murmured Lightning sombrely in a barely audible voice. Cometa then gazed at Orion as his breathing spiralled out of control and tears began falling from his eyes in large drips. Overcome with emotion, the young peregrine falcon finally broke down. He collapsed onto his front, his wings buried in his wings and sobs escaping his beak. Lightning and Cometa came over to comfort him as he continued to sob hard and uncontrollably.


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13- despair and rage**

 **Morning**

Both the human and animal communities woke to the sunrise and prepared themselves for the day ahead. The sun was shining in the dawn sky, and the air above most of the human and animal communities was also sunny with excitement and joy. Not for one group, however. Their sky was completely overcast and grey, dull with sadness, misery and grief. Next to Tulio and Linda's cottage and garden in which Tulio, Linda, Fernando and Tulio and Linda's biological child, Tommy, were going about their morning business such as preparing for the workday ahead, Blu and company wearily woke up from an uneasy and miserable night's sleep in their hollows and birdhouses. At Virgil, Bia and their sons' birdhouse, Virgil wearily struggled out of the compartment he and Bia shared. As he emerged, he saw the familiar slate grey and ivory shapes of the peregrine falcons as they sat on a branch of the adjacent tree. All of them wore very sad and depressed looks on their faces.

"Are they still extremely sad over the loss of Hunter?" asked Bia's voice. Virgil turned to her as she peered out of the hole leading to her and Virgil's compartment, which was a wooden box. On either side of this box were two more compartments, one large but not as large as the middle one and one small. The second largest one had a colourful ladder leading to its hole while the other had a wooden sign-like covering over its hole similar to the one Carla had on her compartment on her, Bia, Tiago, Blu and Jewel's birdhouse when she was a chick. However, this covering was not an E with a red line through it (a 'no parking' sign in Portuguese), but had the famous relativity equation 'E=mc^2' written on it instead. Sirius and Einstein slept in the second largest compartment while Miles slept in the smallest one with the relativity equation covering on it.

"I'm afraid so," said Virgil sombrely and tiredly, trying to fight the tiredness threatening to overwhelm him for he had not slept much last night, "In fact I've been watching the falcons for most of the night. Poor Orion and Hermione hadn't slept a wink at all and have been weeping and sobbing throughout the night."

"Tiago and his family have been struggling last night as well," murmured Bia sadly, "I've heard Matilda cry a lot about what happened last evening when they went to visit Marco and Anastasia, Isabella's parents…"

Virgil angrily reached up to a cluster of leaves and tore them out in a rage and utter disgust.

"I'm not surprised," he hissed under his breath as he tossed the leaves down, sending them drifting gently through the canopy like green feathers, "How DARE those two _morons_ and _pathetic excuses for parents_ accuse her and Tiago's daughter Bellatrix, who is also our niece and the niece of Carla and Justin and also Charlotte and Músculo of being a sadistic, murderous chick with a love of causing other chicks and flying fox pups serious injuries for the fun of it," he turned to Bia with his blue-green eyes ablaze with outrage, disgust and tiredness, "Not to mention the fact that they stated that Bellatrix was the one who tied Sandalwood up and then deliberately pushed him off the end of the branch after when it was their CHICKS that had done that…" he came up to Bia and breathed a sigh.

"It seems that our visit to Rio has been shattered by those toucan chicks and the grandkids of Rafael and Eva," murmured Bia sadly. She then put a comforting wing on Virgil's shoulder as he continued muttering under his breath.

Down on the forest floor, Stella and Soren had also woken up. As the couple dropped from the root that grew along the wall of the hollowed out tree base, Stella gazed at Sandalwood as he murmured in his sleep in his bed of moss.

"What are we going to do with his fear of heights and his refusal to fly, Soren?" asked Stella in a hushed and worried voice, "He can't possibly remain grounded for the rest of his life."

Soren gazed at his sleeping son. "I don't know, dear," he whispered, "I'm sure Augustus, Melissa and our feathered friends will figure out a way."

"We can't force him off the ground for that would make things worse," said Stella, "And we can't force him to climb onto some sort of overhang, say an elevated branch or protrusion of the forest floor like a large rock or something, and get him to jump off as that would have the same result…"

Soren sighed. It was indeed a massive problem for the couple regarding their son. The trauma Sandalwood had suffered from the ordeal yesterday had left him with a massive, gaping wound in his confidence, especially his confidence in flying and climbing up onto an overhang for take-off, a requirement flying foxes needed to get airborne. Stella and Soren couldn't bear the thought of seeing their son growing up grounded for the rest of his life, not to mention the fact that he wouldn't be able to return to the Amazon, and that was the biggest worry of all plaguing his parents' minds. While their minds were ravaged by the worry for Sandalwood's immense fear of heights and flying, a knock on the entrance's wood reached their ears.

"Come in," said Soren. As he and Stella turned round, a blue feathered form, a brown furry form with black membranous wings and a metallic blue creature with flight feathers on her legs and a long prehensile tail ending in a fan of flight feathers, her tail flight feathers entered the ground hollow.

"How's your son doing?" asked the flying fox, which was Augustus and he was accompanied by Blu and Andromeda. Stella and Soren gave the silent answer as Blu looked through the gap between them.

"I see, he's still asleep," said he, "We'd better not disturb him. Let's talk outside."

"Good idea, Blu," said Augustus and with that, the five went outside. Outside the ground hollow, the five were free from the worry of waking Sandalwood up and began to talk.

"We've just been thinking and worrying about our son's future," said Stella, her gaze on the hollow entrance, its rock pile covering dismantled for access.

"That horrible ordeal yesterday has left him badly scarred and traumatized," said Soren, "He's now very afraid of heights and flight, which is a massive problem. What if our son will never feel air under his wings like the rest of us again?"

As he said this, there was movement in the hollow. An amber furred ear, face and green eye peered out through the hole between the rim of the ground hollow's entrance and the rock pile and began to listen in on the conversation.

"That's what we're going to try and figure and sort out today," said Augustus to his son-in-law.

"What those rotten toucan kids have done yesterday is utterly unforgivable, I think," growled Andromeda angrily, "Not only have they traumatised your son but also killed Orion and Hermione's son Hunter and have left Luna and Vincent, Eustace and Serena's older son, hospitalised for quite some time…"

As the mentioning of Hunter's demise exited Andromeda's muzzle-like beak, the amber furred ear, face and eye jerked upward in shock.

"No," murmured Sandalwood quietly and distraughtly. A tear then welled in the corner of his eye and ran down his cheek.

"So much for Rafael's statement of those kids, among them Isabella, being well-behaved," muttered Blu indignantly. Then Stella's ears and face fell as she felt a pang of sadness and guilt.

"It's my fault actually," she said, "I shouldn't have let Sandalwood go off with those toucan chicks."

"Darling, you weren't to know," said Soren trying to comfort his albino mate.

"Yeah, Rafael was the one who assured us that he and the other kids would be fine with the toucan kids, even though we had uncertainty too," said Augustus.

"After all, he is one of our closest friends whom we can trust," said Blu. However, his face fell as he said this. After what happened to Sandalwood, Bellatrix, Vincent and Hunter yesterday and also the other kids such as Ganymede and Mimas's four Catalina chicks Adenine, Guanine, Thymine and Cytosine, who were in serious trouble yesterday for causing havoc on some residents while playing hide and seek with Danielle's group, alongside Xander, Kayley (Estelle and Alexandre's chicks), and Canopus and Katniss (the offspring of Athos and Callisto), that trust has been seriously dented by doubt.

"Well, one thing is certain," said Andromeda sternly, "That toco toucan and his ear-splitting screamer of a keel-billed mate haven't disciplined their older kids properly when they were young by the look of things."

"And that bad parental trait has been passed down onto those kids when they have left the nest, found their own mates and had their own kids as a result," said Blu worriedly.

"Anyway, coming back to Sandalwood," said Augustus, bringing the group's attention back to the main subject from the tangent, "How are we going to help him overcome his fear of heights and flight?"

All but Blu shook their heads and replied with 'I don't know' shrugs of their shoulders, but Blu wore a realisation face and then began to enter deep thought. From the ground hollow, Sandalwood continued to listen and watch.

"What is it, Blu?" asked Augustus.

"A fall while one is young rendering him afraid to fly," murmured Blu with a frown, "It sounds awfully familiar."

"What do you mean?" asked Andromeda. Stella and Soren gazed at the Spix macaw with confused looks. Blu then shot the other four a realisation look.

"A similar sort of situation's happened to me when I was a chick," said Blu, "But I wasn't tied up by a bunch of bullies and pushed off the end of a branch."

"Did you suffer a traumatising fall like Sandalwood did?" asked Stella. Blu gazed at her.

"Um… no," he said, much to the disappointment of Stella, Soren and Augustus but Blu washed it away as he began to explain.

"When I was a chick, I was born in the jungle next to this city but I hadn't learned to fly," he closed his eyes and began to recall the events of his early chick days when he was smuggled out of Brazil and to North America, specifically the United States. "Smugglers had attacked and I fell out of my nest amongst the commotion," the three flying foxes and Andromeda listened intently. So did Sandalwood who was surprised to hear that Blu was born in Brazil. "Then after I was smuggled to the US and had met Linda when she was a girl," continued Blu, "She was that red-haired lady whom you met yesterday; I hadn't flown a single flap all my life that I was with my human companion until my return to Rio and my meeting with Jewel."

Shock and astonishment tore through the group.

"How long have you been flightless?" asked Augustus.

"The first fifteen years of my life," said Blu.

"That's unbelievable," said Stella in shock. Sandalwood from the hole also reacted as astonishment sparked him like an electric shock.

"How on earth did you get around!?" asked Andromeda.

"Uh, it's too complicated," said Blu, "But the simple fact is, I have been a flightless macaw throughout those fifteen years."

"Had you been afraid of heights?" asked Soren.

"Kind of," said Blu, "But that was probably the result of staying grounded for so long."

"How did you learn to fly eventually?" asked Augustus.

"It happened while some smugglers were attempting to take me, Jewel and many other birds out of Brazil," explained Blu, "After I had allowed the other birds to escape, we were attacked by that savage vulture of a cockatoo called Nigel while we were still on that flying human vehicle they call a plane. He broke Jewel's wing but after I had dealt with him, Jewel slipped out and I was forced to drop after her. Then after our first kiss, I was able to fly for the first time in my life…" Blu smiled as he relished that memory. Soren, Stella, Augustus and Andromeda, and Sandalwood as well, gazed at Blu in awe but then Stella and Soren's faces fell.

"But there's no way we could persuade our Sandalwood to stand on over massive drop like from the roof of a human building or a cliff precipice," said Stella. The mentioning of those two elevated locations sent shivers coursing through Sandalwood's spine and he flinched at that idea, "The height would seriously freak him out."

"We could perhaps start from very low drops or something," said Blu, "Like from an elevated rock my height for example."

Andromeda and Augustus smiled at this idea but Stella and Soren weren't sure. Even small drops seemed to startle Sandalwood and the little pup in the ground hollow also shuddered at the thought of that as well. However, his parents had no other choice as Blu pointed out.

"There's no other option, Stella and Soren," said Blu sadly, "If we don't help your son start overcoming his fear of heights and flight, he may never be able to fly at all, like I never did for the first fifteen years of my life which I also spent as a domesticated macaw," Stella and Soren's sad gazes slowly dropped to the floor. "And that can be detrimental to him. One thing, he may never return to the Sanctuary de Amazon with the rest of us, and another, Sandalwood may never learn to hang from an overhanging branch or equivalent again and that too can be very detrimental, especially for young bat pups."

"Also," said Andromeda, "He may never clutch onto the safety of your breast when you hang upside down with him safely in your wings when you sleep," Stella, at this, shot the archaeobird a horrified look as she continued, "Like macaws and other tree birds and animals adapted to living in the trees, flying foxes sleep in the trees or in caves, not on the ground where there are predators lurking in every nook and cranny of the forest floor."

Stella continued gazing at Andromeda with a disbelieving look but she had to admit that the archaeobird was right. Sandalwood, though he was able to fly now, still clung to his mother's chest fur and carried while she flew for he was still too young to fly long distances by himself yet. This statement sent shivers down Soren and Stella's spines and they began to be fraught with even greater worry. In their land hollow, Sandalwood gazed at the root creeping along the inner wall of the tree trunk and flinched at the thought of hanging from it by his own two feet, or clutching to his mother's breast while she hung from the root. Sandalwood's fear of heights has not only shattered his confidence in flying or climbing onto an overhang for take-off for bats needed to drop into the air for their membranous wings to catch the air, quite unlike most flying birds who can loft themselves into flight by pushing off the ground with their feet… the bat pup's fear of heights has also shattered the possibility of his hanging from overhangs to sleep or snuggle up to his mother's fur during the night as well. As this realisation dawned upon poor Sandalwood, the distraught pup returned to his moss bed and began to break down.

'How am I gonna relish the safety of my mother's warmth and comfort?' thought Sandalwood tearfully as he sobbed loudly with the emotions erupting volcanically within him, his face buried in the moss, 'How am I gonna fly with my friends and play with them, especially my cousins Acerola and Ferdinand, or return to the Amazon for that matter? Furthermore, how am I gonna join the other flying foxes in the flying fox clan led by Grandpa in their clan dance with the birds of 'El Pueblo de Lily' to the song, 'Amazon Birds and Flying Foxes United in the Amazon Sky' during special occasions?' as these seemingly out-of-reach possibilities plagued his mind and stung his heart all the more, Sandalwood continued sobbing uncontrollably. Outside, Stella and Soren hugged each other, tears falling from their eyes at the same realisations about Sandalwood. Augustus also hugged them but Blu wore an assuring look.

"Don't worry," he said, "We'll do all we can to help your son to fly again and get used to heights."

Stella, Soren and Augustus broke their group hug and gazed at the Spix macaw with slightly lifted spirits. It was then that Blu heard Jewel call his name through the canopy. Blu shot his mate a look.

"Oh, Jewel wants me," he said.

"Yeah, it's time to forage for breakfast," said Augustus. Andromeda then released squeaky calls to call for Rouge. The reddish coloured bat-bird appeared out of nowhere and swooped down onto the forest floor, crouching to let her rider mount her like how horses would allow human riders to mount them. As she climbed onto Rouge's back, Stella and Soren returned to the ground hollow where Sandalwood was waiting. Nearby, Blu and Augustus prepared for take-off.

"We'll bring you back some fruit," said Andromeda.

"Thank you, Andromeda," said Soren in an edgy voice.

"We'll get this sorted," said Augustus, "In fact we'll all work together. Remember Blu's catchphrase…"

"Birds of blue, red, green, yellow, navy blue, turquoise, metallic and other coloured feathers," said Blu, "And flying foxes of brown, reddish, yellow, orange and white fur and black or greyish membranous wings…"

"Have to stick together," said Soren, Augustus and Stella in unison. After this, Blu and Augustus took off, Augustus from an elevated rock while Andromeda commanded Rouge to take flight, leaving Soren and Stella, their spirits lifted by hope, entered their ground hollow to comfort Sandalwood as he continued to sob, having heard him cry his heart out upon entry.

 **Soon**

The foraging group had been established. Those going to forage for food were Justin, Virgil, Tiago, Charlotte, Jojo, Garrett and Felix, Blu, Roberto and Zephyr of the Spix macaws; Mercury and Squaw'tagnan of the Lear's macaws who will be foraging for Phoebe, Sapphire and Arcturus; Estelle, Mimas, Io, Byron and Athos the red group accompanied by Ruby; Titan, Trixie, Porthos, Iapetus, Aramis, Benjamin, Oberon and Ash accompanied by Esmeralda and Saturn of the blue-and-gold and green macaws; Triton and Neptune, and Pluto, Charon and Aiden of the hyacinth and glaucous macaws; Ceres and Fernanda of the blue-throated macaws who will be foraging for Cobalto, Azul, Carmen and Oceano; and Frodo the Cuban red macaw, Tom the toucan and Diantha's mate, Travis, Serena and Clemont the cockatoos, Eragon, Spyro and their bat-birds and Sebastian and Melissa who had opted to do the foraging for the flying foxes, Frodo's family, Diantha and her three chicks, Gladion, Lillie and Aurora, and the cockatoos. Lightning, Orion, despite his grief over losing his son Hunter, and Merlin had also opted to go hunting for some pigeons or other non-exotic bird prey to bring back for Velocity, Hermione, Cometa, Zelda and Spike.

As the foraging group split themselves into two groups and prepared to fly out into the jungle to start their search for ripe fruit with Orion, Lightning and Merlin in a group of their own for they will be hunting for pigeons and ducks, Carmen and Oceano watched from under their father Azul's wings as Ceres and their mother Fernanda discussed on what fruit they were going to fetch back.

"I can't believe what has happened to Sandalwood, Bellatrix and the others involved yesterday," murmured Carmen sadly, "It's greatly impacted all of us."

"According to Aunt Bia and Uncle Virgil," said Oceano, though Bia and Virgil were Spix macaws and he was a blue-throated macaw, because Bia and Virgil were, in a way, part of the extended family of the blue-throated macaws, they and the others were seen by the chicks as aunts and uncles, "Aunt Matilda had been crying her eyes out nonstop throughout most of last night."

"As had Mr Orion and Mrs Hermione," said Carmen, "over the loss of Hunter." The blue-throated macaw girl then paused to all a tear of sadness to weep from her left eye and fall down her cheek, accompanied by a sniffle. She and the other chicks of Blu's group had just begun to know Hunter, and she and Oceano had just become fast friends with the young peregrine/merlin hybrid. But that friendship had been destroyed in its initial stages by the carelessness of some of Rafael and Eva's grandkids. Since then, Carmen and her brother had begun to reject Isabella and her siblings and cousins as potential friends. This anger was mirrored on the other chicks, especially Bellatrix and Bartholomew's biological cousins, Sirius, Einstein and Miles; Sonia, Spica and Melody and also Jason and Petunia. After what they had heard from Blu, Cometa, Travis, Jupiter, Stella, Augustus, Soren and their biological uncle and aunt Tiago and Matilda, the ones who had visited Marco and Anastasia, Isabella's parents, had described Bellatrix and blamed her as being the one who had set off that chain reaction leading to the messy results of yesterday resulting in one fatality that was Orion and Hermione's son, the chicks of Blu's group, including Lillie, Gladion and Aurora who were Isabella's biological cousins, had developed an acidic bitterness towards Isabella and her comrades, as well as the rest of the toucan chicks and grandparents of Rafael and Eva.

While Carmen and Oceano continued to talk about the subject, the foragers had split themselves into smaller groups. In one group were the Spix macaws, in group two were the blue-and-gold, the green and the red macaws, in group three were the Lear's, the glaucous, the blue-throated and the hyacinth macaws and in group four were Frodo, Tom, Travis, Clemont and Serena, Melissa and Sebastian and Spyro and Eragon and their bat-birds. Orion, Merlin and Lightning, however, were in their own group for they were going to be hunting for different food to the others whose targets were fruit and insects. As soon as the group had split into the five smaller groups, the members said goodbye to their mates and chicks and that they will be back with the fruit. Bia, Sirius, Einstein and Miles gave Virgil and Charlotte a hug while Carla, Sonia, Melody, Spica, Bartholomew and Bellatrix hugged Justin and Tiago. Bellatrix and Bartholomew had been put into Carla and Justin's care for Matilda was still wallowing in a deep, swampy pit of grief from the results yesterday.

"I hope you have a nice trip, bro," groaned Carla to Tiago who was still swamped by guilt for attacking Marco yesterday. Though Carla sometimes found Tiago annoying even though he was more mature than he had been as a chick and adolescent, she still loved him and had a wave of sympathy for him after all that had happened. After he broke the hug with his other sister Bia as well, Tiago left to join the other Spix macaws. Next to the Spix macaws, the green, blue-and-gold and red group had also finished saying goodbye to their mates and chicks. Ganymede said goodbye to Mimas along with Adenine, Cytosine, Guanine and Thymine as she left to join Saturn's side. The rest of the birds and flying foxes also said goodbye to the other foragers and as soon as they were ready, the foragers prepared for take-off.

"We'll be back in an hour or more," shouted Blu as he prepared to lead the Spix macaw group away in one direction."

"Okay, but be careful of any of those pesky toucan chick gangs out there," called Jupiter as he stood with Europa, Sheldon, Ganymede and Callisto and all his grandkids Canopus and Katniss (Callisto and Athos's chicks), Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka (Europa and Byron's chicks), Betelgeuse and Rigel (Sheldon and Io's daughters) and Adenine and his three siblings (Ganymede and Mimas's chicks) surrounding him.

"Yes," said Uranus as he stood with Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania and Tethys as well as his grandkids, "According to Neptune and Ultramarine, the Blu Bird Sanctuary's become riddled with them."

The foragers all nodded and with that, they all took off. The Spix group left in one direction, Orion, Merlin and Lightning following; the red, green and blue-and-gold macaws left in another direction, the Lear's, glaucous, hyacinth and blue-throated macaws left in a third and Melissa's group left in a fourth. Augustus watched them leave.

"Be safe," he murmured. At this, Sapphire rolled her eyes while Phoebe and Arcturus looked on.

"You sure worry too much, Augustus," Sapphire said, "I know how fraught with worry you've become after yesterday's events and that…"

"Squaw'tagnan is sensible enough to stay near the group," said Phoebe, "And besides that, he is like a human thing called radar: he can detect even the faintest of things out of line…"

"Well I hope the foragers don't run into too much trouble," said Lapis Lazuli nearby. She then turned to see to her grandkids Saiph, Regulus and Denebola.

"Alright, you three, back to your nests," she commanded, "It's time to wait for breakfast."

As she said this, Neytiri and Blueberry came in to help. The three glaucous macaw chicks, at this, all groaned and reluctantly obeyed. Sapphire smiled at Augustus and said, "Our daughters Phoebe, Jasmine and Annette were like that sometimes when they were chicks whenever we told them it was either time for bed or dinner or what have you."

Augustus just shrugged and followed Sapphire back to the nesting site.

 **A few minutes later**

Blu and the other Spix macaws flew through the trees. Around them, flashes of colour decorated the branches as they passed by some of the residents of various species. Parakeets, macaws, toucan species other than the toco and keel-billed toucans, and the smaller bird species were going about their daily business. Justin smiled at the toucan groups.

"I'm glad that the toucan groups of the other species are not at all like Rafael and Eva and their negligent older offspring," he said, "In fact, they're more like Diantha and Tom: they're keeping their chicks well disciplined."

"It's hard to believe that we used to live here all those years ago," said Zephyr, before his gaze landed on Blu at the front, "Not to mention how much Blu has changed since we started living in the wild."

"He's adapted quite well, hasn't he, if very slowly," said Roberto.

"Venus has adapted to the wild quite quickly," said Zephyr, "Which is a surprise considering the fact that she had spent most of her life as a domestic macaw too."

As he said this, Justin, Charlotte and Virgil waved to some green-winged macaws as they passed by them. However, Tiago did not take any notice of the residents for he was still laced with guilt. His brown eyes were pointed downward and his face was downcast. He still felt very guilty for attacking Marco yesterday but after what he and Anastasia said about Bellatrix, he just lost his mind and lashed at the toucan without a second thought. As Tiago continued to miserably fly along, Garrett said, "Are you alright, Tiago?"

Tiago snapped out of his guilty gaze and looked at him, Felix, Charlotte and Jojo.

"Oh, I'm fine, Garrett, thanks," he said immediately. However, Jojo and Felix saw through the denial.

"Your body language says otherwise, Tiago," said Jojo.

"Yes, you're flying along slowly and your face is still sad," said Felix.

"Is it about that incident yesterday still, where you attacked Marco after what he said about your daughter?" asked Charlotte. Tiago gazed at his sister-in-law and didn't answer at first. Finally he said, "Yes."

At this, Zephyr slowed down to fly alongside Tiago and began to comfort him.

"Well, I believe he deserved it," said he firmly, "I agree with Jewel; that Marco and his mate sure are pathetic excuse for parents. If I had been there and had heard those words about my granddaughter come out of that toucan's big orange and black beak, I'd have pounced on him and clawed that bratty look off his face."

Tiago flinched as his father-in-law said this. Like Jewel, Zephyr was at times thorny and not hesitant to lash out at anyone who spoke badly or nastily of his friends and family, especially if those statements weren't true, but Tiago still felt sick with guilt. However, he just had the irresistible urge to slash that smug, scornful, mocking and arrogant look off of Marco's face, especially at the sight of his mate Matilda fainting. Like Augustus said, fatherly love was very volatile and fiery, as was motherly love. Jojo, Felix and Garrett's faces then twisted into disgusted looks but not at Tiago's attacking of Marco.

"While I don't agree with giving negligent parents a piece of my mind," said Jojo, "I kind of agree with you and Jewel, Zephyr. I believe Marco and his mate, and also Marco's siblings who have mates and kids are a downright disgrace to the name of parenting to be honest."

"Yeah, I agree," said Felix.

"What he said about Bellatrix was totally and utterly disgusting," growled Garrett.

"I heard that Matilda actually fainted at those remarks," said Virgil.

"I'm not surprised," muttered Charlotte, "I'd probably pass out from shock too if either Jason or Petunia were described like that."

"Kira, Blu's biological niece, also stated that she'd faint as well if either our daughters Vega or Winona were described as psycho chicks and murderers when they are not," said Jojo.

"Same with Turquesa with our sons Diego and Austin," said Felix. Garrett then frowned.

"Lavender wouldn't faint on the spot if she heard anyone brand Deneb, Lilac or Polaris as psycho chicks or murderers when they're nothing of the sort," he said, "She would actually explode and viciously attack the insulter without hesitation if those lies about any of our daughters were said to her face."

Tiago flinched at the thought of Lavender losing her temper. Lavender was practically the fire cracker of Roberto and Brisa's first brood: very volatile with a hair trigger temper much like Eduardo and Jewel. Speaking of that, she had expressed this fiery trait after she had heard the news of Tiago's group's results from Marco and Anastasia and how they had described Bellatrix last night and wanted to go over to the hollow and give those two toucans a piece of her mind. Though Bellatrix was one of her first cousins, once removed, she was like a daughter to Lavender, alongside the other chicks of Carla, Bia, Tiago, Charlotte and their respective mates Justin, Virgil, Matilda and Músculo. Then Lightning flew up to the group after he had heard Garret's description of his mate and her volatile temper.

"It sure has been a despicable thing to say about that poor chick, I have to say," said he, "I think Isabella and her comrades ought to be utterly ASMAMED for coming up with such a sickening tale."

"Yes, absolutely," said Zephyr in agreement. Then Orion and Merlin flew up to speak when suddenly, they heard Blu's voice call out, "Hey look, it's Rafael and Eva."

At this, the other Spix macaws and the three falcons turned and saw the familiar pair of black toucans, one a toco male and the other a keel-billed female as they played with some kids. Orion stiffened at the sight of Rafael and Eva, bitterness boiling dangerously within him as his bulbous eyes glared at the toucan couple. Justin, Virgil, Tiago, Jojo, Garrett, Felix, Roberto and Zephyr all gazed at the toucan couple as well, all but Tiago with smiles on their beaks.

"Good morning, Rafael and Eva," shouted Blu.

"Nice day isn't it?" said Justin. The others with them apart from the depressed Tiago and the bitter Orion also gazed with smiles at Rafael and Eva as they passed by them. Rafael then looked up at them but to the macaws and the falcons' surprise, it was not a friendly look, but a displeasing one. That glare was mirrored on Eva's face as the keel-billed mate of Rafael saw the Spix macaws and peregrine falcons as well.

"Hello, yourself, you irresponsible father, Blu," snapped Rafael bitterly. Blu recoiled at the tone of voice. Since when did Rafael talk to him like that? Blu then recovered himself and began to ask the reason for this hostility, slowing the group to a hover.

"What's the problem?" he asked. Rafael and Eva's glare then turned to a certain young male Spix macaw flying alongside him. At this, Tiago flinched timidly and ducked behind Jojo and Felix, trying his best to shift out of the angry gazes of the toucans but Rafael and Eva weren't fooled.

"We have a fruit shell to pick with you, Tiago," growled Eva. At this, Tiago timidly emerged from behind Jojo and his brother and gazed guilty at the two toucans.

"Is it about what I've done to… Marco yesterday?" he cautiously asked.

"Yes," snapped Rafael, confirming to Tiago the reason for his and Eva's bitter glares at Blu and his group. Tiago flinched and began to slowly hover towards the two toucans, the others following.

"Last night, we were visited by Marco and his mate Anastasia," said Rafael, "And they told me how you attacked them, evidenced by the scratch on Marco's chest."

"How DARE you attack one of our sons when he's done NOTHING WRONG to you!" shouted Eva, her feathers bristled. At this, Zephyr, a look of thunder on his face and his lush blue and blue-white feathers also puffed out like an enraged cat's fur, stormed passed Tiago and right up to Rafael and Eva.

"Done nothing wrong!?" he retorted, his beak shoved right into Rafael and Eva's faces, "The thing that son of yours has done wrong is brand Tiago's daughter Bellatrix, who is also my and Blu's granddaughter, as a murderous chick when she hadn't been the one to cause that incident involving Sandalwood yesterday!"

At the sight of the angry Spix macaw, the chicks surrounding Rafael and Eva, their newest additions to their MASSIVE family, all whimpered and dove into either their parents' hollow or the nearby leaf clusters before peering at the confrontation.

"It's clear that Isabella, one of his daughters, has come up with that pack of lies to direct the blame at Bellatrix," muttered Blu, "Jewel, my mate, had been there herself and had heard the whole thing. Sher told me all about it when she came back with Tiago, Matilda and the others including Sandalwood's parents!"

"Well, it's still unacceptable for your son to attack mine," retorted Rafael, "As a result, Marco demands an apology."

"He deserves no apology whatsoever," snapped Zephyr angrily, much to the surprise of Justin, Charlotte and Virgil, Jojo, Felix, Garrett and Turquesa who exchanged glances. "And neither do Isabella and her comrades."

"What they have done to Bellatrix, and also Sandalwood and the others that were hurt, goes beyond utter naughtiness," put in Roberto, trying to back Blu and Zephyr up. Rafael and Eva gazed in surprise at the Spix macaws and also the three peregrine falcons Lightning, Orion and Merlin, their faces also looks of thunder as they glared at the toco toucan and his mate. However, Rafael's angry look returned.

"Look, we're ever so sorry about what has happened to Bellatrix but that's still not an excuse for Tiago to attack my son like that," Rafael snapped back, before his glare shot to Tiago, making him flinch, "And I sure hope you are ashamed of yourself!"

Tiago was ashamed but the others' faces still bore their furious looks. Then Orion, his bitterness finally overflowing like lava from a volcano, stormed towards Rafael and Eva and gave Rafael a hefty shove, knocking him onto his back much to the others' shock. In their hiding places, the toucan chicks and Rafael and Eva's new offspring, whimpered and ducked in fear as the outraged peregrine falcon began to bombard Rafael with a flurry of fiery words like cinders from a forest fire.

"Aren't you AT ALL CONCERNED that SOME OF YOUR GRANDKIDS ARE OUTRIGHT LIARS AND TROUBLEMAKERS!?" bellowed Orion at the top of his voice. Blu, Lightning, Merlin and Roberto had latched their wings and talons onto Orion's wings to prevent him from lashing at Rafael as he continued breathing the fire of angry words at the toucan. "MY and Hermione's SON is DEAD… BECAUSE OF YOUR GRANDDAUGHTER ISABELLA! SANDALWOOD IS NOW AFRAID TO FLY AND BELLATRIX HAS TO SUFFER THE IMMENSE SHAME BECAUSE OF THOSE LYING BRATS OF YOUR GRANDKIDS…"

Rafael shuddered violently as Orion, restrained by Merlin, Lightning, Roberto and Blu towered over him. Eva seeing how the peregrine falcon was making fear boil within her toco mate with his fiery look and towering over him, suddenly lurched forward and tackled into Orion's side.

"Don't you DARE threaten my MATE!" snarled the keel-billed toucan as she did it. Rafael then began to cautiously rise to his feet as Orion glared back at Eva in utter shock. Then Zephyr came forward to break up the confrontation before it could explosively bloom into a full-blown argument and worse.

"Let's break it off, shall we?" he said, his gaze flashing from Rafael and Eva to Orion and the others, "Let's just resume our foraging trip. Our families are waiting for us back at the trees next to Tulio and Linda's cottage."

The fire in Orion's eyes died down and the others also subsided their anger, whilst Tiago's sadness also faded somewhat. Then a moment later, the Spix macaws' wings opened and they all lofted into flight. Orion, Lightning and Merlin also took to the air, Zephyr about to follow but before he left, he shot Rafael and Eva a glare.

"And as for you two," he commanded, his green eyes also fixated on the chicks hidden in their hollow and the leaf clusters, "You ought to have a serious talk with your older offspring about disciplining their kids before they do anything else that's far more serious than bullying," Zephyr paused, "And one other thing, consider stopping having any more kids. I can see you've got enough as it is already."

And with that, he flew off after the others.

"Hey, who are you to question OUR desire to have kids, Zephyr!?" retorted Rafael. However, Zephyr was already out of earshot. Defeated, Rafael turned to Eva and the two began to see to their youngest chicks. However, Zephyr's advice began to stir something within the couple, especially regarding the parenting responsibilities of their older, grownup offspring such as Marco, and their mates.


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14- worrying signs and more toucan chick naughtiness**

Mercury's group, consisting of Mercury himself along with his son-in-law Squaw'tagnan, Enceladus's hyacinth mate Trixie, Neptune and his son Triton (who had his leaf bandana covering the scarred left side of his face again), Pluto and his son Charon and son-in-law Aiden and Ceres and her daughter-in-law Fernanda stood perched along a branch watching a scene in dismay. Before them a flock of birds of various species were in the process of packing up. There were a few green-winged macaws, another family of blue-and-gold macaws, and a variety of parakeets, toucans other than the toco and keel-billed and other birds and they all appeared to be in the process of leaving. Chicks stood by parents or older relatives while some of the adults checked the soon-to-be-empty nests. Mercury's group had been flying in the direction of a grove of some fruit trees where Mercury, along with his mate Sapphire, Phoebe, Jasmine and Annette had lived before moving into the Amazon to pick some mangoes and some other fruit under Mercury, Ceres and Neptune's guidance for they knew this part of the jungle very well but had been greeted by this dismal scene.

"What's going on?" asked Squaw'tagnan with surprise.

"Looks like an evacuation," said Triton.

"Don't tell me those birds are moving out, are they?" muttered Pluto with a dreaded look on his face. Then Aiden noticed something about some of the trees, among them the two belonging to the green-winged macaw group.

"Guys, take a look on the trunks of the trees belonging to that group of green-winged macaws over there," he said with a point. The others followed his point and gazed at the tree trunk as the red macaws with blue and green wings continued to pack up in their hollows and saw some fruit splat and scratch marks: marks scoured into the bark of the tree and inflicting a stack of gashes exposing the bare pale orange wood under the bark. Ceres frowned.

"Looks like their trees have been vandalised or something," she murmured.

"Who would do that?" asked Fernanda.

"Maybe their chicks had been naughty?" asked Charon. Then Neptune caught sighted a familiar family of toucans of a certain species as they flew through the evacuating community. It was a couple with three chicks and the couple were carrying a large leaf-bag filled with fruit. At this, Neptune's large wings opened and he lofted into flight after the family of five chestnut-mandibled toucans, the other eight following.

"Dino, Gemma," called Neptune as he flew towards the family, attracting the couple's attention. At this, the adult chestnut-mandibled toucans, which were indeed Dino and Gemma who were both friends of Neptune and his family, slowed to a hover and turned to him. Their three chicks, Josephine, Dino Jr. and Raymundo also stopped and turned as the hyacinth macaw and his son appeared with a female hyacinth macaw, two Lear's macaws, three glaucous macaws and two blue-throated macaws. Dino and Gemma both had sleek blue-tinted black feathers and the flight feathers of their wings and tail were also black. A red patch marked their lower abdomens where the tails began while their lower backs had a bright white patch. Their face masks and chests were lemon yellow but their eyes were each surrounded by a vivid lime green patch. A strip of red ran along the bottom of the toucans' yellow chests, bordering the yellow and the black. The toucans' beaks were brown and maroon nearer the face but the colour changed abruptly to lemon yellow towards the tip, the line of solid transition being oblique, rather than vertical like the orange to black tip in Rafael's beak. Dino was stocky with auburn eyes while Gemma was slim with pale brown eyes and they both had a feather ruffle behind their heads. Their three chicks, Josephine, Raymundo and Dino Jr. looked identical but their distinguishing features were beginning to manifest with Dino Jr. being stocky like his father and his brother and sister being slim like their mother.

"Neptune, Triton?" said Dino with surprise. The group of macaws perched onto a branch near the chestnut-madibled toucans.

"What's going on here?" asked Mercury. At this, Dino, a look of disgust on his face, touched down next to Neptune, his mate and three chicks following.

"We're moving out of those trees," explained the patriarch of the family, "Us, our relatives and the other birds in this part of the Blu Bird Sanctuary."

At this, surprised glances rolled through the group of macaws.

"Why?" asked Ceres.

"Has something happened?" asked Squaw'tagnan. Gemma then folded her wings.

"We're trying to get away from that gang of toco/keel-billed mixed hybrid brats who roam this area," she explained, "For the past few months they have been causing us no end of trouble."

"Yes," growled Dino bitterly, "They kept pelting us with fruit and seeds, vandalising our trees, stealing our food, upsetting our chicks or persuading them into joining in with their mayhem, and also kept us awake deep into the night with their racket."

"Night after night after night they've been screeching like birds possessed," muttered Gemma, her wings on the sides of her face to express her frustration, "It was just horrible."

Mercury and Ceres gazed at Neptune, remembering Cometa's description of a gang of toucan chicks screeching right into the night and keeping the residents awake. Dino then nodded to the two trees in which the green-winged macaws lived.

"The last leaf came when that gang vandalised those red macaws' trees, as you can see with the fruit and scratch marks," he said. The macaws gazed at the green-winged macaws' damaged trees. "Not only that, those toucan kids have had some of our kids accompany them in damaging their trees. They are being disciplined by their parents now but that was when we all got together and said, "Right, that's it, time to move out"."

"Those toucan kids are not only vandalisers and bullies," added Gemma, "But they are also a bad influence on the chicks of the other birds," her wings then went to her hips and her face twisted into an outraged look. "Not to mention the fact that their parents aren't bothered in disciplining them. Despite after so many complaints from us to them, they seemed to have done nothing about it."

"Except blame our own chicks," added Dino, "Sofia, one of Rafael and Eva's daughters who is now the mother of who-knows-how-many chicks, is terrible with that."

"She and her mate are indeed very negligent parents who seem to allow their kids to do what they want," said Gemma, "Even if it causes other residents serious trouble."

Mercury, Squaw'tagnan, Trixie, Triton, Neptune, Pluto, Charon, Aiden, Ceres and Fernanda stared at the chestnut-mandibled toucan couple in disbelief but Dino continued.

"And to top it all off," added he, "The food supply has dwindled quite a lot. The fruit trees that grow where you used to live, Mercury," he nodded to Mercury, "Does not have very many fruit on it at all."

The disbelief flashed to dread in the ten macaws.

"You can't be serious," muttered Mercury but the chestnut-mandibled toucan couple shook their heads to confirm they weren't making it up.

"We believe that because the parents of those toco/keel-billed mixed toucan kids have been having so many kids over the past few years," said Dino, "That they have been required to strip our food sources just to feed those little brats."

"Leaving the rest of us with barely enough food to get by," put in Gemma, "Which is another reason why we are moving out," she gestured to the other birds evacuating their homes as she said this. Mercury and his group gazed in utter astonishment at the evacuating residents before their gazes returned to the chestnut-mandibled toucan couple.

"But we've only just returned here from the Amazon Sanctuary and have had our first night here," moaned Neptune.

"And besides that, we've got our own kids and other adults to feed which is why we are here," added Pluto. Dino and Gemma looked at each other and then back at the group of macaws.

"You're gonna have a hard time searching for enough food to feed your families, buddies," said Dino sadly. The macaws said nothing.

"How many of you have families and how many chicks does each of your family have?" asked Dino with a frown.

"My daughter Indigo and mate Victor have one chick," said Neptune, "And Ultramarine and myself have a younger daughter named Violet."

"My son Charon here has two chicks while my daughter Blueberry has one," said Pluto, gesturing to Charon.

"I'm the mother of a daughter with a male blue-and-gold macaw," said Trixie. Dino and Gemma shot the female hyacinth macaw a surprised look. They had never heard of a coupling between a hyacinth macaw and a blue-and-gold macaw before, or any other interspecific couplings for that matter.

"My daughter-in-law Fernanda has two chicks," said Ceres.

"And we've got seven Spix macaw families and over a dozen other families with chicks ranging from one to five per clutch with us as well," said Mercury.

"And we've also got two flying fox families, one with one pup and the other with two pups," added Ceres. Dino and Gemma gazed at each other and then back at the group.

"You're gonna seriously struggle to feed that many individuals, pals," said Dino, "Those rapid-breeding adult offspring of Rafael and Eva have pretty much diminished most of the food supply on the sanctuary."

The ten macaws gazed back at the two chestnut-mandibled toucans speechless as their brains registered this information. Then finally, Ceres, a look of utter outrage flaring on her face, broke the silence.

"If only things couldn't get any worse thanks to those wretched grownup offspring of Rafael and Eva!" she bellowed.

"Huh, not only are those toucans poor at disciplining their kids but they also seem to be breeding like MAD!" shouted Mercury disgustedly.

"Are you sure there aren't any ripe fruit aplenty in any other part of the sanctuary at all, Dino and Gemma?" demanded Neptune.

"Our families are getting impatient for their breakfast," added Trixie, "Especially my and Enceladus's daughter, Mira and also Indigo and Victor's daughter, Gertie. You know what hyacinth macaw chicks are like with food. They grow super-fast compared to the chicks of other macaw species."

However, to the dismay of Neptune and company, Dino and Gemma shrugged.

"I'm sorry to say my hyacinth friend but I don't know," said Dino, "You can search but I don't think you'll find much. Anyway, if you don't mind, I would like to help some of the other birds leave these hollows. We'll see you again some other time."

"Thanks for your help," said Neptune in disappointment. Dino and Gemma nodded in acceptance of the thanks and left with their three chicks Josephine, Dino Jr. and Raymundo in tow. Mercury's group then lofted into flight and resumed their search for food.

"Rafael and Eva's adult offspring diminishing the food resources on the Blu Bird Sanctuary to feed their many, many chicks," said Fernanda with a worried look, "I don't like the sound of that at all."

"If we can't find any food," said Trixie, "We may have to turn to your human friends to feed us while we stay here," she muttered under her breath, "And I don't like human-prepared food much at all."

Neptune, however, wore a frown.

"Well, based on what Dino said," he said, "It doesn't sound good at all. We're gonna have to think of a solution to this problem regarding those rabbit toucan brats but in the meantime, let's find some breakfast. My belly's rumbling."

As if to confirm it, a thunderous growl emanated from Neptune's stomach. Neptune sighed and led the group into the trees, hoping to search for enough food to bring back to the others.

 **Meanwhile**

The red, green and blue-and-gold macaw group consisting of Estelle, Mimas (Ganymede's blue-and-gold mate), Io, Athos, Byron, Ruby, Titan, Porthos, Iapetus, Aramis, Benjamin (Umbriel's scarlet mate), Oberon, Ash the military macaw, Esmeralda and Saturn flew towards the outskirts of the Blu Bird Sanctuary. like Neptune and Mercury's group, this group had also faced the same problem with finding plenty of food to bring back to the others waiting at Tulio and Linda's cottage but had only managed to find a few mangoes, guavas and a few other fruit which were carried in a leaf-bag carried by Esmeralda, Iapetus and Ruby. However, the amount of fruit wasn't enough to feed all of Jupiter and Ruby's grandkids, much less over twenty families. Additionally, they had encountered the same worrying problems as Neptune and Mercury's group.

"I don't believe this," muttered Saturn as he led the group, Io and Athos flanking them, "How could those fruit trees be diminished of their ripe fruit so quickly?"

"The hollows around those trees and bushes are practically empty," said Io, "With their occupants moving out."

"I'm wondering if the other foragers are also finding the same worrying observation too," said Mimas worriedly.

"I hope not," said Athos, trying to reassure things, "This is, after all, a nature sanctuary set up by our human friends is it not?"

"Yes, it was set up by Tulio and Linda to protect Tujuca forest from poacher invasion weeks before Blu and Jewel had Carla, Bia and Tiago," said Ruby, the fruit leaf-bag in her talons.

"But according to that family of sun parakeets who are leaving with their neighbours," said Saturn, "It seems that Rafael and Eva's adult offspring are possibly behind this food shortage, and that's very worrying."

"Not to mention the over-the-top mischief those kids of theirs cause," put in Esmeralda disgustedly. As she said this, Aramis, Ash and Titan flew on ahead to search for any fruit trees with plenty of ripe fruit. As the four did that, the group of macaws flew right over what appeared to be a strip of metal mesh running through the trees on the forest floor.

"What's that down there?" asked Benjamin. Saturn squinted at the metallic strip and recognised it. At this, wariness ignited within him.

"That's the fence built by our human friends to protect the Blu Bird Sanctuary from intrusion by poachers," he explained. The other macaws squinted at the metal mesh which was indeed a fence. The fence consisted of a honeycomb-like mesh of steel rods crisscrossed to create a physical barrier. There were two rows of this mesh and along the top of the rows, Porthos and Athos saw three helices of more wire but those wires had spiky stars running along their lines.

"What are those spiral wires running along the top with the spikes on them?" asked Athos.

"You've not seen barbed wire before?" asked Mimas. Athos and Porthos, along with Estelle and Byron, shook their heads.

"Since you two along with Aramis and Squaw'tagnan have been pet macaws," said Esmeralda with surprise, "I expected that you'd know what barbed wires were."

"We haven't seen them before," said Athos. Mimas then flew in to explain.

"They're a special type of guard wire with nasty looking thorns built along them," she said, "They're purposefully designed to keep out intruders and trespassers and prevent them from climbing over the fence. A bank, for instance might have barbed wire constructed along the top of its wall or fence. If any human attempted to climb the fence or wall armoured with barbed wire, they are guaranteed to face quite some nasty scratches."

Estelle, Byron, Athos and Porthos all flinched as Mimas said this.

"Nasty stuff then," said Athos with a wrinkled face at the thought of a human getting entangled in those wires. Byron then gazed at the double lined fence and its barbed wiring along the top and shuddered at the thorny appearance of the steel line of spines. However, he resumed his attention on the task.

"Why are we venturing out of the Blu Bird Sanctuary then?" asked Porthos. Saturn was about to answer when the scouts that had flown ahead, Titan, Aramis and Ash, called the others' attention.

"We've found a grove of fruit trees," said Aramis, "But they are only mango and papaya trees."

"Most of them have ripe fruit," said Ash.

"Oh, good," said Saturn with relief, "Lead us to the grove."

Titan, Ash and Aramis nodded and began to lead the group in the direction of the grove.

Soon enough, the group of fifteen macaws were working away picking the ripest mangoes and papayas to pack into the leaf bag held by Esmeralda and Ruby. However, as the scarlet, green-winged, blue-and-gold and the green macaws did that, worried looks still laced the faces of some of them. Estelle placed a large mango into the fruit bag.

"This will be big enough to feed both Xander and Kayley and perhaps a few other chicks for breakfast," she said gleefully as she admired its size. Io then came in and placed two papayas into the bag. However, as she did that, she saw the worried look on her mother and Esmeralda's faces.

"Something bothering you, Mom and Aunt Esmeralda?" she asked. Athos, Squaw'tagnan, Porthos, Aramis, Byron, Titan, Mimas, Benjamin, Oberon and Ash came in with Saturn.

"You look concerned," said Saturn. Esmeralda snapped out of her thoughts.

"Oh, um, sorry," she said. Her face then fell. "I don't know, but seeing those residents planning on moving out of their hollows as well as those three fruit trees almost completely devoid of fruit is troubling me and Ruby."

"Those birds have told us that they have been having trouble living with Manoela, one of Rafael and Eva's daughters, and her mate and their massive, massive family," said Ruby, her worried gaze on Saturn and the others, "apparently, Manoela has developed a prideful, obnoxious attitude and many of her kids are no different. Do you think we should tell Rafael and Eva about this problem?"

Saturn thought. After thinking, he said, "Look, let's just get breakfast for our families and the others first and then we'll deal with it."

The others nodded and resumed picking the mangoes and papayas. However, as the group of macaws continued picking the mangoes and papayas from the trees bearing them, Titan paused as his ears picked up something, a mango in his beak. While the others continued filling the leaf-bag with mangoes and papayas, Titan put down his mango and went to investigate the suspicious sounds. As he left, Porthos saw him move away after placing two papayas into the bag.

"Titan?" he asked. When he got no answer for Titan was too engrossed in tracing the sounds, Porthos followed him. Titan continued creeping through the branches, his ears cocked to the suspicious sounds as he continued to trace them to their source until he stopped. Porthos came up behind him as Titan parted a cluster of leaves and looked downward towards the forest floor.

"What is it?" asked the hulking blue-and-gold macaw but Titan's wing shot up in a 'shh!' gesture. Porthos, curious at this response, then followed Titan's gaze down to the ground.

What the two blue-and-gold macaws heard and saw were a group of three humans and the sounds that Titan had heard were talking and metallic sounds, like those of cages. However, as Titan and Porthos's eyes gazed at the trio of humans, Titan saw a flash of metallic glint and drab coloured fur in the hands of one of them, as well as a familiar weapon-like device held by another human as these two and the third human talked. Porthos also saw these.

"Looks like those three humans have caught something," he said, "Perhaps a monkey or some other animal."

Titan's feathers, however, bristled with hostility as recognition took hold.

"Yes," he growled, "They're smugglers, humans who snaffle animals from their natural habitat for the pet trade, often as though they are mere items."

"Smugglers?" asked Porthos in confusion. Then a look of worry came onto his face. "We'd better alert the others then," he said. He then gazed at the trio of humans as they continued to talk and saw that they were quite close to the fence enclosing the Blu Bird Sanctuary.

"You keep an eye on them while I alert the others," said Titan, "And seriously, Porthos, don't let them spot you! You know what most smugglers are like with brightly coloured birds such as us."

Porthos knew exactly what most smugglers were like with exotic birds alright. He had heard of stories of smugglers catching exotic birds for the pet trade, and more often than not they always seemed to care more about the money than the animals they were smuggling. While Porthos watched the trio of smugglers through the branches, Titan flew off to alert the other macaws.

"We're definitely outside the Blu Bird Sanctuary," murmured the hulking mate of Dione worriedly to himself, "I wouldn't be surprised if this part of the jungle is riddled with those thieving humans…"

Porthos then saw movement in the three humans on the ground. At this, his blue eyes were pulled to the trio of smugglers as they began to walk through the clutter of vegetation, rocks and tree trunks. Porthos scanned their direction and saw that they were walking towards the fence separating the area of the Blu Bird Sanctuary from the rest of the jungle. At this, Porthos flashed a glance at Titan and the others as Titan continued telling the rest of the group of the smugglers present and began to follow the trio of smugglers. Porthos hugged the shadows and the clutter of vegetation to keep out of the sight of the trio of humans as they continued advancing towards the double barbed wire armed fence. His heart was pounding and his nerves were shaking for he knew that if he made one wrong move, his dark aqua blue and yellow plumage would give away his position and he'd be spotted. Porthos continued following the smugglers until they were right by the Blu Bird Sanctuary's fence. Porthos, suspicion welling within him, he began to make his approach; he fluttered quietly down into one of the lower branches and concealed himself amongst a cluster of leaves. Porthos felt his heart pound in his chest. He had never been this close to a group of smugglers before but he of the notorious reputation smugglers had among the birds, flying foxes and the other animals of the Sanctuary de Amazon, especially for their snagging and smuggling of animals out of Brazil to places unknown, and Porthos could see that the flash of drab fur he had seen earlier with Titan in the cage, which was a species of monkey Porthos couldn't recognise, was one of those unfortunate animals that was successfully captured and caged apparently by these humans. Porthos then began to listen in on the trio of smugglers. However, they spoke Brazilian Portuguese, a language he knew very few words of. But he need not translate what the smugglers were saying to English for he was observing their actions as they began to examine the fence. However, as he watched them, Porthos's gut began to twinge as dread came upon him. He watched as one of the humans, a man and apparently the leader of the trio, discuss with his two companions, two more men both who had the net gun and the caged monkey placed on the floor at their feet, about the fence based on his hand gestures. Although Porthos could not understand much Brazilian Portuguese, he deduced that these smugglers were planning on how to deal with the fence. As this deduction was reached, Porthos narrowed his eyes and bushed his feathers like how a cat would bush its fur when it was enraged.

"Those three smugglers look like they are planning on finding a way into the Blu Bird Sanctuary, presumably to nab some birds for the pet trade," he hissed disgustedly, "I gotta teach 'em a lesson."

Porthos then prepared to jump out at the smugglers to attack them when suddenly; he heard his name get called by a female macaw. At this, his gaze flashed in the direction of the speaker: Esmeralda was shouting for him while she, Iapetus and Titan were shooting worried gazes trying to spot him.

"Porthos, come on!" shouted Titan, "It's time to head back!"

"Where have you gone?" called Iapetus. Porthos gazed at them and then turned to glare at the smugglers as they continued examining the fence and the land, Blu Bird Sanctuary land, on the other side and made his decision. Shooting his wings out, Porthos lofted into flight and dived down at the smugglers, screeching loudly. The three smugglers, disturbed by the ear-splitting shriek, turned round just in time to receive a slash to the face from the claws of an angry blue-and-gold macaw. The first man's hands went straight to his clawed face as it began to weep blood and cries of agony began to erupt from his mouth as Porthos then went mercilessly at the other two, raking his barb-like claws over their faces and drawing blood too. The two smugglers also cried in agony and covered their faces with their hands. The monkey looked on in horror as blood flew everywhere as the hulking blue-and-gold macaw continued his relentless attack. The commotion attracted the attention of Esmeralda, Titan and Iapetus as well as the others.

"PORTHOS!" screeched Athos. At this, Saturn, Aramis and Ruby rocketed off in the direction of the sounds, the others apart from Ash, Benjamin and Oberon who held the leaf-bag filled with mangoes and papayas, following. Porthos then landed the final blow on the lead smuggler by clamping his beak down onto his hand and then hastily touched down by the caged monkey to set him free. After quickly unlocking its cage and having the monkey flee and avoiding a narrow escape from one of the smugglers wo lunged at him only for him to dodge and take to the air, sending the smuggler crashing onto the ground on his front, Porthos departed and reached the others as they flew to him.

"I hope THAT will teach them not to mess with us birds if they EVER decide to snag us, they WILL face a furore!" snarled Porthos hostilely.

"What were you doing!? You could have been caught!" screeched Saturn. Porthos backed away, expecting his father-in-law to lunge at him but Saturn calmed down.

"Let's get out of here and head back to Tulio and Linda's cottage," he said. Porthos nodded and with that, the group flew over the fence and into the safety of Blu Bird Sanctuary land. Porthos then tried to clean his talons of the smugglers' blood that had collected on them during his attack before following the others back to the others waiting their breakfast.

 **Meanwhile**

Frodo the Cuban red macaw, Tom the toco toucan and Diantha's mate, Travis, Serena and Clemont the cockatoos, Spyro and Eragon the archaeobirds on their bat-birds, and Sebastian and Melissa the flying foxes were in another part of the sanctuary also gathering fruit using a leaf-bag. Frodo snapped the stem of a mango using his beak and placed it into the bag held by Tom and Serena while the others also brought in more fruit. While they did that, Garnet, Spyro's bat-bird was watching the activities of some tourists on the forest floor. The area Frodo's group had come to was a tourist area of the Blu Bird Sanctuary and it had a path constructed through the forest where visiting humans could walk and go birdwatching and today, there appeared to be a gathering of humans. Garnet had been drawn away from the group by the sounds of humans by curiosity and had come to watch the gathering. However, at Spyro's command, the little bat-bird or pterosaur did not stray too far so that he remained within sight of the other group members. Garnet then began to observe the gathering of humans, who were clustered in a circle, around something. 'Oooh's' and 'Ahhh's' of admiration emitted from the humans as they watched something perform in the centre of the circle but Garnet could not see what it was due to the crowd of two-legged creatures with hair on their heads and clothing screening it from view.

In the middle of the circle of humans a group of animals were performing. However, it was not a group of marmosets but black birds with reddish cream bellies and faces, large orange beaks with black tips like Tom and brown eyes. However, none of these birds were Tom and Diantha's kids, but the kids of one of Diantha's siblings. A group of toucan kids, six of them to be exact, were performing before the gathering of human visitors, amazing them with their acrobatic dances and tricks. Around the performing toucans, men, women and children looked on in amazement. However, they were so engrossed in admiring the dancing toucan chicks that they weren't aware that a bunch of pickpockets were among them. While the humans continued to admire the six toucan chicks, more toucan chicks were sneaking into bags or close to the humans' backs. One group of toucan chicks, a group of three, one of which had a lime green beak with a magenta tip like Eva, was hovering close to a woman's head and back, their eyes fixated on a necklace adorning the lady's neck. This necklace appeared to be an expensive type of stone which glistened beautifully in the sun, and the trio of toucan chicks were targeting it like little thieves. As light as a feather and making sure that the woman's eyes were fixated on their performing siblings, one of the toucan chicks, the lime green and magenta beaked one, undid the chain of the necklace while the other two seized the chain. Quickly, the trio flew away with the necklace, its owner completely unaware of its disappearance. Nearby, another group of toucan chicks, a group of four, had sneaked into a man's bag and had snaffled a watch and some other shiny objects without him noticing. Two more toucan chick groups also snaffled another man's watch and another woman's jewellery, among them some bracelets and another necklace. All this time the humans were completely unaware that any sparkly valuables were going missing as their eyes continued to feast on the talented six toucan chicks who continued to perform, unaware that this was merely a ruse, a distraction for the other toucan chicks to nab some valuables. Then at a signal from one of their comrades, the six toucan chicks did one last twirl together and took to the air, to the applause of the humans. It was then that those who have had their valuables stolen realised that they were missing something. A woman felt around her neck for a necklace.

"Hey, my necklace!" she cried in panic.

"My rings and bracelets," shouted another as she glared in horror at her bare hands and fingers. The other victims also frantically searched for their valuables while the toucan group continued disappearing into the trees, the variety of valuables in tow and mischievous titters escaping their beaks. Garnet continued watching the humans as they searched for their valuables and then returned to the group, concerned at what he had just seen. However, the toucan kids, after they had stashed away their stolen valuables, then turned their attention to Frodo's group as they finished up placing the fruit into the leaf-bag and prepared to leave. Their eyes creased into mischievous frowns and their beaks widened into mischievous smiles as they planned their next act of naughtiness.

Sometime later, Frodo's group had finished filling their leaf-bag with fruit and were ready to return to Tulio and Linda's cottage where the others were waiting.

"Right, let's go," said Travis but before the group could depart from the branch, a red fruity missile flew out from some leaves and flew straight at the group from behind, hitting Frodo in the back of the head. Tom jerked his head forward as bits of guava juice flew everywhere. At this, the other eight group members shot him an alarmed look as the toucan rubbed the back of his head. When Tom saw bits of guava flesh and juice on his wing as it came away, he gasped. Then another guava missile flew in behind the group and splattered Eragon in the shoulder, nearly knocking him off the branch. Travis, at this, whipped round and shouted, "OI!"

"Who threw that gua-?" began Serena when suddenly; another red guava flew in and exploded square in her face.

"Serena!" cried Clemont as the female sulfur-crested mate of Eustace covered her face with her wings. Frodo and Sebastian lurched forward and seized the fruit bag as it almost fell out of Serena's talons. It was then that another missile exploded from the leaves but it wasn't a guava, but one made of feathers, a large orange and black beak and a highly mischievous face, and it was heading straight toward Sebastian and Frodo. At this, Eragon saw the feathered comet and cried in shock.

"Sebastian, Frodo, look OUT!" he shouted and with that, he surged towards the white flying fox and Cuban macaw and tackled them out of the way. The others gasped in horror as Eragon substituted Frodo and Sebastian with himself and took the attack from the feathered comet. Eragon released a pained cry of shock as something hard hit his side and knocked him off the branch.

"DAAD!" cried Spyro in alarm and went to dive down towards him when suddenly; a vine tendril appeared, wrapped itself around Spyro's feathered legs and tripped him, sending Spyro into a forward tumble from the branch. The others cried in horror as the father and son archaeobirds tumbled through space, only managing to enter a glide before they could go crashing into any of the branches below. As the two archaeobirds then glided towards another branch and safely landed on it, Travis began to shoot enraged glares this way and that.

"Who has DONE THIS!?" he screeched. No sooner than these words had escaped his beak when a, "Who do you think, friends of Bellatrix the Psycho-chick?"

And with that, a black feathered form with a lime green and magenta tipped beak dropped down right in front of Travis's face and splattered him with a massive red guava. Travis screeched with surprise as the impact knocked him off the branch only to be caught by Melissa and Clemont. Tom then began to shoot glances this way and that until he saw something that sent chills down his spine. The branches began to be filled with black toucans with orange and black or lime green and magenta beaks, all wearing highly mischievous grins on their faces. The moment the sensible toco toucan realised this, a sharp gasp entered his beak. Clemont, Serena, Travis, Frodo, Melissa, Sebastian and also Garnet and Eragon's bat-bird all shot worried glances at the gathering toucan chicks. On a lower branch, Eragon and Spyro gazed at the others as the toucan chicks pierced them with mean glares. There was an awkward silence among the group until finally, Tom broke it.

"What do you kids want?" he barked.

"Can't you see we're trying to forage for our families here!?" added Travis, his pale yellow crest faded. At this, mischievous laughs rolled throughout the gathering of toucan kids.

"Oh, you mean that bunch of friends of that psycho-chick Bellatrix and her psycho brother and parents?" crooned one of them meanly. Laughs rolled through the toucan chick crowd again. The eyes of Frodo's group blinked in surprise. How did they hear about those stupid lies Isabella told Marco and Anastasia? Then Travis, Clemont and Serena who knew the toucan families quite well felt dread prick at them, but it was an idea they did not like one bit. 'Gossip', thought Travis disgustedly. Many of Rafael and Eva's adult offspring and their mates were notorious for being gossips besides rabbit-like breeders and negligent parents. Then another toucan chick smiled disrespectfully at Travis.

"And you must be the relative of Nigel, the psycho-too," she said, much to the laughter of her many, many siblings and cousins but to the disgust of Frodo's group. Travis blinked at this despicable comment. Since when did these toucan kids compare him to that awful cockatoo infamous for being a smuggler's pet and torturer of exotic birds? Then an idea entered Travis's head as to why the toucan kids were referring to him as 'Nigel's relative', but like the gossip one, it was one he found repulsive. Then Melissa came forward and began to address the toucan chick brats.

"Listen, you lot," she shouted firmly, "We don't have time for this petty business. We've got chicks to feed now if you excuse us, we'd better be off."

However, the mischievous looks on the toucans' faces remained. Then another of the kids glared meanly at the fruit filled leaf-bag held by Sebastian and Serena.

"We'll be taking that bag of fruit, if you don't mind," she crooned.

"Yeah, it's OURS," said another toucan chick. The others all chatted in agreement. But Travis, having had enough of this distraction, said, "I'm afraid it's the opposite, toucan kids. Your parents will provide you with your fruit but this is ours. Now let us return to our families as they are expecting their breakfast."

And without another word, he lofted into flight, gestured to the others with a talon and prompted the others to follow him, which they did. The two bat-birds picked up Eragon and Spyro and they took off after the two winged birds and two flying foxes. However, the toucan chick gang refused to let them leave.

"Halt," shouted the ringleader of the toucan chick, lighting down onto the branch where Travis and his group had been, a stick pointed to the cockatoo and company, "I order you to HALT!"

However, all he got was no reply. Travis, Serena, Clemont, Eragon and Spyro and their bat-birds, Frodo, Tom, Melissa and Sebastian continued flying on with their fruit-filled leaf-bag, their backs turned on the toucan kids until… BAM! A black feathered comet flew in and slammed right into Sebastian, making him drop the leaf-bag, much to the alarm of the others. Travis, at this, shot the toucan kids an outraged look while Melissa dived down at her son as he fell, his wings on his back and yelling in pain. Then before Travis and the other six could retort at the toucan kids, the air was flooded with colourful fruit comets as guavas and other small fruit flew from the toucan kids' talons and straight at Travis's group. Then panic erupted throughout the group and they began to make a break for it. Splat sounded as the fruit flung from their throwers hit their targets. Spyro covered his head with one wing and held onto Garnet with the other, the bat-bird having his eyes tight shut to protect them from the flying fruit.

"Oh, this is HONESTLY BEYOND A JOKE," barked the young archaeobird as a guava splattered into the back of his head.

"Get out here, you friends of Bellatrix the psycho-chick," shouted one of the toucan kids mockingly and with that, he threw some berries at Frodo, Serena and Clemont, splattering them with blue flesh and juice. Melissa, with Sebastian in her foot claws, then joined the group.

"Neptune wasn't kidding about these menaces," muttered Tom as he tried dodging the flying fruit missiles, "Don't tell me the ENTIRE Blu Bird Sanctuary is riddled with them, is it?"

"I don't know and I don't care… argh!" shouted Travis as a few berries hit him hard in the face, some of the toucan kids having flown to the side of their victims to pelt them from the side with fruit. Melissa and Sebastian also had their eyes tight shut as berries and guavas struck their faces as well as their sides and wings.

"Look, it must be two of them psycho bats from the infamous colony in the Amazon rainforest," shouted another toucan kid much to the disgust of the others. Melissa and Sebastian, however, ignored the mocking comment and continued to fly on.

"Our friends did NOT come all the way here to the Blu Bird Sanctuary to face SUCH RIFFRAFF AS THIS!" bellowed Serena as a guava hit her square in the face. However, she was so engrossed in trying to keep her eyes closed to protect them from the flying fruit that she and Frodo who helped to carry the leaf-bag failed to notice some of the toucan chicks home in on said bag. While their comrades kept Travis and company occupied, a group of over ten toucan kids flew under the group, their eyes glued to the fruit-filled leaf bag carried by Serena and Frodo. Then as soon as they were in position, the leader of the group cried, "NOOOOW!"

And with that, the ten-plus kids surged upward straight towards the Cuban macaw and the female sulfur-crested cockatoo and before any of Travis's group could realise that their foraged food was about to be struck, several black, orange and reddish-cream comets charged in and tackled square into the Cuban macaw and sulfur-crested cockatoo's bellies, hard, some of them also hitting Eragon's bat-bird in the belly as well, making him bolt and throw his rider off his back. Serena and Frodo screeched in pain and released the grip on the leaf-bag's handles while Eragon was thrown right onto a branch, hitting his right shoulder on the hard bark. The large bag made from plant material, together with its contents, went careening down through the canopy, some of the contents rising into the air. The toucan kids, gleeful laughter escaping their beaks, then swooped down and began to seize the fruit as it fell through the air. When Travis and Clemont saw that Serena and Frodo were missing their cargo, they shot their horrified gazes downward. Alarmed, they dived down to salvage as much of their foraged fruit as possible while Serena and Frodo staggered to one side, their wings clasping their bellies and their faces twisted in agony. Close by, Eragon was clutching his right shoulder with his left wing claws, his eyes screwed shut also from pain. Melissa, Tom and Sebastian touched down around him, along with Spyro and his bat-bird Garnet.

"Eragon!" cried Tom.

"Dad!" cried Spyro.

"Are you alright?" asked Melissa. Eragon gazed at the four.

"I'm fine, thank… AAAARRRGGH!" he screeched as he moved his right wing. At this, his wing claws clasped harder onto his shoulder. Sebastian shot Eragon's shoulder a horrified and dreaded look.

"Oh, NOOO!" he cried but before he or any of the others could examine Eragon's injured shoulder, Travis's voice reached their ears.

"Let's get outa here, NOW!" cried the older sulfur-crested cockatoo, his talons clutching a couple of mangoes and as Clemont rocketed off to join Serena and Frodo as they struggled to fly from their pained stomachs. Following these words' escape from Travis's beak, more guavas and berries flew in at the group. Tom quickly made his decision: he lifted off the branch, gently wrapped his talons around Eragon's sides and began to carry him to safety while Sebastian, Melissa and Spyro went to see to Eragon's bat-bird and also Serena and Frodo. The toucan kids, some of them collecting the fruit foraged by Travis's group, continued pelting said group with more guavas and berries until Travis and company were out of earshot. Smiling in triumph at the success of their naughty plan in stealing the group's fruit for the fun of it, the toucan kids set to collecting the remaining dropped fruit, tittering away mischievously.


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15- discussions**

 **Meanwhile**

The others of Blu's group continued to wait back at Tulio and Linda's cottage. Jewel and Brisa were perched on one of the trees on the lookout for the foragers' return while everyone else was occupied with watching over the chicks. Ganymede stood impatiently on another branch, his wings on his hips while Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine and Thymine were being looked after by Ariel, Phobos and Deimos.

"Where have those foragers gone?" asked Ganymede slightly indignantly, "My stomach's rumbling and some of the chicks wouldn't stop complaining."

"Oh, do try to be patient, Ganymede," said Phobos as he read a science book with Guanine and Adenine.

"They'll be back soon," said Ariel. Deimos nodded in agreement as he continued to teach Cytosine and Thymine about the animals of the Amazon from another book. Ganymede just rolled his eyes and folded his wings, gazing sourly and impatiently into the distance as though watching out for any flash of colour of the foragers. In Tulio and Linda's garden, Linda was up to the usual housework duties. Tulio and Fernando had gone to work so she was by herself with her toddler son Tommy. Normally she was at her bookstore in town but today, she had a day off and wanted to get the housework done today. Linda was currently pegging out some washing while at the same time kept an eye on Tommy who played in a sandpit, giggling at his toys. She had allowed her animal companion's friends and their chicks, whom she met last night, to play in her garden as well, so the green lawn was also dotted with the colourful forms of the chicks and their parents, some of them playing with Tommy in the sandpit. In one area, Bia was playing with Sirius, Einstein and Miles while Carla watched over Melody, Spica and Sonia. Matilda watched over Bellatrix and Bartholomew while Músculo, Kira, Lavender and Turquesa kept an eye on their chicks Jason and Petunia, Vega and Winona, Deneb, Lilac and Polaris, and Austin and Diego.

"You know, I still find it hard to believe that my uncle Blu used to be owned by that lady with the red hair," said Kira as she introduced Vega and Winona to some flower species.

"Dad's been Linda's animal companion since he was a chick," said Bia as she helped Miles make a mobile, this time consisting of artificial materials such as transparent pieces of plastic of various colours and origami products Linda had purchased from an origami store in town. Carla, Lavender, Músculo and Turquesa then gazed at Matilda as she sat miserably with Bartholomew and Bellatrix.

"Are you alright, Matilda?" asked Músculo.

"How are you doing?" asked Turquesa. Matilda just breathed a sad sigh of sadness while Bellatrix and Bartholomew sat nearby, not feeling like playing with the other chicks or with Acerola and Ferdinand, Sebastian and Anabelle's pups. When they saw how sad she was, the six felt a pang of pity for the youngest first brood daughter of Zephyr and Venus, so Carla and Bia went over to console their sister-in-law with the other four.

"I know what happened last night has seriously dented your confidence and emotions Matilda but," said Carla, "You've gotta move on."

"Yes," said Bia in agreement. Músculo then looked up at a certain amber coloured flying fox as he stood with Acerola, Ferdinand and some of the chicks. "And besides that, we've gotta focus on helping Sandalwood overcome his fear of heights and flying."

"Especially when we have to return to the Amazon at some point," added Lavender. Matilda flinched at these statements as the words from Marco about Bellatrix being the cause of yesterday's accident leading to Sandalwood's fear of heights replayed in her mind. As these thoughts played and the voice of that negligent so-called parent of Isabella continued to painfully echo in her mind, a sob escaped Matilda's throat. Carla, Bia, Músculo, Turquesa, Kira and Lavender exchanged glances and pulled Matilda into a group hug as she began to break down in tears for the umpteenth time. While the group of six young adult macaws did that, Sirius gazed at his two brothers, cousins and friends. He had no idea how many times his aunt had broken down in tears since last night but it must have been a lot of times since Matilda had also been crying throughout last night.

"You know something, gang," he told the others, "I think playing with those toucan kids before the incident with Sandalwood over there is gonna be the last time we're gonna mix with those big nosed brats."

"Yeah, absolutely, bro," said Einstein in agreement.

"By my calculations," said Miles as he held his new mobile, the transparent plastic pieces glistening in the sunlight, "I think the probability of us becoming close friends with those toucan kids is uh… zero."

"Not to mention the chance of forgiving them which based on my calculations is very narrow, especially after how that brat Isabella has lied about Bellatrix in particular," said Spica and with that, she shot Bellatrix and Bartholomew a sympathetic gaze as the two chicks just gazed at her miserably. Sonia and Melody did the same but then they, along with their sister, three cousins and their friends felt a pang of guilt, especially as Petunia and Jason turned to gaze at Sandalwood.

"To be honest with you, I think we should share the blame as well," said Jason.

"Yeah," said Petunia, "We, in a way, were involved with that accident too."

At this, Winona, Vega, Polaris, Lilac, Deneb, Austin and Diego shot the two chicks of Músculo and Charlotte a 'what!?' look.

"What do you mean you should share the blame, Jason?" asked Vega in disbelief.

"You weren't the ones who knocked Sandalwood off the branch, sent Vincent crashing into a tree trunk and injuring his wing," said Winona.

"Or sent Hunter crashing into that thorn bush with fatal results," put in Deneb.

"That's right," said Lilac in agreement, "Remember what our parents told us. It's not our fault."

"Certainly not Bellatrix or Bartholomew's for that matter," said Polaris and with that, she, too shot the brother and sister another sympathetic look.

"I can't believe that Isabella and her comrades would land those two in serious trouble," said Austin.

"Yeah, it's been causing their parents and their relatives a lot of strain," said Diego.

"Strain they could do without," said Petunia.

"Strain we ALL could do without," said Jason. The others nodded in agreement.

Across the lawn, Sandalwood stood gazing timidly at Acerola and Ferdinand as they stood on a large rock. This rock was a large bolder and its topmost point was about a foot off the ground. Accompanying Sandalwood's cousins were Betelgeuse and Rigel, Io and Sheldon's daughters; Castor, Pollux and Poppy, the three chicks of Brooke and Titan; Enceladus and his hyacinth mate Trixie's hybrid daughter Mira and Perdita, Aldebaran and Cecil, the hybrid chicks of Umbriel and her scarlet mate Benjamin. Sandalwood's two cousins, together with the nine chicks, were perched on top of the rock.

"Come on, Sandalwood," said Acerola, "It's only a foot high."

"The height's not that big," said Betelgeuse. However, Sandalwood gazed at the eleven with reluctance and also at the height of the rock in fear.

"I-I-I can't do it," said the amber bat pup timidly.

"Look, the height's small," said Rigel, trying to encourage Sandalwood to climb onto the rock's top with her and the others. Still Sandalwood remained rooted to the spot, shaking his head. A short distance away, Anabelle watched the scene with Sheldon and Umbriel, sat on another, smaller rock. Stella and Soren were with Augustus, talking and Sandalwood had been put into the care of his aunt and uncle for a bit to give his heart-sunken parents a break.

"It doesn't look good, you two," murmured the mate of Sebastian worriedly, "It seems that even small heights terrify my nephew."

"Come on, Sandalwood," said Perdita, patting the top of the rock as Umbriel looked on, "It's not _that_ high."

The others on the rock also jumped up and down, calling out encouragements to the still-hesitant Sandalwood. Sheldon also gazed at Sandalwood as he shuddered at the height of the rock, especially as he said, "I can't, guys, it's too high."

'Too high?' the hybrid scarlet/green-winged macaw thought, 'That rock's only a foot tall.'

Sheldon and Umbriel, as well as everyone else including Anabelle, were still in utter disbelief at how deep the fear of heights, or 'acrophobia' as it was known to birds like Blu, Bia, Einstein, Spica, Bellatrix, and Ganymede and his kids Adenine and his siblings, had taken root in Sandalwood all because of just a tiny sprinkle of carelessness of those toucan kids yesterday, resulting in him being traumatically knocked off the branch while tied up and nearly drowning in that lake if it weren't for Bellatrix's rather crazy actions in rescuing him. Umbriel had heard of humans being scared of heights or hesitant in stepping anywhere near a large drop: that was often understandable, especially based on the fact that humans weren't made to fly which made the urge to back away from large drops an instinctive thing in humans. But in creatures that _can_ fly and were built for flying, such as flying foxes and other bats, the intensely irrational fear of heights such as Sandalwood's case was just completely unnatural. Sandalwood had been avoiding even small heights since the incident yesterday, and had been totally against the idea of flying, much less climb onto an overhang to drop into flight which was a thing most bats needed to do to get airborne. Suddenly, Sheldon's voice brought Umbriel and Anabelle out of their thoughts.

"He's doing it," he said. At this, the great green macaw and flying fox watched as the amber pup slowly advanced towards the rock, his two cousins and the macaw chick friends encouraging him. As soon as he was close to the rock, Sandalwood slowly placed his wings onto the side.

"That's it, Sandalwood," said Anabelle, "You can do it."

"Come on, Sandalwood," said Acerola and Ferdinand together. The chicks also gave out encouraging comments to Sandalwood.

"You can do it, Sandalwood," said Betelgeuse.

"Just don't let the height of the rock get to you," said Rigel. Sheldon smiled as he heard his daughters say this.

"But one thing we should be glad about is that your nephew has some very supportive friends," said he.

"Yes, definitely," said Anabelle, "My son and daughter are also encouraging."

"That is exactly what Sandalwood needs," said Umbriel. Sandalwood then reluctantly began to heave his body off the ground with his wings on the rock. However, as he did that, a sense of panic began to boil within him and he stopped. However, he was pulled out of this by the encouragements of his two cousins and feathered friends. A look of determination took hold on his face. 'If it's only a foot high, then it's not too bad,' he thought and continued to make the effort. Sheldon, Anabelle and Umbriel continued to watch until finally Sandalwood made it to the top, much to the cheers of his cousins and friends.

"That's it, Sandalwood," said Sheldon.

"See, it wasn't so bad after all," said Anabelle. Sandalwood then smiled with pride at his achievement at his aunt and the two macaws and then gazed at his friends and two cousins as they continued to cheer. However, that sense of achievement was short-lived. Sandalwood only had to look down one side of the rock and as he did so, panic finally fired up within him as his eyes gazed at the small height of the rock. With a cry of extreme fright, the flying fox jumped into the air, much to the surprise of Acerola, Ferdinand and the chicks. Then before the group knew it, Sandalwood crashed into them. Umbriel, Anabelle and Sheldon, seeing the group then begin to fall like skittles in the human sport of bowling from the rock's top, suddenly jumped from their seat and dived at the falling chicks. Umbriel caught Perdita, Aldebaran and Cecil while Anabelle caught Ferdinand and Mira. Sheldon also caught Betelgeuse, Castor and Pollux but Rigel, Acerola and Poppy, together with Sandalwood, crashed into a soft patch of grass. As the brief chaos subsided as quickly as it had begum, the group began to recover. Sandalwood lay in the grass hugging Poppy and Rigel, gasping in fright.

"It's alright, Sandalwood," said Anabelle as she held Ferdinand and Mira, "You can let go of those two now."

Sandalwood, however, continued clasping onto the blue-and-gold and red chick, gasps of fright continuing to escape his mouth at a rapid rate. Poppy squirmed in Sandalwood's membranous trap.

"Look, Sandalwood, can you release us now?" protested Poppy.

"You're restricting our breathing," said Rigel as she also squirmed in Sandalwood's tight grip. Sandalwood did so and allowed the two chicks to escape his grip. However, he continued gasping in terror. That terror, however, began to calm as a comforting membranous wing rested on his head.

"You did well for a start," said Anabelle, "I know it wasn't easy but you managed it."

Sandalwood gazed at his aunt with tearful eyes. The birds looked on.

"Too bad he freaked out though," said Betelgeuse as she rested in Sheldon's wings.

"How long is it gonna take to help Sandalwood?" asked Mira. At this, Anabelle shot the hyacinth/blue-and-gold chick a glare, making her flinch.

"Look, let me just say one thing, Mira," said the adult flying fox firmly, "It's gonna take time but we're not gonna rush things but let me also tell you another thing: mind your manners."

"Yes, mind your meddles," said Poppy in agreement, pronouncing the word 'manners' wrong. Castor and Pollux, her brothers, nodded in agreement with their wings folded. Mira nodded in agreement as she felt a pang of guilt prick at her as Perdita, Aldebaran and Cecil smiled at each other and also at Ferdinand. As the group continued to sort themselves out, the sounds of flapping wings reached their ears.

"The foragers have returned," said Titania.

"Oh, brilliant, and in time as well," said Anabelle, "We're getting very hungry."

Titania then saw the minor state of the group.

"Good grief, what has happened?" she asked in slight alarm.

"Oh, just a little accident, sis," said Umbriel with a smile, "Nothing to worry about."

"We've been trying to get Sandalwood to climb that foot-high rock," said Rigel excitedly.

"And he achieved it," said Acerola excitedly. At this, Titania's beak creased into a glowing smile.

"Wow, that's a brilliant achievement indeed," she said, much to Sandalwood's gladness. For the first time since the incident yesterday, Sandalwood genuinely felt the glow of pride. 'At least I have finally achieved something,' he thought.

"Alright, breakfast time," commanded Sheldon to the group. With that, the air became flooded with the sounds of excited wing flaps as the group scurried off to gather with the others as the foraging groups returned with breakfast. As Anabelle walked along carrying him, Sandalwood gazed longingly at the others, including Acerola and Ferdinand, as they flew along. 'I hope to fly like my two cousins and friends,' he thought. However, the massive wall of his fear of heights and flying, especially seeing the height below him while in flight, made him flinch at the thought. Though he had taken the first, yet brief, step in overcoming this immense fear, Sandalwood still found flight extremely terrifying.

Within moments, as the group gathered with excited chirps from the hungry chicks flooding the air, the foragers touched down. The first group consisting of all Spix macaws led by Blu and Zephyr approached the excited bundles of blue feathers as they placed their foraged fruit down. Justin, Virgil, Tiago, Jojo, Felix, Garrett, Felix, Charlotte and Roberto smiled as the excited Spix chicks gathered around them. Orion, Lightning and Merlin were absent for they were still out hunting for some pigeons.

"Okay, line up, all of you," commanded Justin.

"We're gonna give our food to you one at a time," said Virgil. All the Spix chicks including Bartholomew and Bellatrix obeyed and lined up. Next to the Spix macaws, the second group consisting of the green, blue-and-gold and red macaws led by Saturn and Esmeralda did the same with the blue-and-gold, green and red chicks and the hybrids of the species. Io and Mimas began to distribute the food among the chicks while Estelle, Byron and Titan commanded the chicks to be patient. Amongst the excitement, Rigel tried climbing over the blue-and-gold macaw chicks to reach the fruit in Io's wings.

"Rigel, wait your turn, please," said Titan. However, Rigel continued to impatiently squirm through the blue-and-gold macaw chicks, at one point climbing onto Castor and Pollux, much to the annoyance of the brothers of Poppy. When Rigel's foot slid over his eye, Castor irritably jumped back, making Rigel lose balance and fall to the floor, making Titan rush in and seize the red macaw chick and remove her before taking her aside and scolding her for being bad mannered. Castor, Pollux and Poppy gazed at the red macaw chick as she received the scolding, shrugged and took some papaya fruit from Mimas's wings. The third group consisting of the hyacinth, glaucous, blue-throated and Lear's macaws led by Neptune and Mercury also distributed the fruit to hyacinth, Lear's, glaucous and blue-throated macaw chicks who showed patience, Pluto, Trixie and Triton doing the task. However, as they and the other two groups of foragers did this, Sapphire who helped to keep the chicks under control, saw one group of foragers missing.

"Where are Travis, Frodo, Eragon, Melissa and their group?" she asked.

"I thought they would be back by now," said Lapis Lazuli equally confused. The foragers also looked around just as perplexed.

"Maybe they've gone to look elsewhere?" asked Blu. As he said this, Andromeda and her bat-bird Rouge, Soren, Stella, Augustus and Anabelle came in with Sandalwood, Acerola, Ferdinand and also Ellie, Sylvester, Olivia, Pitaya, Alegria and Achilles, Marella with Altair and Bambi, Diantha with Gladion, Lillie and Aurora, and Eustace, Milo, Sunset and Rosa with Yolanda, Oscar, Peach and Bruno.

"Well, I hope they haven't gone too far," said Augustus firmly, "Because our pups and chicks are rapidly losing patience."

He then flashed a glance at Ellie's five chicks. All of them wore impatient faces and were simmering slightly in silence. The impatient looks were mirrored on Bambi, Altair, Gladion, Lillie, Aurora, Yolanda, Oscar, Bruno and Peach as well. Venus then stepped in.

"I'll ask Jewel," she said and with that, she opened her wings and took off to see Jewel. Sunset decided to follow and lofted into flight after her. However, the two need not go far when they heard that macaw's voice but it was one of immense disbelief and horror.

"Good grief, Travis, Frodo, Serena, Clemont, Spyro, Tom, Melissa and Sebastian, what has happened to you guys!?" shouted Jewel's voice to the alarm of Venus and Sunset.

"That was Jewel and it sounds like something has happened to Travis's group," shouted Sunset and with that, she accelerated off to see Jewel, Venus following. Blu, Roberto, Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto and Ceres, together with Augustus and Diantha, also rushed off after the two. Andromeda jumped onto Rouge and commanded her into flight.

"Stay there with the kids you lot," commanded Jupiter as he left. Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto and the others nodded as they watched the macaws hurry off with Andromeda, Augustus and Diantha in tow. Stella and Soren then looked on worriedly.

"Sounds like something horrible has definitely happened," said Stella in a low voice. Blu, Roberto, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Ceres and Pluto, Diantha, Andromeda, and Sunset all gathered around Jewel who stared at something as though they were a ghost, her feathers on end and her teal eyes inflated.

"What is it, Jewel?" asked Blu but when he followed her gaze and landed on Travis's group as they arrived; a sharp gasp of air was sucked through his beak. Sunset then rushed in and dashed off towards the group, Augustus, Andromeda and Diantha not too far behind.

"Good grief, Travis, guys," cried Sunset, her faded pale pink, red and yellow banded crest fully fanned out.

"You look as though you've been in a food fight," said Diantha.

"What happened?" asked Augustus. As the fourth group of foragers touched down, Travis and company looked a right state. Jewel, Blu and the other macaws continued to gaze at the bedraggled mixed group of flying foxes, cockatoos, Cuban red macaw, toco toucan, archaeobird and two bat-birds. The ten group members, Spyro and Eragon's bat-birds included, definitely looked as though they had been in a food fight. Most of their plumages or pelages were covered with colourful but messy splat shapes, some with remains of berries and fruit pieces and Melissa had a flap of berry flesh draping her left ear. Frodo's vibrant red, orange, amber, burgundy and azure blue plumage was smothered with messy berry juice and flesh and Tom's sleek black plumage and white front, together with his orange and black beak, were also splattered with fruit flesh and juice. Sunset, Andromeda, Jewel, Augustus and Diantha then gazed at Sebastian, Serena and Frodo and were alarmed to see that the three had bruising on their stomachs and back. The three were bent over in pain and Blu's group could see that all Travis and his group brought back were two mangoes and some berries, their faces twisted into looks of thunder. Then Venus saw that one of the archaeobirds was missing.

"Wait, where's Eragon?" she asked. Andromeda also gazed at Travis's group, her look asking the same question. Travis sighed and came forward to explain.

"While we were foraging, we suddenly come under attack by a gang of toucan kids," he said. Blu's group all jerked their heads up in horror.

"Wha- AGAIN!?" snapped Blu in disbelief.

"What have they done this time!?" demanded Jewel. Jupiter and the other macaws, together with Augustus, Andromeda, Diantha and Sunset gazed at Travis's group as Travis prepared to answer. Behind Blu's group, Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, Carla, Bia, Tiago, Justin, Matilda, Virgil and several other macaws, and Stella, Marella and Ellie appeared to listen to Travis's group's ordeal.

"Look at the state of them," whispered Io in shock as she saw the bedraggled, splattered appearances of Travis and the others with them.

"Eragon's missing," added Carla.

"We were just about to make our way back to here after we had filled our leaf bag," said Travis.

"However," said Clemont, "We were jumped by that bunch of toucan kids."

"Isabella and her gang?" asked Jupiter. Travis shook his head.

"No, another of those gangs Neptune told us about," said the old sulfur-crested cockatoo. At this, Blu's group exchanged disbelieving and enraged glances but Tom continued the story.

"They demanded our fruit but when we refused, they attacked us and stole most of our foraged fruit," he said, before nodding to Serena, Frodo and Sebastian who continued to grasp their bruised areas where they had been hit, the former two on the stomach and the latter on the back. "These three were fiercely tackled by some of those kids, Serena and Frodo in the bellies and Sebastian in the back."

Horror tore through Blu's as they gazed at the three casualties. Frodo looked up at the group.

"That attack made us drop the leaf-bag and its fruit," he said, "And because those toucan brats were throwing so many of our missiles at us, we were forced to retreat."

"However, Eragon had been injured," said Serena. This sent another wave of horror tearing through the group, especially Andromeda who demanded, what happened?"

Behind the group, Carla and company all flinched, gasps drawn in by some of them, especially by Marella and Ellie but nothing could prepare the group for what Spyro said what happened to Eragon next.

"Dad's bat-bird here," he said, nodding to the pterosaur next to him and Garnet "was also tackled in the belly by some of the toucan chicks which made him bolt and throw Eragon onto a branch, injuring his shoulder."

"We had to take him to Tulio's Aviary once we had escaped those hooligans of toucan kids," said Travis, "We hadn't had time to examine the extent of the damage to his shoulder but based on how much it hurt him; we suspected a fracture or dislocation."

It took a while for Blu's group to absorb all this information until finally Jewel broke through it, a look of outrage plastering her face.

"It's about time we took drastic action against those toucan gangs roaming the Blu Bird Sanctuary, I think," she growled. As she said this, Uranus and Neptune came in.

"There's something else you need to know as well," Uranus said.

"What is it?" snapped Jewel impatiently, much to Blu's annoyed eye roll. His mate sometimes had a fiery temper.

"While my group was foraging," said Neptune, "We came across Dino and his family and they told us that the massive number of toucan kids is not only causing problems for the community of the forest but also a food shortage as well."

"Birds are moving out of their hollows," said Uranus, "Our group caught a glimpse of bird families evacuating their hollows too.

Jewel gazed back at the great green and hyacinth macaws in confusion.

"What do you mean?" asked she. Then Roberto interrupted.

"Look, let's just feed our chicks and pups first," he said, "And then we'll talk about this problem."

"Good point, Beto," said Jewel before she turned to Travis and the others, "Let's help you guys back to the garden of Tulio and Linda."

"But we only have two mangoes and some berries," said Melissa, "And that's not gonna be enough to feed our three pups and the chicks of Serena, Clemont, Diantha, Spyro and Frodo."

"All our other fruit had been stolen by that gang of toucan kids," said Spyro indiginantly and in his frustration, he tore out some leaves and tossed them harshly downward. Blu, however, had an idea but it was one he knew that many of the wild-born animals, especially his mate, didn't like.

"I'll see what Linda can do," he said.

"But Blu, she's a human and we prefer to find our own food," said Melissa with a frown.

"That's right," said Jewel in agreement.

"We can't depend on humans to provide us with food, Blu, especially when we've got chicks present," said Jupiter.

"And our chicks will have to learn how to forage for food in the wild, not from humans," said Saturn. Zephyr nodded in agreement as the dangers of begging food from humans flashed in his mind. Travis, however, had an opposite opinion to the suggestion.

"I think that's a good idea, actually," he said, "I remember her giving us treats for our three kids Milo, Rosa and Eustace sometimes."

"I like that idea too," said Sunset. Jewel, at this, rolled her eyes, as did some of the others. However, she reluctantly accepted the idea as did the others.

"Okay, we'll go along with it," she said, before giving Blu the stink eye, "But I want you to know, this is like going back to your human-like behaviour before we moved into the Amazon."

Blu just sighed and flew off to let the others know that Travis and company had returned while Jewel's group assisted said group back to the garden.

 **Soon**

The group including Travis's foraging group had finally settled down to breakfast and all the chicks, birds and flying foxes were eating. The falcons, Cometa, Lightning, Orion, Velocity, Merlin, Hermione and Zelda had returned from hunting with some pigeon carcases they had managed to kill; Cometa, Velocity, Zelda, Spike and Hermione having left to help the three males to hunt for some game. Cockatoo, macaw, archaeobird and toucan beaks scoured into fruit flesh while flying fox teeth gouged out chunks of mango, guava and other types of fruit and peregrine falcon and merlin beaks tore at the meat from the pigeons. Travis, Sunset, Eustace and Serena, Yolanda and Oscar, Milo, Rosa and Clemont, Peach and Bruno fed on a variety of tinned fruit provided to them by Linda at Blu's request and Linda had also brought out some more fruit she had brought from the market as treats for Blu's family and friends including Augustus, Andromeda and their families. Augustus and Andromeda were impressed at how much Linda cared for animals, and Roberto, though he was normally scared of humans, particularly poachers, had admiration glow within him for Blu's human companion. Linda was not at all like that abusive human girl that tortured him when he was his pet, force feeding him crackers and calling him 'Polly'. Even after all these years, that name still sent shivers down Roberto's spine and bring back a torrent of bad memories, and Brisa, Jojo, Felix and Lavender and their mates Kira, Turquesa and Garrett, as well as Jojo and his brother and sister's younger siblings and Roberto and Brisa's two second-brood chicks Chilro and Ophelia, were still aware of how much poachers and loggers frightened Roberto.

Roberto's grandkids, Vega and Winona, Austin and Diego, and Deneb, Lilac and Polaris, along with the other chicks and also Sandalwood, Acerola and Ferdinand, had been told of the horrors their grandfather had faced when he was younger, such as how his family had been killed in an unprovoked attack by a group of flying foxes out on a bird-hunting trip and his subsequent capture by poachers, as well as his purchase by a couple of humans for their daughter who turned out to be a ruthless, sadistic torturer who loved tormenting Roberto for the fun of it, calling him Polly and force feeding him crackers, and how a city dog by the name of Ginger, whom the chicks have met yesterday, had to care for Roberto and eventually set him free. The story had not been told in full detail for the kids were still too young to understand this seriously dark and tragic backstory of Roberto's abuse and nightmares.

While breakfast was in progress, the foragers had begun to tell the others about their observations while they were out foraging. Neptune had told the group about the evacuation of many of the bird families, including his chestnut-mandibled toucan friend Dino and his family, from their hollows to move somewhere else based on, according to Dino, the trouble caused by a gang of toucan kids as well as a food shortage caused by the ever growing toucan families, again according to Dino and his family. Saturn had told the group of how his foraging team had witnessed a group of smugglers outside the Blu Bird Sanctuary's fence where they were forced to forage and how they were behaving suspiciously near that double fence. Jewel, Travis and the others all flinched at this horrifying news but their minds were focussed on sorting out the most important problem: dealing with the toucan kid gangs, but then the group had worry for the other Blu Bird Sanctuary residents plaguing them: if the rabbit-breeding older offspring of Rafael and Eva's having of brood after brood of chicks is causing a burden on the food supply of the forest of the sanctuary, then something will have to be done before the food shortage reached critical. Bia did the calculations by drawing out her theories and ideas in Tommy's sandpit which Linda had granted the birds permission to play in as long as they didn't make a mess in it.

"Let's say we have ten toucan couples and each of those couples had forty chicks…" she said, drawing in simple spots to represent the birds with a stick. Blu, Jewel, Carla, Tiago, Virgil, Justin, Charlotte, Matilda, Venus and Zephyr stood around watching with Mercury, Phoebe and Sapphire, Mars, Chiquitita, Phobos, Deimos and Alexandre, Jupiter, Ruby, Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto, Saturn, Orquidea, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea and Titan, Uranus, Esmeralda, Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel and Titania, Neptune, Ultramarine, Indigo and Triton, Pluto, Lapis Lazuli, Charon and Blueberry, and Travis, Sunset, Cometa, Lightning and Diantha also standing around the sandpit. Mimas, Estelle, Roberto, Brisa, Jojo, Felix, Lavender and the others kept watch over the kids as they continued to eat their breakfast. Bia then written her multiplication of toucan chicks in the sand. She had estimated how many of Rafael and Eva's grownup offspring had found mates and had countless chicks though she knew that it wasn't accurate due to it being based mostly on speculation with only a few slivers of evidence she had heard from Rafael and Eva and their older offspring of how many chicks they might have. However, as she calculated the number of toucan chicks in this theory, she gave the watchers a dark look.

"…That would mean four-hundred chicks altogether," she murmured. The eyes of the watchers, especially Diantha's, inflated in utter astonishment.

"WHAT!?" blurted out Sapphire.

"That is a LOT of chicks," murmured Mercury in disbelief.

"That's large enough to be a bird tribe," said Venus. Mars, however, looked much more serious.

"And if the majority of those chicks scattered throughout the Blu Bird Sanctuary are so undisciplined and a problem, especially in gangs," he said, before turning to Neptune and Ultramarine, "Then it explains the problems the bird residents and also yourselves when you moved down here for a bit, are facing all over the sanctuary."

"And also the diminishing of fruit from the food groves," added Pluto.

"And a large family of forty would require a LOT of food to sustain," said Lapis Lazuli. Saturn and Orquidea gazed at each other, remembering how demanding their seven first-brood chicks, Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Titan and Iapetus had been when they were young and how they had required assistance in raising them. 'If raising a brood of seven chicks was so difficult,' thought Saturn, 'I'd hate to think how strenuous raising FORTY might be.' He shuddered at the horrible thought. Lapis Lazuli was absolutely right: forty offspring would require a lot of food.

"We didn't realise it would be such a serious problem until only recently," said Neptune. Zephyr, at this, stood up, a look of anger and disgust on his face.

"Well, something definitely needs to be done," he growled. Virgil then glared at Bia.

"If Rafael and Eva's older offspring and Rafael and Eva themselves were to continue to have more and more chicks," said he, "Would that put serious strain on the whole ecosystem of the sanctuary?"

"I was gonna say that, Virgil," said Bia, "With so many of those toucan kids on the sanctuary, not only is the serious naughtiness of those toucan chicks the residents are gonna be worried about, but competition for food as well."

"It would eventually come to a point where there wouldn't be enough food for everyone," said Ganymede.

"That's right," said Zephyr before shooting Blu and Jewel a look. "Seriously, Blu, Jewel, folks," he shot his gaze at the other macaws and Diantha, "We cannot allow Rafael and Eva and their oldest offspring to continue having any more broods."

"Then the problem's been pointed out," said Blu, "Now the next task: how are we gonna convince those toucans to stop having any more broods. Suggestions, anyone?"

The only answer he got were shakes of the heads of the others for none of them had a clue.

"We can't just go over to Marco, Sofia, Manoela, Carlos and the rest of them with mates and their massive families and tell them to stop having any more broods," said Cometa, "While I, Orion, Velocity, Hermione and Merlin were out while Lightning was back at the nest babysitting Spike, Hunter and Zelda when they were chicks and had passed by Sofia and her massive, massive family, Velocity told her that she should stop having any more broods and the response she got was a slap across the face and that she keep her beak out of their family business…" Velocity who sat with Orion, Hermione and Merlin as they looked after Zelda heard this and sighed as she remembered that.

"They can be very arrogant," said Diantha who knew her older siblings.

"What about discussing this more with Rafael and Eva?" asked Uranus, "They should do something."

"After all," said Pluto, "They're the parents of Marco, Manoela and the other sixty-something or more kids."

"That's a good idea Pluto but the question is," said Blu, "Would they agree?"

"And then we have the countless toucan kids themselves," said Lapis Lazuli. All ears turned to her as she said, "How are we gonna deal with the ever growing number of those kids?"

At first, no answer but then Travis said, "We could show Tulio, Fernando and the other bird studiers that problem so that they could do something about it. They'll know what to do."

"After all, they have more knowledge of the sanctuary than we do," said Sunset. Blu then smiled and stood up.

"Then it's settled," he said. He turned to Travis, Sunset, Jewel, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Ceres and Pluto and said, "You will come with me to visit Tulio and the bird studiers at the Aviary to help him identify the problem which I believe they already know something is wrong in the sanctuary's ecosystem…"

Travis, Sunset and the ten macaws nodded. Then Blu turned to Zephyr, Sapphire, Ruby, Chiquitita, Orquidea, Esmeralda, Ultramarine, Lapis Lazuli, Cobalto and the others including those looking after the chicks and the pups and said, "You lot will stay here while we are away and make sure that our kids don't wander too far from Tulio and Linda's cottage."

The others nodded and after this, Blu said to the group gathered around the sandpit, "Right, meeting dismissed."

At this, the colourful gathering scattered and joined the others and the chicks. Jewel then gazed at Blu and said, "I hope it works my one and only Blu."

"I'm sure it will, honey," said Blu, "Tulio is a real expert in avian ecosystems."

Jewel smiled and left to get ready for the trip to Tulio's Aviary.


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16- explosions into chaos**

A few minutes after Blu left with Travis, Sunset, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Ceres, Pluto and Jewel in tow to Tulio's Aviary, and shortly Rhea, Iapetus and Ariel for Nico and Pedro's club to visit them, the rest of the group continued their usual activities, some of the chicks still eating their breakfast. Broccoli and Daisy had come by shortly after Blu and company had left for they had come to visit Linda and Tommy as well as the group in their garden. When Broccoli and Daisy had noticed Blu and company's absence, Zephyr had explained to the two cats of the toucan population problem in the Blu Bird Sanctuary and what solution they had come to. Broccoli and Daisy, however, were unsurprised.

"We overheard Nico and Pedro and their respective partners Sparkle and Rose discuss with Orton the rosette spoonbill and a cousin of Kipo about how those toucan kids are becoming a problem at Nico and Pedro's club," said Broccoli.

"And those cardinal and canary duos are refusing to return to the jungle because their home area is infested with toucan kids who love to cause the residents an awful lot of trouble," said Daisy, "And it's not just vandalism or throwing fruits that are the problem."

"During our discussion, I've estimated how many chicks would result if ten of Rafael and Eva's grownup offspring had forty of them each," said Bia, "And believe me, the results were shocking."

"The amount was equivalent to a massive tribe of birds," said Virgil, much to the shock of the two cats.

"You can't be serious," snapped Broccoli incredulously **.**

"That could fill the entire Blu Bird Sanctuary," said Daisy, "And leave no room for everyone else."

"Not to mention food," said Lapis Lazuli nearby as she played with Saiph, Regulus and Denebola with Charon, Blueberry, Neytiri and Aiden.

"And you would need a lot of food to sustain a massive family like that," said Charon darkly. As she said this, Velocity came in.

"Which is why Blu and the others had gone to Tulio's Aviary to show Tulio the problem," she said.

"Jack and Jill are doing a study of the population of the bird species in the sanctuary today," said Broccoli, "Maybe they'll help sort that problem out," the male caliby cat and the late Veggie's spitting image shook his head and sighed, "Honestly, some of those older offspring of Rafael and Eva breed like rabbits."

"They seem to be extremely proud of it as well," said Velocity, "When I told Sofia and her mate that they were having too many chicks, she slapped me across the face and told me to butt out of her family matters, which implies arrogance."

"They ARE arrogant," snapped Tiago bitterly nearby as he sat with Matilda, Bellatrix and Bartholomew, still drowning in the agony of what Marco, one of Sofia's countless brothers, and his mate Anastasia said about Bellatrix yesterday, the comments made by that arrogant toucan couple still embedded in their egos like porcupine spines. Bellatrix and Bartholomew sat on either side of their parents, looks of sadness still lacing their faces. "I think they just want to show off to the other residents how many kids they are having to be honest."

"Well, regardless of how showy off they want to be," said Daisy firmly, "They're not doing the ecosystem of the sanctuary any good, I can tell you that now."

The others nodded in agreement. Then Broccoli's gaze which became brighter, travelled to Sandalwood as he gazed at the lowest bar in the fence bordering Tulio and Linda's cottage and garden, "And how's Sandalwood doing? Any success on his first steps to conquering his fear of heights lately?"

At this, Sheldon and Io came in with Betelgeuse and Rigel.

"He managed to climb onto a foot high rock, Mr Broccoli," said Betelgeuse, "But he freaked out when he made it to the top."

"It seems that his height fear or acrophobia as Bia, Blu and some of the other nerdy birds including my brother Ganymede call it," said Io, "Is deeper than it seems."

"Even low heights seem to make him cringe," said Sheldon. Rigel just said nothing as Broccoli and Daisy continued gazing at Sandalwood as Diantha and Tom came up to him.

"We want to see that for ourselves if you don't mind," said Broccoli, "I can see the flying fox pup gaze at the lowest fence bar over there."

Daisy and the others then stood up and walked over to Sandalwood, Diantha and Tom.

Sandalwood continued gazing with timidity laced eyes at the lowest bar of the fence, yet at the same time with determination boiling within him at the same time. However, the fear and the determination were having a fierce wrestling match, the former wanting to back away from the fence and the latter, to try and climb onto the bar as part of the next step in conquering his fear of heights to fly again. As the conflicting decisions continued to rage in Sandalwood's mind, Diantha gazed at Sandalwood with a pang of pity.

"This certainly is worrying, Tom," she said, "Especially for his parents, grandparents, aunt, uncle and cousins."

"If that pair of negligent pathetic excuses for parents Marco and Anastasia are seeking forgiveness from us, I doubt they will get any," snarled Tom thunderously, "I think they are a disgrace not only in putting Stella's family in a difficult position regarding their son," his gaze flashed to Tiago and his family as they continued gazing ahead or downward with sorrowful faces, "But also Tiago and his family as well."

"That were Isabella and her comrades' doing," said Diantha, outrage firing up within her, "How DARE they brand Bellatrix a murderous chick who loves endangering lives and causing injury? It's completely destroyed her family's reputation."

"Not only has it done that but also made Blu, Jewel, Zephyr, Venus and also Bellatrix and Bartholomew's aunts, uncles and cousins look an absolute disgrace as well," said Io angrily as she walked over to the toco/keel-billed toucan pair, the only pair they knew to be very good and sensible parents and their three kids, Gladion, Lillie and Aurora, to be very well-behaved unlike the majority of their countless cousins, with Sheldon, Betelgeuse, Rigel, Broccoli, Daisy, Velocity, and also Lapis Lazuli, Charon, Neytiri, Blueberry, Aiden, Saiph, Regulus and Denebola accompanying her, Bia and Virgil having left to keep an eye on Sirius, Einstein and Miles as they played with some of the other chicks.

"I couldn't agree more," said Diantha before she turned back to Sandalwood, "And I hope Mom and Dad (Rafael and Eva) have realised what damage it has caused to those blue macaw families' reputation."

As the group gathered round, Sandalwood asked, "Mrs Diantha, can you help me onto that strip of wood please?"

"It's called a fence bar," said Diantha but then she realised what Sandalwood wanted her to do. "Wait, you want me to help you up onto that bar?"

Sandalwood nodded. At this, Diantha gazed at Tom, Io and the others with an uncertain look on her face.

"Do you think I should grant his request?" she asked.

"I-I-I only want to start facing my fear of heights," said Sandalwood timidly, the conflict between backing away and going ahead with the decision still raging inside him.

"I think it's a good idea but if he starts screaming and crying when you lift him off the ground," said Io, "Put him down right away."

Diantha nodded and turned to Sandalwood who began to shake from his easily scared nerves.

"Are you ready?" she asked gently. Sandalwood, despite the uncertainty making his nerves shake, nodded. Broccoli and the others watched on, the former and his sister Daisy seeing for themselves the deeply rooted fear of heights Sandalwood bore. 'Io isn't kidding about his fear. He looks terrified,' Broccoli thought. Diantha then opened her wings and lifted off the ground. She then gently wrapped her talons around Sandalwood's body but as she did so, Sandalwood's body began to shake more and more and Diantha could feel the tremors in her talons, making her think again about the decision. Then as she began to lift Sandalwood a few centimetres off the ground, all fur broke loose as the little amber flying fox pup's fear explosively flared up.

"Arrgh, PUT ME DOOOOOOWWN!" he screamed. Diantha, without a second's hesitation, did so and placed him back onto the grass before landing herself next to Tom. The daughter of Rafael and Eva then looked on as Sandalwood trembled violently and breathed in and out uncontrollably. Broccoli and Daisy came over.

"We've definitely got a serious problem alright," Broccoli said.

"How much flying practice has Sandalwood had before that incident yesterday?" asked Daisy. Lapis Lazuli gave a concerned look.

"Not much," she said, "He's grounded himself and avoided every drop possible since that bunch of toucan brats knocked him, wings bound to his sides, off that branch."

Sandalwood then began to recollect himself and calm down as Diantha looked on with a thunderous look on her face.

"Those wretched kids of Marco and Anastasia have DEFINITELY done a good job in traumatising him enough to render him too afraid to fly," she snarled, her black and red-cream feathers bristled.

"Forget refusal to fly," said Tom, "He's afraid of even the smallest heights as well."

Io, Sheldon, Lapis Lazuli, Charon, Neytiri, Blueberry and Aiden all exchanged agreeing glances with Broccoli and Daisy while Betelgeuse, Rigel, Saiph, Denebola and Regulus gazed sympathetically at the timid flying fox pup as he regained control of his breathing.

"Looks like we're gonna be here for far longer than a week," murmured Lapis Lazuli sadly.

"Until he overcomes that fear of heights, we're never gonna go back to the Amazon," murmured Charon. Then Neytiri, Aiden and Blueberry began to hiss bitterly under their breaths about Marco and Anastasia things like, 'Thanks a lot, you pair of negligent parents' and the like.

 **After breakfast**

Linda and Tulio's garden was sprinkled with colourful dots of colour as the birds and flying foxes had spread out to play. Some of them, among them Alexandre, Estelle, Kayley and Xander, together with Phobos, Deimos and Chiquitita, had gone to play with Linda and Tommy, Linda filming the activities of Chiquitita, her three sons and daughter-in-law, and grandson and granddaughter as they played together on her Iphone, a smile of amusement adorning her face. Estelle gazed at the metallic blue slab held in Linda's hands.

"What's that?" she asked.

"It's a human device called an Iphone," said Chiquitita as she held Xander and Kayley in her wings, "Humans use it for many different things such as communicating with each other, taking pictures and all sorts."

"I always thought that humans had these things called cameras to take pictures," said Estelle with a confused look.

"Human devices have changed a lot over the past few years," said Alexandre.

"It's obvious that things are a whole lot different than they had been since we left here to move into the Amazon," said Phobos.

"Just like how a lot has changed with our city friends," said Deimos until his face fell as he remembered Veggie who had passed away some time ago from old age. Nearby, the Spix macaw families had organised an outing with their chicks for a change of scene. Carla, Bia, Tiago, Justin, Matilda, Virgil, Charlotte and Músculo, together with Kira, Jojo, Felix, Turquesa, Lavender and Garrett, gathered their kids together and then prepared to enter the vegetation.

"Come on, let's go find some butterflies," said Justin to Spica, Sonia and Melody, much to their delight and Carla's amusement.

"I'm gonna help Miles find some interesting things to add to his mobile as well as show Einstein and Sirius some of the insects of the sanctuary," said Bia as she, Virgil, Miles, Sirius and Einstein followed Carla and Justin and their daughters. Charlotte and Músculo and their chicks Jason and Petunia, together with Kira, Jojo and their daughters Vega and Winona; Lavender and Garrett and their three chicks, Deneb, Lilac and Polaris and Felix, Turquesa and their sons Austin and Diego, fluttered after Bia and Carla and their families. Tiago, Matilda and their chicks Bellatrix and Bartholomew, however, slowly followed along for they were still gripped with sadness but they felt that spending time with their friends would lift their spirits.

"Don't go too far, you lot," said Zephyr as the Spix macaws disappeared into the vegetation. Virgil, Justin, Carla, Jojo, Felix, Lavender, Kira, Turquesa, Garrett, Charlotte and Músculo smiled at him as they led their offspring into the vegetation while Tiago and Matilda just sighed sadly and nodded. Then Ganymede, Mimas, Io, Sheldon, Europa, Byron, Callisto and Athos decided to follow with their offspring Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine and Thymine, Betelgeuse and Rigel, Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka, Canopus and Katniss.

"We're gonna follow those Spix macaws and make sure that they are safe and that they don't run into trouble or danger for one and so that they'll spend time with us for another," said Io.

"Our grounded kids could do with a change of scene as well for a third thing," said Europa. At this, the red and Catalina chicks all emitted groans of disappointment.

"Can we go and play as well, please?" moaned Adenine.

"We wanna play with Sirius, Einstein and Miles," said Guanine. The others also begged their parents but the only response the eleven chicks got was a firm parental glare.

"I'm afraid that's forbidden, kids," said Sheldon firmly, "You're to stay by our sides throughout the entire little outing."

"You're still grounded for taking part in causing trouble for some of the residents yesterday," said Callisto.

"But it wasn't us that started it," said Betelgeuse.

"It was those toucan kids," said Rigel.

"They were the ones who brought in this idea to cause that mischief," said Canopus.

"And they pushed us into it," said Katniss. The other seven squeaked in agreement.

"That may be true, you two," said Io, "But you're still grounded."

"It's for _participating_ in the trouble," said Athos. His frown then hardened. "But one other thing is especially certain, kids, you are strictly forbidden from interacting with ANY of those toucan kids apart from Diantha and Tom's three."

"Yes," said Byron in an agreeing voice, "Those big nosed hoodlums are a bad influence on any kid with sense and the last thing we want is any of you lot being drawn into wrong habits such as engaging in serious naughtiness."

Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine, Thymine, Betelgeuse, Rigel, Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka, Canopus and Katniss all sighed and at their parents' commands, followed them into the vegetation. Behind Ganymede's group, Dione, Porthos, Titan, Brooke, Enceladus, Trixie, Tethys and Oberon decided to follow along, their kids also by their sides.

"We're gonna take our kids on an outing as well," said Dione as Porthos, Peter and Procyon accompanied her.

"Yeah," said Porthos, "Maybe a little trip after Ganymede's group will help us to forget what happened yesterday."

Procyon and Peter both sighed for the aftereffects of yesterday's incident involving Sandalwood still lingered. The two brothers, along with everyone else, still felt very sorry for Sandalwood and his fear of heights. Titan, Brooke, Castor, Pollux and Poppy prepared to depart into the vegetation along with Enceladus, his hyacinth mate Trixie and their daughter Mira and Tethys and Oberon and their hybrid chicks Cressida and Fomalhaut.

"We'll be back in a few hours," said Titan to Zephyr, Brisa and the other older macaws, "We're only gonna take our chicks out into the jungle for a change of scene."

"Okay, don't go too far," said Zephyr.

"If any trouble arises," said Augustus, "Come straight back with the kids in tow, okay?"

"And also keep well away from those toucan gangs," said Uranus firmly. Titan and the others nodded and with that, the group left after Ganymede's group. Miranda and Aramis with their chicks Capella and Achernar, Titania, her military mate Ash and their sons Basil and Antares, Umbriel and her scarlet mate Benjamin and their chicks Perdita, Aldebaran and Cecil, Indigo, Victor and Gertie, Phoebe, Squaw'tagnan and their daughter Arcturus, and Blueberry, Aiden, Charon, Neytiri, Azul, Fernanda and their chicks Arcturus, Saiph, Regulus, Denebola, Oceano and Carmen made the decision to tag along, as did Diantha, Tom, Gladion, Lillie and Aurora, Frodo, Ellie, Olivia, Sylvester, Alegria, Pitaya, and Achillies, Spyro, Marella, Altair and Bambi, and also Stella, Soren, Sebastian, Anabelle and their three pups Sandalwood, Ferdinand and Acerola. After saying goodbye to the elders and also Triton and Iris who had also decided to stay behind, they left after the others in the jungle as well; Soren, Stella and Sandalwood running along for Sandalwood did not want to be carried. Sapphire and Lapis Lazuli took a few steps forward.

"Be safe, you lot," murmured Sapphire. Then Melissa and Andromeda came forward while Cometa prepared to take Orion, Velocity, Merlin, Hermione and Zelda for a flight out as well.

"I think they could do with some of us going along as well, don't you think," said Melissa.

"Look, Melissa," said Ruby to the flying fox, "Our children can take care of themselves."

"Year, and besides that," put in Orquidea, "They are very sensible."

Andromeda, however, was adamant in her and Melissa's decision.

"Look, our families have run into trouble with those pesky toucan kids already with Luna being in hospital, Sandalwood being afraid to fly," said she as she beckoned her bat-bird Rouge over, "And my mate Eragon has been injured with a damaged shoulder. I don't want anything to happen to any more of our family members least of all our grandkids so it's important that Carla and the others out there get extra support when they need it."

At first, Ruby and Orquidea were about to protest but then they relented.

"Okay, you be careful out there," said Ruby firmly.

"Be safe, dear," said Augustus. With approving smiles, Andromeda and Melissa prepared to depart into the jungle after Carla and the others, Andromeda mounting her bat-bird and taking off while Melissa climbed onto a fence and dropped into the air. Broccoli gazed after the archaeobird and flying fox worriedly but Ruby assured him that things were alright and that Andromeda and Melissa were experts in dealing with difficult situations. Assured somewhat, Broccoli let go of his concerns but he still felt uncertainty gnaw at him.

 **A few minutes later**

Carla, Bia, Tiago and the other Spix macaws with them continued flying or running through the clutter of green leaves and fern fronds, Ganymede, Io, Europa, Callisto and the others with them including Sebastian, Stella and their families not too far behind. As the group continued their little adventure into the clutter, the Spix macaws came to a stop when Bia spotted a butterfly flit past. Ganymede's group soon turned up and they joined the Spix macaws. After this, the chicks, and also Sandalwood, Acerola and Ferdinand all gathered around Bia and Virgil with Sirius, Einstein, Miles, Sonia, Melody and Spica at the front with Ferdinand and Sandalwood at the far end. Bellatrix and Bartholomew miserably joined the front as Bia then began to introduce the chicks to the butterfly as it landed on a discarded fruit on the floor. This butterfly had metallic blue on the upper sides of its wings and was one of Bia's favourite species. Sirius, Spica and Einstein gazed in fascination at the insect while Miles fiddled with his mobile.

"This blue butterfly is a Morpho," said the scientific minded macaw, "As you can see, its wings glisten like a metallic surface."

The chicks, Sandalwood, Acerola and Ferdinand all gathered around the butterfly to gaze at its blue sheeny wings up close. Their eyes inflated in amazement as the flaps of metallic blue opened and closed.

"Woooow," cried Einstein in awe. Then Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka frowned in puzzlement as the butterfly continued to open and close its wings.

"Why are the wings' shades of blue changing?" asked Alnitak.

"Is it by magic?" asked Alnilam. Bia burst out laughing as did some of the other adult birds as Ganymede stepped forward to explain.

"No, you three," he said, "The change in the shades of blue is caused by light bouncing off tiny scales on the butterfly's wing's surface. Nothing magical about it at all."

"It's called iridescence, isn't it?" said Bellatrix, her misery briefly forgotten.

"Yes, that's true," said Bia with an impressed smile. Tiago, Matilda and Bartholomew looked on in amazement at Bellatrix's grasp of complicated scientific terms. Bellatrix certainly was a combination of Carla, Bia and Tiago: she was at times mischievous like her father, but also nerdy like her paternal aunt Bia. Her assertive nature which she got from her other aunt Carla was yet to fully show itself for she had only revealed it in small flashes.

"Smart girl," said Tiago in a low voice. Then Betelgeuse and Rigel's eyes travelled to something hanging from the stalk of a fern nearby. It resembled a folded leaf but was stuck to the green stem of the fern.

"What's that thing?" asked Betelgeuse. At this, Spica came in and followed her gaze.

"That's a pupa," she said, recognition of the object flashing within her, "Apparently a caterpillar's in the process of metamorphosis."

Carla then smiled at Justin, amused by her daughter's likeness of her sister Bia. Like Bellatrix, Spica was also very nerdy as were Ganymede and Mimas's four Catalina chicks Adenine, Cytosine, Guanine and Thymine. Then Austin and Diego, Felix and Turquesa's sons, shot Betelgeuse, Rigel and Spica an amused look.

"Did you say 'poop' Spica?" asked Austin immaturely. Spica shot her second cousin a glare.

"No, I said 'pupa'!" she snapped.

"It sounded like you said 'poop'," said Diego immaturely and with that, giggles escaped his beak but the moment he found himself on the receiving end of two pairs of parental eyes laced with a rebuking stare, he stopped laughing.

"Stop being so crude, Diego and Austin," scolded Felix, making the boys jump. Betelgeuse, Rigel and Spica gave smug smiles as Rigel cupped a wing to whisper into Spica's ear.

"Boys are so often immature unlike us girls, Ri," she whispered. However, Austin and Diego shot the red macaw chick a glare.

"I can hear you, you know, Rigel," Austin snapped.

"Did you think we'd not be able to hear that remark?" added Diego.

"Silence!" shouted Io, making the five chicks and everyone else jump. Austin, Diego, Spica, Betelgeuse and Rigel then slowly gazed at the scarlet macaw as she continued, "Let's not get into petty quarrels, okay?"

"Yes, where're here to enjoy the scenery, not fall out," said Sheldon. The chicks all nodded while Sandalwood breathed a sad sigh. It was then he caught sighed something out the corner of his eye. At this, the little amber flying fox turned and saw something in the shadows of a cluster of plants. Compelled by curiosity, Sandalwood sneaked away from Stella, Soren and the others' side and towards whatever was hiding in the cluster of plants, Stella and the others too busy in calming the chicks down to notice his sneaking away. Tiago then smiled at Bia as she called the chicks and pups' attention, the brief amusement masking the misery for a moment.

"I remember making that same mistake as well," he said. Bia just shot him an annoyed look and prompted Tiago to sit back down beside Bartholomew and Bellatrix as Bia then began to talk about the pupa Betelgeuse and Rigel had spotted. While Bia began to explain the lifecycle of a butterfly, starting with the introduction of the pupa as being one of the stages, Sandalwood, showing no interest in this biology lesson, continued to sneak off into the vegetation after the mysterious thing he had spotted in a cluster of greenery. As he continued sneaking further and further away from the group, some leaves behind the rest of the group shuddered and two pairs of eyes peered out at the group. Andromeda and Melissa, having followed Bia's group, then began to watch the scene as Bia continued discussing the butterfly's lifecycle, Rouge hidden near Andromeda.

"Where's Sandalwood?" asked Melissa in a low voice.

Sandalwood continued crawling through the vegetation following the form as it continued bounding through the dense green clutter, squeezing under roots and hopping over a variety of forest floor litter. However, despite his best efforts, the figure which was nothing more than a black blob in the shadows with eyes was too deft and fast for the little flying fox to catch up and the gap between the form and Sandalwood continued to widen. Sandalwood continued pursuing the mystery creature until finally giving up when he realised that he was not going to be able to catch up to it. However, the flying fox pup soon realised that he had separated himself too far from the others and he began to look for a way back to the safety of Stella, Soren and the others' side. Before he could do this, he heard the sound of leaves rustle directly in front of him. At this, Sandalwood stopped and gazed at the shaking leaves. In those leaves were as pair of glowing balls. One of Sandalwood's eyebrows rose as curiosity gripped him once again.

"What?" he murmured and began to crawl towards them. As he did so, several shadowy forms bounded past him and in the direction of his group. All of them were armed with some sort of baggy object similar to the objects humans used to carry things but they were not made from plastic. Sandalwood, at this, paused as his eyes caught sighted the flashes but when he turned round, he saw nothing, before resuming creeping towards the leaves that had shaken. Once he was close enough to the leaves, he slowly extended a black membranous wing towards the flat pieces of green plant material, his eyes glimmering with curiosity. However, he did not know that he was about to be led into a trap. The moment the young flying fox's wing parted some of the leaves, a large bird's face exploded cackled evilly, its eyes glittering menacingly. However, it was not a toucan chick. Sandalwood, stricken by surprise and fear, let loose a piercing scream. The screech echoed through the clutter and reached the ears of the other flying foxes and birds, interrupting Bia's lesson on a butterfly's lifecycle, and also Melissa and Andromeda who had been watching the group. The heads of the birds, mostly macaws, and the flying foxes snapped in the direction of Sandalwood's screams.

"SANDALWOOD!" screeched Stella and with that, she and Soren took off like rockets. The others followed. Andromeda and Melissa also abandoned their hiding place and gave chase.

"Don't tell me he's fallen into trouble with another of those toucan kid gangs, has he?" snarled Diantha as the group rushed through the vegetation with Tom, Gladion, Lillie and Aurora flying alongside her.

"Well if so," snapped Carla fiercely as she, Justin, Sonia, Melody and Spica flew alongside Tiago, Matilda, Bellatrix and Bartholomew, their misery overshadowed by immense fear and dread for Sandalwood, "Then we WILL become aggressive."

"We're NOT gonna have ANY of those BIG NOSED PESTS subjecting Sandalwood to cruelty EVER AGAIN!" screeched Sebastian volcanically. The looks of eruption also laced Anabelle, Acerola and Ferdinand's faces as well. Sirius, Einstein, Miles, Bellatrix, Bartholomew, Sonia, Spica, Melody, Petunia and Jason as they flew alongside their parents shot the albino son of Augustus and Melissa a startled look. Since when was Sebastian this furious? It was clearly out of character for Stella and Luna's older brother to be so thunderous for he was normally a loving and gentle flying fox but since his nephew was in trouble and he was dreading of any toucan kids' involvement, especially after what happened with Sandalwood falling off the branch, it was no surprise. Back where Sandalwood was, the amber flying fox was screaming at the top of his lungs, grasped by the neck by a feathered wing and flapping madly but his capturer, which appeared to be a black corvid bird, refused to slacken its grip on the young flying fox's neck.

"Scream all ya like, you little potentially rare bat," crowed the corvid, "But you ain't gettin' any help!"

Then with a maniacal laugh, Sandalwood was stuffed into a sack and the corvid made a break for it, moments before the rest of the group showed up. As the group led by Carla, Bia, Tiago, Stella and Soren exploded from a cluster of leaves, Sandalwood's capturer called to some other shadowy figures, also corvids, hiding under the ferns and shrubs. The group froze.

"Do you guys hear that?" asked Virgil.

"Sounds like a crow," said Charlotte. Then Músculo spotted a flash of black and sandy brown through the green clutter.

"THERE!" he barked. The others' eyes darted in his gaze's direction and landed on a large black corvid bird as it glared back at them with malice-filled eyes. The moment the eyes of Bia, Carla, Tiago, Justin, Matilda, Virgil and also Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, Phoebe, Jojo, Felix, Lavender, Kira, Aiden, Charon, Neytiri and Blueberry and the others that had come across crows before landed on this bird, chills flowed down their spines and their bodies became statues. Those that had gone to Guyana to find the treasure to save the Sanctuary de Amazon remembered a certain gang of birds having these types of mobbing corvids as part of their group, and Kira and Aiden, having been part of that bad crowd before they met Carla and company, remembered those birds clearly. The others including Stella, Soren, Anabelle, Sebastian, Frodo, Ellie, Spyro and Marella also remembered some crows being part of that sneaky group of poachers led by Lysandre who had hatched a devious plan in infiltrating the protected Amazon sanctuary to nab birds for the pet trade using falcons, that same group Cometa used to be a part of before she resigned and became part of Blu and company's extended family.

"That's definitely a crow alright," said Kira, her feathers bristling. Jojo kept Winona and Vega protectively wrapped in his wings as he gazed at the black feathered form holding the sack, and that sack was emitting muffled screams of help and writhing. Stella and Soren immediately saw this and recognised the muffled screams, as did many of the others.

"I believe you have our son in that sack," said Stella, her white fur bristling and her reddish eyes blazing fire. Soren also got prepared for action as the crow's beak widened into a wicked smile.

"I'm afraid it won't happen, fur face," it crooned and before Carla, Bia, Tiago, Stella and Soren and the others could lunge at the bird to rescue Sandalwood, the crow released a call. The group paused, wondering why it was calling but before they could reach a conclusion, everything was thrown violently into chaos as the leaves around the group rustled and they were set upon by more corvid birds, some black entirely and some black and white, with sacks.

"Grab as many as you can to bring back to our owners as samples outside the fence," called the crow and with that, he dashed off with Sandalwood in its sack in tow, leaving his comrades to attack Bia's group. Stella and Soren, together with Tom, then took off after the crow at the others' urging to rescue Sandalwood.

Moments later, bird and flying fox screeches of fury and chick screams tore apart the quiet sunny jungle air as Bia's group began to viciously fend off their attackers. Justin, Charlotte, Matilda, Virgil, Carla, Bia, Tiago and Músculo all leaned protectively over Sirius, Einstein, Miles, Sonia, Melody, Spica, Bellatrix, Bartholomew, Petunia and Jason and also Vega, Winona, Diego, Austin, Deneb, Lilac and Polaris with their wings spread protectively over the extremely frightened and cowering chicks while Jojo, Kira, Felix, Lavender, Garrett and Turquesa viciously fought back against the sack-armed crows. Nearby, Io, Europa, Mimas and Callisto had their wings wrapped around Adenine, Guanine, Thymine, Cytosine, Betelgeuse and Rigel, Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka, Canopus and Katniss while their respective mates Sheldon, Byron, Ganymede and Athos viciously went for the crows trying to capture them with their sacks. The terrified red and Catalina chicks let loose screams as they saw one of the crows throw the sack over Athos's head only for Jojo to come in and slash the crow's face and make him release his green-winged friend. Nearby, Dione, Trixie and Porthos were fighting off more crows while Titan, Brooke, Enceladus, Tethys and Oberon kept a firm and protective hold on Procyon, Peter, Castor, Pollux, Poppy, Mira, Cressida and Fomalhaut. Trixie viciously threw her weight around and crushed a number of crows, screeching furiously while Porthos and Dione went like savage cats at other crows threatening the Spix macaws and also Frodo, Ellie, Olivia, Sylvester, Achilles, Pitaya and Alegria as they cowered together, the chicks under the adults' bodies.

"Don't tell me these crows are poachers' pets, aren't they!?" shouted Dione as she dodged a sack sweep before retaliating with a slash of her claws at the crow's face and chest.

"I don't know but I'd hate to find out," said Porthos. He then lunged at a crow about to plunge its sack over Io, Europa, Mimas and Callisto and their chicks, tackling it away and sending it flying into a patch of ferns. Nearby, Aramis, Ash, Benjamin and Victor drove away more crows as they captured Miranda who had Capella and Achernar, Titania who held Basil and Antares, Umbriel who had Perdita, Aldebaran and Cecil and Indigo who held Gertie firmly in their wings.

"Get away from OUR MATES AND CHICKS, you CORVID SWINES!" bellowed Aramis and with that, he agilely dodged the crows' attempts to fight back and slashed each one across the face, knocking them down. Victor used his fruit shell hat to knock away another crow from Indigo and Gertie and some other macaws. Close by, Phoebe, Charon, Blueberry and Fernanda were desperately trying to get Arcturus, Saiph, Regulus, Denebola, Oceano and Carmen to safety while Squaw'tagnan, Neytiri, Aiden and Azul fiercely throttled and wrestled with more crows. Diantha, Sebastian, Anabelle and Marella also had their wings shielding Lillie, Gladion, Aurora, Bambi, Altair, Acerola and Ferdinand as Spyro, together with his and Marella's bat-birds drove away two crows trying to get at them, the frightened pups and chicks wailing in terror. Then an idea entered Trixie's head nearby.

"We need some of us to hurry back to Zephyr's group and get help," she called as she held a crow by the neck, the crow trying to shove the sack over her head to capture her.

"That's a good idea," shouted Frodo as he drove away another crow trying to get at his family. However, no sooner than these words had left his beak when suddenly, terrorised screams filled the air. Dread tore through the male Cuban macaw and Enceladus's hyacinth mate and when they, along with the others, turned their gazes in the direction of the screams, horror struck them like stones. Some of the crows had managed to overpower Carla, Bia, Tiago, Charlotte, Charon and Blueberry's families and had begun to stuff the Spix and glaucous macaws into their sacks. Sirius writhed in one crow's wing, kicking and screaming but his captor shoved him into its sack with Miles and Einstein while nearby, another crow had shoved its sack over Bia's head as she tried to get at her sons. Charon, Neytiri, Regulus and Denebola were also stuffed into one sack despite their furious squawking and clawing while two more crows shoved Saiph, Blueberry and Aiden into another sack. Before he was swallowed up by the brown bag, Aiden shot the others a desperate gaze.

"Get… HEEELLLP!" he screeched before a black crow wing appeared and shoved him into the sack. Nearby, the red, blue-and-gold and green macaws and the others were also beginning to struggle to fend off the crows as they began to bag them as well. Trixie then prepared to lunge at three crows when she saw them pin Enceladus and their hybrid chick, Mira, against the ground and restrain them but Enceladus shot her a pleading look.

"You get help," he begged, "You're a fast flyer so you'll be able to reach our parents eas…" however, his voice was cut off as a crow talon slammed onto his throat.

"Shut up, you little blue and yellow bird," growled the crow menacingly, "You're gonna come with us. Trixie, torn between helping her mate, daughter and the others and getting help, then made her decision as a black toucan wing tugged on her shoulder.

"Come on, let's GO!" cried Diantha and with that, the toco/keel-billed toucan hybrid and hyacinth macaw lofted into flight. Marella also jumped onto her bat-bird and took off after the toucan and hyacinth macaw at Spyro's urging before the archaeobird was stuffed into a sack. However, moments after the trio had vanished into the trees, three blurs, one metallic blue, a second reddish and the other brown and black, exploded from some leaves and pounced onto some of the crows, an enraged flying fox, bat-bird and archaeobird screech exploding from them. Some of the crows turned round just in time to see a furious older flying fox and archaeobird, accompanied by her reddish coloured bat-bird, their eyes blazing firestorms, zoom in a beeline towards their comrades holding the sacks containing some of the Spix macaws, flying foxes and also Spyro and savagely attack them just as the remaining members of Bia's group was captured. Melissa and Rouge clawed some of the crows across the faces and made them release the sacks containing Tiago and his family, allowing Blu and Jewel's son, along with his mate Matilda, son Bartholomew and daughter Bellatrix to escape while Andromeda savagely slashed her foot talons across the faces of two more crows to make them release the sacks containing Bia, Virgil, Sirius, Einstein, Miles and Carla, Justin, Sonia, Spica and Melody, also allowing them to escape their sacks. However, crow talons appeared, seized Matilda, Bellatrix and Bartholomew, Justin, Sonia, Melody, Spica, and Virgil, Sirius, Einstein and Miles and stuffed them into some more sacks, much to Carla, Bia and Tiago's horror.

"Let's get OUTA HERE!" cried the lead crow and with that, the flock of thieving black birds flapped off into the green clutter, their sacks and containing the writhing and screeching birds and flying foxes, in tow, narrowly escaping further wrath from Melissa, Rouge and Andromeda.

After the chaos had settled down, Andromeda shot Carla, Bia and Tiago as the three puffed and panted from the ordeal, a glare.

"We need to return to the others and enlist their help, NOW!" she squawked.

"Trixie, Diantha and Marella have already gone to do just that," replied Bia who was badly shaken from the whole ordeal.

"Where's Sandalwood and also Soren and Stella!?" demanded Melissa.

"Sandalwood's been captured by another of those crows and his parents, along with Tom, have chased off after it," said Tiago. Melissa's face then flashed to a look of dread before determination to rescue the captured birds and flying foxes, especially her grandson Sandalwood, came in.

"We'd better pursue those crows before they take them to somewhere that's remote, then," said Melissa and with that, Andromeda hopped onto her bat-bird Rouge's back and together, the three Spix macaws, flying fox and archaeobird and her bat-bird dashed off into the trees after the crows in a blended blur of cerulean, blue, metallic blue, brown, black and reddish fur, feathers and membranous wings.


	18. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17- a wild chase**

Back in Linda's garden, Sapphire, Zephyr, Roberto, Brisa, Ruby, Chiquitita, Orquidea, Esmeralda, Ultramarine, Lapis Lazuli, Cobalto and Augustus continued to chat with Broccoli and Daisy while Estelle, Alexandre, Phobos and Deimos continued to play with Xander and Kayley and also Eustace, Milo, Rosa, Serena, Clemont and their chicks Peach, Yolanda, Oscar and Bruno and Triton and Iris. Nearby, Cometa, Lightning, Orion, Velocity, Hermione, Merlin and Zelda were feasting on some ducks and pigeons they had captured during their hunt, Hermione and Orion talking about having another clutch of eggs to replace Hunter who had died last night from his injuries. Grief still gripped the falcons like a giant crab's claw, and Orion and Hermione were especially smothered by the cloud of despondence as they continued to mourn the loss of their son. Because of this, they had been refusing to talk to any of the others. Broccoli gazed sympathetically at the falcons.

"It's gonna take Orion and his merlin mate a long time to overcome the loss of their son and move on," he murmured, "I remember Daisy and I, and also our brother Thomas and sister Collette mourning the loss of our father Veggie when he passed away…"

"He passed away from a ripe old age, Broc," said Sapphire, "But in Hunter's case, he passed away as the result of the carelessness of those toucan kids including Isabella, that bratty daughter of Marco and Anastasia." She snarled the names of those two toucans with bitterness. Since the incident involving Marco and his mate blaming Tiago and Matilda's daughter for causing the whole mess, resulting in the massive gash in the confidence of that couple as well as possibly their reputation, Sapphire had begun to fiercely despise those two toucans. In fact she could not stand to be around many of Rafael and Eva's adult offspring due to the arrogance in some of them, while in the majority of the rest, their negligence of their kids' behaviour. Broccoli then gazed into wall of green trees and vegetation.

"I wonder how Bia and the others are doing," he said, before his gaze moved to the direction of Tulio's Aviary, "And also Blu's group in dealing with the toucan chick infestation."

"Well, hopefully they will have started implementing their plans in showing Tulio the toucan problem plaguing the Blu Bird Sanctuary by now," said Chiquitita as she held her two grandkids, Xander and Kayley in her wings, Alexandre, Estelle, Phobos and Deimos flanking her. A frown then came upon her face, "And I hope Rafael and Eva will receive a great big wakeup call to the problems their offspring is causing for the other residents of the sanctuary such as the trouble, competition for the food reserves and living space."

The others nodded in agreement. Just then, the sounds of flapping of wings reached the group's ears. Broccoli was the first to pick up the sounds for cats had sensitive hearing.

"Sounds like some of Bia's group has returned," he said.

"What, already?" asked Zephyr perplexed. Driven by this confusion, the group converged towards the bordering forest. As they gathered around the wall of greenery, Esmeralda saw some shapes melt out of the shadows cast by the overlaying canopy of leaves and branches of the above trees.

"Look, it's Trixie and…" she said, "Diantha and Marella and her bat-bird."

"And they look as though they've had a narrow escape from a predator," said Roberto when he saw how frantic the four approaching birds and bat-bird were approaching the group. Then worry began to grip the group.

"Well, I hope something awful hasn't happened," said Augustus, "Because you know my and Melissa's remaining son and daughter are out there with their mates and our two granddaughters and only grandson…"

As he said this, a large navy blue macaw with yellow rings around her eyes and a crescent behind her lower mandible exploded into the picture and as she did, she crash-landed on her front right before Zephyr, Roberto, Brisa, Ultramarine, Triton and Iris much to their surprise. Moments later, Diantha, Marella and the latter's bat-bird appeared. Zephyr and Roberto then helped Trixie to their feet while Diantha and Marella's bat-bird took a moment to regain their breath. However, Marella was able to speak for she did not fly like the other two by herself and she gazed at Zephyr's group with a look of sheer terror, much to their worry.

"Has something happened?" asked Zephyr. The others looked on, hoping that the look on Marella's face was just an overreaction. However, her terror was genuine, especially in her voice as she spoke.

"You'd better come with us, NOW!" she squawked. The others' heads' jerked upward from dread.

"Why, what's happened?" asked Roberto, his crest feathers spiked out.

"Does this have something to do with Bia and company?" asked Ultramarine. At this, Augustus rushed in but nothing could prepare him or the others for what Trixie said next the moment she got her breath back.

"Yes," she said, "They've been kidnapped by some thieving crows with sacks!"

The colour drained from the skins under the birds' facial feathers and Augustus's facial fur while a look of disbelief laced Broccoli and Daisy's faces. Then Orion, Hermione, Velocity and Merlin, along with Lightning, Cometa, Spike and Zelda came in.

"What did we just hear?" asked Cometa rather snappily, the grief over the loss of her grandson still gripping her. However, the macaws and Augustus had clearly heard what came out of Trixie's beak

"Crows with sacks!?" asked Zephyr incredulously. Nearby, Eustace and the other cockatoos present also gazed at Enceladus's hyacinth mate in utter disbelief.

"How could there be crows with sacks?" asked Brisa. Sapphire, Ruby, Chiquitita, Orquidea, Esmeralda, Lapis Lazuli, Cobalto and Phobos, Deimos, Alexandre and Estelle just exchanged confused glances.

"But there aren't any…" began Chiquitita but Augustus, dread already gripping him, cut her off.

"Take us there RIGHT NOW!" he demanded. Trixie, Marella and Diantha all nodded and rushed off back into the vegetation. Marella jumped onto her bat-bird and commanded her to fly.

"I'll alert BLU AND THE OTHERS!" shouted Cometa and with that she took off in the direction of Tulio's Aviary. Moments later, Augustus jumped onto a nearby rock and dropped into flight while Sapphire, Zephyr, Roberto, Brisa, Ruby, Chiquitita, Orquidea, Esmeralda, Ultramarine, Lapis Lazuli and Cobalto took off from the ground and tore after Augustus and also Trixie, Marella and Diantha. Broccoli and Daisy followed.

"Stay here with Estelle, Alexandre, Phobos, Deimos, Xander, Kayley and also Eustace, Milo, Rosa, Clemont, Serena, Peach, Oscar, Bruno and Yolanda, Lightning," shouted Zephyr as he followed the other macaws into the forest. Lightning, as he stood with Orion, Velocity, Spike, Zelda, Hermione, Merlin and the red macaws and the cockatoos, nodded. Zelda was about to take off but Merlin blocked her way.

"Oh, no you don't, daughter," said Merlin firmly, "You're staying put."

"Yes, we don't want to risk you getting hurt and possibly killed like how our son was," said Orion firmly. Zelda shot her uncle and her father a disappointed look and obeyed. Since the loss of Hunter last night, the older falcons have become overprotective of Zelda, especially from entering into the vegetation alone. Eustace then gazed at the others with a dark look.

"Blu and the others are gonna go berserk if they hear about this," he said.

"If only things can't get ANY WORSE," snapped Milo angrily.

"First those toucan brats with Sandalwood, Bellatrix, Vincent and Hunter," said Rosa sourly, "Then their parents branding our friends as bad parents, especially Tiago and Matilda, and now THIS!?"

Peach and Bruno backed away, fear gripping them as their mother raged. Clemont and Serena also wore sour faces. Behind the cockatoos, Alexandre and his family stood looking into the vegetation with fearful gazes.

"I hope those crows are stopped before they do Bia and the others any harm," Alexandre murmured.

"I HOPE SO!" snapped Estelle furiously, her anger being barely contained. Phobos, Deimos, Xander and Kayley also backed away, wary of Estelle's temper which had since become volatile after yesterday's events.

 **Meanwhile**

Back in the clutter of vegetation, a wild chase was happening. A flock of black corvid birds, some of them with white markings in their plumage, were rocketing through the maze of the greenery, weaving in and out with the sacks containing their catches in tow. The brownish bags writhed as their contents desperately tried to escape but to no avail. In pursuit were nine comets right behind them. Three of them were blue or cerulean, one was brown and black, another was black and orange, yet another was golden orange and black, the seventh was white and pale grey, and the other two were reddish and metallic blue both together. Carla, Bia, Tiago, Andromeda on her bat-bird Rouge, and Melissa were furiously chasing after the crows, desperately trying to reach them to free their mates, chicks and friends, Soren, Stella and Tom (Diantha's mate) accompanying them. Stella, Soren and Tom had joined the other six as the crow that had Sandalwood bagged had re-joined its comrades. The faces of the three Spix macaws, the toco toucan, the three flying foxes, and the archaeobird on her bat-bird were laced with thunderous looks, their eyes all blazing firestorms as they pursued the thieving crows through the dense clutter of green plants and tree trunks.

"I sure hope that Trixie, Diantha and Marella have alerted Zephyr and the others by now," shouted Carla as she dodged an outstretched fern frond.

"We could do with THAT," bellowed Melissa as she flew under another fern frond. Bia and Tiago then narrowly avoided colliding with a tree trunk while Tom, Stella, Soren and Andromeda on Rouge dodged a few shrubs.

"I only hope those crows aren't part of a group I'm dreading," barked Tom as he swung under another fern frond. As the group flew along, one of the crows, its sack bulging with some of the captured birds writhing to escape, shot the chasers a mean look.

"Try all ya like in catching us, you lousy flyers but you'll never succeed," it said in a gangster-like voice laced with mockery and with that, it topped it with a raspberry. Andromeda let loose a cat-like hiss.

"Oh yeah," she snarled, "Well trying escaping THIS!"

And with that, the archaeobird commanded Rouge to fly higher into the canopy, much to the surprise of Carla, Bia, Tiago, Tom, Soren, Stella and Melissa.

"What are you doing?" cried Carla. Andromeda didn't answer but continued ascending into the above canopy. Then she had Rouge accelerate so that the two were above the crows and as soon as she was right over the gang of corvids, Andromeda leaped off of Rouge's back and swooped down like a four-winged hawk upon the flock, both her forewings and hind-wings spread out like a feathered biplane with a long bony tail and her hind-wing claws poised to strike. Carla, Bia, Tiago, Tom, Soren, Stella and Melissa watched in amazement as the metallic theropod dinosaur-like bird glided down at the crows and then land on the back of one of them, the ringleader. As soon as she had done that, Andromeda released an enraged screech and began to score her talons and claws into the crow's back as well as clamp her muzzle-like beak onto some feathers and yank them out, making the crow screech in agony and writhe to dislodge the archaeobird. The other crows look on in astonishment as the ringleader then abruptly braked, dropped the bag containing Sandalwood and then turn to counter the savage four-winged bird. Carla, Bia and Tiago then swooped in at the dropped bag but a crow talon appeared in a blink of an eye and snatched it, the ringleader and Andromeda engaged in a ferocious struggle. The ringleader flashed its group a glance.

"Go, GO!" it shouted, its wings clamped onto Andromeda's jaws, only to receive a brutal slash down the torso by her sickle-like hind-wing talons, "Our owners are waiting outside the fence!"

At this, Carla, Bia, Tiago, Tom, Soren, Stella and Melissa felt worry and dread flash within them. The crow only managed to get this sentence out of its beak before Andromeda savagely heaved the corvid against a tree trunk, slamming its head and upper body hard against the hard surface and knocking it out. The other crows gazed at their wounded and knocked out ringleader and thought about helping it. However, the enraged screeches of Carla, Bia, Tiago, Tom, Stella, Soren and Melissa, as well as Rouge who landed on the ground to allow Andromeda to mount her again, made them change their minds and with that, they tore off through the vegetation once again, their sacks and captured victims in tow, with their chasers in hot pursuit.

 **At this moment, close by the commotion**

A group of toucans were flying through another part of the forest. Half of them were all grown up children of Rafael and Eva and were thus all half toco, half keel-billed hybrids, while the other half were pure toco toucans and the mates of the first half. Among this group were Marco and his mate Anastasia, and some of the former's well-known siblings, Carlos, Manoela, Sofia, Miguel and Rita, accompanied also by their mates and thirteen other siblings and their mates as well. Marco and company were having an adult-only outing and had left their many, many kids under the care of more of their siblings and in-laws until they returned. All twenty had well over thirty children and some of them had had yet ANOTHER clutch of eggs which these couples had also left in the care of their relatives while they were out. Marco and Anastasia, along with Manoela, Sofia and Miguel and their mates and a few of their accompanying siblings and their mates, were extremely proud of their numerous offspring but the rest of them including Rita and Carlos, didn't seem as happy, with uncertainty on the number of offspring gripping them but Rita and Carlos's mates were as proud as Marco and the other proud toucans in the growing number of offspring they were having.

"I can't believe how large our family has grown when summing up all our kids together," said Marco very proudly (whose small scratch across his chest given to him by Tiago yesterday was on the way to healing), his loving gaze fixed on Anastasia who smiled, "The number must be in the hundreds by now."

"Far more than our Mom and Pops for some of us," said Sofia very proudly. Rita and Carlos, however, had an opposite opinion.

"I don't know," said Carlos, "I think we're having too many kids to be honest."

"I think we should consider stopping having any more broods," said Rita in agreement. Many of the others, especially their mates, shot the two a surprised look.

"Why would you wanna do that?" asked one of Carlos, Rita, Marco, Manoela, Miguel and Sofia's unnamed sisters.

"You adore kids, don't you?" said Marco, "Especially you, Rita."

"We did decide that we'd have as many kids as possible," said Rita's mate, much to Rita's lack of certainty.

"Yeah, after all," put in Sofia, "Mom and Dad have continued having more broods so that means we should con true to have a lot of broods as well."

"Yeah, but haven't you guys noticed how much resources we need to provide for so many kids?" said Carlos, "Especially food. I had to collect mangoes and berries from two ENTIRE trees and bushes to feed our thirty-one kids at breakfast, lunch and dinner," he then gazed at his mate with a tired and stressed look, "And we have another clutch of five eggs in our nest to look after."

His mate just smiled as though the problems and the strain it was having on Carlos weren't important. All she seemed to care about was their ever increasing family. That look was mirrored on the faces Marco, Anastasia, Rita's mate and many of the other toucans in the group apart from three or four of the unnamed siblings of Marco and company.

"The Blu Bird Sanctuary has plenty of food to feed us, ALL of our kids AND the other non-toucan residents," said Marco, trying to assure Rita, Carlos and the others with them, "So let's not worry about food shortages, okay?"

The other toucans nodded, but the worry remained hovering above Rita and Carlos like a black cloud, especially as Carlos's mate said, "And once our current clutch of eggs hatch and the chicks grow, I would like another brood."

Carlos just sighed and flew on. As the toucans did, some sounds reached their ears and alerted them. At this, Marco stopped the group.

"What is it, dear?" asked Anastasia but Marco's talon went up in a 'Shh!' gesture. At this, the other toucans stopped to listen. The sounds were squawks, and they sounded enraged and in distress.

"Sounds like a group of birds having a squabble," said Manoela.

"Well if so," said Sofia, "I wouldn't be surprised since squabbles sometimes happen on the Blu Bird Sanctuary, especially among kids."

As she said this, the squawking sounds increased in loudness as their sources came nearer. Carlos listened to the mood of the sounds. As he did so, familiarity took hold.

"Sounds like some of our 'cousins'," he said, "I hope they aren't arguing or having a vicious fall out."

Marco frowned when this sentence was picked up by his brain as memories of Tiago attacking him last night flashed through his head. He still bore a grudge against the young Spix macaw for attacking him last night, as well as brand Isabella and some of his kids as misbehaved despite them being completely responsible for Sandalwood's accident yesterday and felt no sympathy for him and his mate Matilda whatsoever.

"Well if it's that brat Tiago, then good," he growled spitefully, his feathers bristling. In addition to bearing grudges against anyone who offends him, Marco, along with Anastasia, never believed their kids to be naughty and always deflected the blame back at any accuser regardless of the facts, especially when his and Anastasia's kids make up a story to direct the trouble away from themselves and at other kids, especially innocent kids, like they had done with Bellatrix, Tiago and Matilda's daughter. As a result, Marco and Anastasia very rarely disciplined their forty-one kids and always believed their stories to be true, even if they were a pack of lies. This same attitude was duplicated on Sofia, Manoela and many of the other adult offspring of Rafael and Eva as well. Sofia then made a scornful scowl.

"I sure hope Tiago and Matilda are UTTERLY ASHAMED after what their daughter had done to that little bat pup and also the juvenile cockatoo and falcon as well," she growled. The other toucans, including Carlos and Rita who also believed this pack of lies, murmured in agreement. Shortly after this, the distressed and enraged bird squawks were loud enough for words to be recognised.

"Will you release those chicks and flying fox pups and the others THIS MINUTE, you bunch of CORVID HOODLUMS!"

"GET BACK HEEEERE!"

Carla and an unfamiliar bird's voice and within seconds, one of the unnamed toucans spotted a flash of blurry colour through the trees.

"Guys, look!" he shouted and pointed a talon. Marco and the others followed the toucan's point and when their eyes landed on the colourful comets, some shocked gasps were drawn in, especially as their eyes landed on a bunch of black and white birds with brown things in their talons.

"Good grief!" cried Rita in horror.

"A bunch of crows with sacks?" shouted Carlos in disbelief. As the flock of crows, all with evil looks on their faces and brown sacks trailing under them, shot past, several forms came into view. Three of them were familiar blue macaws while the other six were an unfamiliar large brown bat, a smaller golden orange bat and a white bat with a faces like a husky dog, a black toco toucan similar to Rafael, a metallic blue bird with flight feathers on its hind legs and a reddish bat-like creature with a beak like a bird but no feathers on its body carrying the metallic blue four winged bird. All nine wore fiery looks on their faces and the three Spix macaws' eyes were blazing brown and green firestorms. Carlos instantly recognised the three Spix macaws but he thought the toco toucan was familiar as well.

"Carla, Bia, Tiago and Dad (Rafael)?" he said in surprise, though the toco toucan was not Rafael, but one of his brothers-in-law.

"What's going on?" asked Rita. Marco flew in and glared at the nine forms, especially one of the three blue macaws which was Tiago. However, instead of determination to help out based on the dire situation based on how the group of nine birds, bats, and bat-bird were chasing the crows, the desire the vengeance boiled within him.

"Well, whatever's going on," he growled to the other toucans, "That's not important. I wanna give that wretched and pathetic excuse for a father a piece of my mind for attacking me yesterday. Let's go!"

"But shouldn't we help him, his sisters and the other six?" asked Rita.

"They look like they're in trouble," said Carlos. Marco, the desire to get at Tiago completely consuming him like a fire, did not hear his brother and sister's protests and rocketed off after Tiago and his group. The other toucans followed, Sofia wearing the same spiteful look on her face.

"I can't wait to see how Marco's confrontation with Tiago pans out," she growled, "I think he could do with a lesson taught to him."

"Yeah, absolutely," put in Anastasia, "No-one attacks my mate like that, OR brand our kids as attempted murderers. Let's go."

Rita and Carlos said nothing but flashed their sister and sister-in-law an uncertain look before following the other toucans as they began to pursue Tiago and company.

The chase between Tiago, Carla, Bia, Melissa, Soren, Stella, Tom, and Andromeda and Rouge and the attempted corvid kidnappers continued right to the edge of the Blu Bird Sanctuary but the nine were so engrossed in chasing the kidnappers that they failed to notice the double fence with the helices of spiky wire running over the top of them. The chase continued right over the fence and within moments, Carla and company were right outside three sanctuary's outer boundaries. However, the nine had managed to catch up to the thieving crows and as soon as they had done so, the three Spix macaws, three flying foxes, toucan, archaeobird and bat-bird savagely attacked the crows, making them drop their sacks and their contents.

Stella went straight for the crow carrying Sandalwood in its sack and ferociously yanked out some of the flight feathers from one of its wings, making it scream in agony and drop Sandalwood's sack and also the other sack containing Bellatrix, Bartholomew and Matilda. As the sacks landed and their contents were thrown out, Matilda, Bellatrix and Bartholomew, along with Sandalwood, dizzily rose to their feet, dazed from the entire wild ride. Around these four, more sacks were dropped and the other kidnapped birds and flying foxes escaped their sacks. Io, Sheldon, Betelgeuse and Rigel dizzily fought their way out of their sack and began to help the others out as well. While the almost kidnapped began to emerge from their sacks, Tiago, Carla, Bia, Melissa, Soren, Stella, Tom, and Andromeda and Rouge continued savagely attacking the crows.

"Normally, I'm NEVER violent against birds," screeched Melissa as she throttled a crow by the neck with her feet, her eyes brown firestorms, "But when they threaten or endanger my friends, least of all my family members, I'M NOT A FLYING FOX TO MESS WITH!"

And with that she threw the crow against a tree trunk with all her might. The black and white bird crashed hard against the hard bark, its left wing caught between its body and the trunk, and then crashed to the ground. As it stood up, it felt extreme pain from its wing, its wing broken from the impact. However, Frodo and Ellie the Cuban macaws rushed in and drove it away, slashing their claws and biting at it. Tom, Stella, Soren, Carla, Bia and Tiago then savagely attacked more crows and drove them away as well while Andromeda struck down more crows with her sickle-like hind claws, Rouge mauling another crow. Then after the last of the crows were driven away, seeing that they were no match for the enraged birds and flying foxes despite the number disadvantage, they gave up and retreated. Melissa drove the last crow away, screeching like a cat. As soon as the crows were driven away, the nine turned their attention to the rescued birds and flying foxes. Virgil, Sirius, Einstein and Miles rushed over to Bia as did Justin, Sonia, Melody and Spica with Carla and Bellatrix, Matilda and Bartholomew to Tiago. At the same time, Sandalwood shouted, "Mom, Dad, Grandma!" as Soren, Stella and Melissa rushed over to him. The moment the four bats made collided, they shared a relieved group hug. The group was subsequently joined by Sebastian, Anabelle, Acerola and Ferdinand who had also recovered from the ordeal. Near the bats, the other birds also shared a massive group hug.

"Boy, I thought we were gonna lose you," cried Stella as she hugged her son.

"What a wild ride it's been," murmured Sebastian wearily, still dizzy from the whole ordeal. Acerola and Ferdinand were also dazed and Acerola felt sick, the skin under her facial fur a pale off-white green colour and her tongue hanging out. Next to the flying foxes, the Spix macaws were also all in a group hug. Carla clung onto Justin, Sonia, Melody and Spica and also Charlotte, Músculo, Petunia and Jason; Bia, Virgil, Sirius, Einstein and Miles were embracing Jojo, Kira, Vega and Winona, Felix, Turquesa, Austin and Diego and Lavender, Garrett, Deneb, Lilac and Polaris, all of who were also very dizzy and nauseated from the wild ride. Tiago, Matilda, Bellatrix and Bartholomew were hugging Ganymede and his family including his mate Mimas and hybrid kids Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine and Thymine and also Io, Sheldon, Betelgeuse and Rigel, Europa, Byron, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka, and Callisto, Athos and Canopus and Katniss.

"I'm so glad to be out of that horrible bag," said Athos as he clung onto Callisto and his son and daughter, "It's been difficult to breathe in there."

"Tell us about it," said Callisto as she hung onto her terrified kids. Nearby, the blue-and-gold and green macaws and their chicks were also in a relieved group hug, Stella, Soren and Sandalwood having gone over to them to hug them as well. Dione and Porthos looked nauseated and their sons Procyon and Peter were very frightened, as were Titan, Brooke, Castor, Pollux and Poppy, Enceladus and Mira, Tethys, Oberon, Cressida and Fomalhaut, and Miranda, Aramis, Capella and Achernar, Titania, Ash, Basil and Antares, and Umbriel, Benjamin, Perdita, Aldebaran and Cecil who were full of relief to be out of those claustrophobic bags. Because all the birds had been struggling in the sacks, their feathers were messy.

"That was the worst thing we've ever been through," said Miranda as she straightened her plumage, "I totally HATE being bagged."

"Those crows certainly were a bunch of feathered pigs," snarled Aramis bitterly as he examined the surroundings as though the crows were still around, "It didn't half frighten our kids."

Next to the blue-and-gold and green macaw group, Indigo, Victor (who was missing his fruit shell hat but didn't care) and Gertie, Phoebe, Squaw'tagnan and Arcturus, Blueberry, Aiden and Saiph, Charon, Neytiri, Regulus and Denebola, Azul, Fernanda, Oceano and Carmen, and also Frodo, Ellie, Sylvester, Olivia, Alegria, Achilles and Pitaya and Spyro, Bambi and Altair were especially shaken, as were Gladion, Lillie and Aurora who shuddered in Tom's wings. Spyro, Bambi and Altair were also shaking in Andromeda's wings, also relieved to be out of those horrible sacks. Then Enceladus turned to Carla, Bia, Tiago, Stella and Soren after the group broke their relieved hugs.

"Where are Trixie, Marella and Diantha?" he asked.

"They've gone to get Zephyr and the others," said Stella.

"They should be on their way by now," said Carla. Then Melissa began to examine the surroundings.

"Never mind about them," she said, "Let's just examine where we are first."

The other flying foxes and birds did so and began to take in their surroundings to gauge their collection as well.

"I hope were still in the sanctuary," said Virgil nervously as he held Sirius, Einstein and Miles who were still terrified, "Because if not…"

"I hope we aren't where you're about to mention, Virgil," said Justin as he held onto Sonia, Spica and Melody who were also too frightened to speak. Tiago, Matilda, Bellatrix and Bartholomew also did not speak and wanted to go home as soon as possible. Stella, Soren and Sandalwood, the latter who was even more frightened than before from the wild ride, also continued to examine the surroundings. This continued for a few more minutes until Aramis's eyes landed on something.

"Um… guys," he said, "There's the double fence with that nasty looking spiky wire coiled along their top," he said. At this, the others followed his gaze and saw the double fence and the barbed wire.

"That's the border of the Blu Bird Sanctuary to the outside land," said Carla. Melissa, Stella, Soren, Sandalwood, Sebastian, Anabelle, Ferdinand and Acerola gazed at the fence, having not seen a fence before.

"Why is there a coil of porcupine prickles along the top?" asked Sebastian.

"It's to disallow and discourage potential poachers from climbing the fences," explained Virgil. At this, Sebastian gazed at Bia's mate with surprise.

"That coil of spiky vines sure look lethal," said Melissa.

"A flying fox could easily tear their membranes on spikes like those," said Anabelle. Acerola and Ferdinand also shuddered at the sight of the barbed wire, and Porthos gazed at the fence and shuddered for he had seen this fence a while before, but it wasn't the sight of the barbed wire that was making him shudder.

"Which side of that fence are we on?" he asked. Then dread came upon Carla, Bia, Tiago and also Justin, Charlotte, Virgil, Matilda, Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto and some of the others. Then Io had an idea.

"I know, I'll fly upward to the treetops and check where we are from up there," she said.

"Then do so," snapped Melissa as nerves began to kick in, her worried gaze flickering this way and that at the surroundings as though she felt she was being watched, "I have a bad feeling about this unfamiliar place."

Io then opened her wings and was about to take off but before she could loft into flight, a voice stopped her in her tracks.

"Well, look who have decided to leave the sanctuary?" it said scornfully. At this, Io, along with Carla, Bia, Tiago and the others, shot the speaker a stunned look but the moment their eyes landed on the speaker, short gasps entered the beaks of some of them, especially Tiago and Matilda.

"MARCO!?" shouted these two macaws at the same time while Bellatrix and Bartholomew cowered behind their parents.

Marco, together with his mate Anastasia and his siblings Sofia, Manoela, Miguel and the other siblings with them and their mates stood glaring at Tiago and Matilda and the others with scornful looks on their faces.


	19. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18- a shambolic confrontation and another big mess**

Carla, Bia and Tiago, together with Justin, Charlotte, Matilda, Virgil, Músculo, Garrett, Lavender, Jojo, Kira, Felix and Turquesa and Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, Stella and Soren and the others continued to stand gazing at Marco and his group in utter disbelief. Marco, Anastasia, Sofia, Miguel and the other toucans with them continued glaring at the mixed group of macaws, flying foxes and archaeobirds with gazes laced with scorn, but Marco's gaze also had vengeance thrown into the mix as it pierced Tiago and Matilda who gazed back at him with utter disbelief, Bellatrix and Bartholomew cowering behind their parents. The two chicks' cousins, Sirius, Einstein, Miles, Sonia, Spica and Melody and Petunia and Jason also cowered behind their parents as did Vega, Winona, Austin, Diego, Deneb, Polaris and Lilac. Sandalwood also hid behind Stella and Soren, his fearful gaze on the toucans and the memories of the terrible incident at the clutches of these adults' kids flashing through his mind. Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine and Thymine hid behind Ganymede and Mimas, Betelgeuse and Rigel just stood by Io and Sheldon while Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka, Canopus and Katniss, intimidated by the scornful looks on Marco and his group's faces, hid behind Europa, Byron, Callisto and Athos, trying their best to stay out of sight. However, Sebastian and Anabelle's two pups, Acerola and Ferdinand, wore disgusted glares as they glared bitterly at the toucans, their parents Sebastian and Anabelle looking on in shock at the toucans.

Procyon and Peter also hid behind Dione and Porthos as did Castor, Pollux and Poppy behind Titan and Brooke, Mira behind her blue-and-gold father Enceladus, wishing her larger mother Trixie was here; Cressida and Fomalhaut cowered in Tethys's wings while their mother and Oberon continued to gaze at the toucans in shock, Miranda, Aramis, Capella and Achernar also wore looks of disbelief as did Titania, Ash, Basil and Antares, Umbriel, Benjamin, Perdita and Aldebaran, Cecil cowering behind his parents, brother and sister; Indigo and Victor, with Gertie hiding in Indigo's wings, also glared at the toucans in disbelief as did Phoebe, Squaw'tagnan and Arcturus, Blueberry, Aiden, Charon, Neytiri, Saiph, Regulus and Denebola; Azul, Fernanda, Oceano and Carmen; Frodo, Ellie, Olivia, Sylvester, Alegria, Achilles and Pitaya; Spyro, Marella, Bambi and Altair as they stood with Andromeda; and Tom, Aurora, Gladion and Lillie. A moment of silence hung over the two groups until finally, Lavender broke it first. Her face morphed from a look of shock to a look of utter outrage, bitterness and disgust. Her blue-purple feathers bristled and her ponytail feathers flared out. Garrett examined his mate's behaviour warily; poised to take action should Lavender leap at Marco and the other toucans.

"You big nosed _brats_ sure have a right nerve to make your wretched faces appear before us, don't you," she hissed right into Marco and Anastasia's faces, "Especially with the parents of the chick YOU accused of being a psychotic murderer present."

Tiago and Matilda continued gazing at Marco in utter shock and said nothing while Bellatrix and Bartholomew continued to hide behind them, especially Bellatrix as her terrified hazel gaze remained fixated on Marco. Then the faces of Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto and also Carla, Justin, Bia and Virgil morphed into looks of disgust as well. Stella, Soren and Sandalwood gazed at the toucans and remained out of the picture as much as possible. Marco and Anastasia's orange and black beaks creased into scornful smiles.

"Well, that's exactly what that little chick Bellatrix is," said Marco nonchalantly, "She IS a murderous chick."

This comment sent hurt flashing through Tiago and Matilda, and Bellatrix and Bartholomew winced at this comment. The others also flinched in disgust, especially as the other toucans accompanying Marco and Anastasia tittered slightly. Then Carla boldly strode forward.

"Tiago and Matilda's daughter is a murderer!?" she snarled, her cerulean feathers bristled, "What about YOUR daughter Isabella and some of your other kids that had participated in throwing Sandalwood off the end of that branch yesterday!?"

"Yes," said Stella, boldness flaring with in her and replacing her nervousness, prompting her to step forward from Soren and Sandalwood's side to support Carla, "Based on what our son said, it was definitely YOUR kids that have bound Sandalwood and then knocked him off that branch yesterday, NOT Bellatrix."

"No, Bellatrix was the one who deliberately bound that pup and shoved him off the end of that branch," retorted Anastasia, "Like we've said before, Isabella and our other kids had nothing to do with it."

"They were the ones who had witnessed that blue macaw chick do that to that poor bat pup," put in Sofia. The other toucans nodded in agreement, much to the disgust of Carla's group. Then Tom, Diantha's mate, came forward after handing Gladion, Lillie and Aurora to Frodo and Ellie.

"Are you calling us LIARS!?" he snapped. Marco and Anastasia glared back at him.

"Well look who's on Tiago's side," said Marco scornfully when he saw what sort of bird Tom was, some of his comrades reacting in surprise.

"You don't look anything at all like Dad even though you're a toco toucan like him," said Miguel.

"I'm Tom, the mate of Diantha," retorted Tom. At this, scornful titters rolled through Marco's group.

"I suppose you and my mate's sister Diantha have been having a LARGE family like the rest of us, have you?" asked Anastasia. Tom winced in shock at this question and did not reply. In Frodo's wings, Lillie, Gladion and Aurora looked on and said nothing. However, inside, they clearly did not like the attitude of their aunts and uncles, only a few of their many, many aunts and uncles living on the Blu Bird Sanctuary. Then Io stepped forward.

"Don't you realise that your breeding habits is putting a possible strain on the ecosystem of the sanctuary?" she demanded. Marco, Anastasia and the others said nothing.

"To support such a massive family with forty or more chicks," said Bia, "You're gonna need a LOT of food and that could be a serious problem for the rest of the residents on the sanctuary."

However, Marco, Anastasia and the other toucans with them continued to remain nonchalant as Miranda stepped in to give another statement.

"Not to mention the serious _naughtiness_ many of your chicks get up to," she said.

"Oh, our kids are never naughty," said Sofia coolly.

"They may be rascals but they are not like some birds who like to cause serious trouble and injury," said Sofia's mate. At this, Andromeda snapped and strode forward, disgust flaring within her.

"'Not like some birds who like to cause serious trouble and injury'!?" she retorted, repeating Sofia's mate's sentence. Marco, Sofia and Anastasia stepped back as the spiked out metallic blue four-winged bird who was taller than they were approached them, a thunderous look on her face and her eyes blue lightning bolts.

"One of OUR foraging groups have had their foraged food looted by a gang of toucan kids while we were out looking for breakfast for our families, resulting in my mate Eragon suffering a broken shoulder!" she snarled.

"That's right," said Frodo at the back, "Does that make that statement that your kids never cause serious injury true?"

However, none of the toucans in Marco's group answered, much to the disgust of Carla's group. Then Marco turned to Tiago and marched towards him, rudely bumping Andromeda out of the way and knocking her aside. At this, Matilda scooped up Bellatrix and Bartholomew and backed away while Tiago spread his wings protectively across his family.

"Well, that's not important," Marco snarled as he advanced towards the son of Blu and Jewel, his wings clenched into fists, "I have some personal business to deal with."

As he threateningly approached Tiago, Titan, Brooke, Porthos and Aramis jumped defensively in front of the latter, their wings spread out while Squaw'tagnan commanded the chicks, Sandalwood, Acerola and Ferdinand to stay back. Sandalwood peered out from Stella's wings, his face full of immense fear as he gazed at the thunderous looks on Marco and Anastasia's faces directed at Tiago.

"Step aside, you four," snarled Marco at Aramis and the three blue-and-gold macaws, "I wanna give that father of Psycho-Chick girl a good pummelling!"

However, Titan, Brooke, Porthos and Aramis stood their ground and did not budge an inch. While the confrontation continued, Melissa examined the fence and deduced that the group was indeed outside the sanctuary. However, with the confrontation between Tiago and company and Marco and his comrades in progress, it was going to be difficult to convince the others that they were outside the safety of the sanctuary. Titan then retorted at Marco.

"Whose daughter are you calling 'Psycho-Chick!?" he snapped.

"It's obvious that YOUR daughter is very good at making up tales just to get out of trouble and cause others a lot of stress, isn't she?" muttered Brooke sarcastically.

"Along with her siblings," said Porthos.

"First those chicks of yours almost kill Sandalwood," growled Aramis, his beak shoved right into Marco's face and his plumage bristled, "Traumatise him into being too afraid to fly, and now they lie about it!? Honestly, your kids are problem chicks."

"OUR kids are problem chicks!?" snapped Anastasia in disbelief. Her eyes then travelled to Sirius, Einstein and Miles in Bia and Virgil's wings, Sonia, Spica and Melody in Justin and Carla's wings, and also Bellatrix and Bartholomew in Matilda's wings behind Tiago. Her eyes also darted to the rest of the Spix macaw chicks hiding in the wings of Jojo, Felix, Lavender, Charlotte and their mates and also the other chicks, the non-Spix chicks including the hybrids such as Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine and Thymine cowering in Ganymede and Mimas's wings, their timid eyes fixated on the enraged toucans.

"I think YOUR KIDS are the PROBLEM CHILDREN," shouted Anastasia angrily, "Not OURS! YOUR kids are the ones that need serious discipline."

Sofia's eyes then travelled to Sandalwood in Stella and Soren's wings and Ferdinand and Acerola in Sebastian and Anabelle's wings.

"Especially those three bat pups," said she spitefully, "After all, they're the grand-pups of the brother of that psycho of a bat that led that colony that almost drove out the Sanctuary de Amazon's inhabitants. What was his name again? Cicatriz or sommat?"

The other toucans burst out laughing. This insensitive comment stung the flying foxes, especially Melissa, like a massive bee sting, their eyes flashing with immense hurt and offense while the eyes of the birds of Tiago's group flashed in utter disgust at this remark. Then Ganymede handed Adenine and Guanine to Mimas and stormed forward, his face a look of thunder.

"That subject about the leader of the flying fox colony that almost drove us out of our Amazon homes is NOT SOMETHING TO JOKE ABOUT!" he bellowed, "And to add, it is EXTREMELY offensive to mock these flying foxes about that subject."

"It's like an exposed nerve," put in Bia.

"That's right," said Melissa harshly. However, the scornful smiles never left the toucans' faces, much to the immense disgust of Tiago's group. Marco then eyed Tiago through the gap between Porthos and Aramis, his mocking gaze giving way to one of rage.

"But that's not important either," he snarled, "It's time to give YOU a GOOD BEATING, BLUE FEATHERED MENACE…"

And with that he barged through Titan, Brooke, Porthos and Aramis's defences, making the four stumble and collapse in a heap much to their shock and gave Tiago a hefty shove, sending him into a tumble. As Tiago landed on his back, Marco jumped onto him, an enraged screech exploding from his beak and within moments, a full brawl between the toco/keel-billed toucan and Spix macaw ensured like last time. The others looked on in utter horror, the terrified chicks and pups kept firmly in the grip of their parents' wings, as the blurred spin of black, reddish cream, orange and blue rolled through some ferns. Marco's comrades, especially Anastasia, cheered Marco on.

"STOP IT, YOU TWO!" shouted Melissa but Tiago and Marco were too engrossed in fighting to hear her. As the toucan and Spix macaw exploded apart, Marco jumped up and slashed his claws at Tiago's face but Tiago dodged.

"This is FOR SCRATCHING MY CHEST, you SPIX WRETCH!" bellowed Marco and with that, he slashed his talons at Tiago's face again, only for him to duck and dive out of the way. The others then tried to rush in to try and stop the fight only to be either restrained by Marco's siblings, in-laws and mate or knocked aside from a flying foot or wing from the inferno. Carla and Bia tried rushing in to help but Sofia and her mate spitefully blocked their path; Jojo, Felix and Lavender tried to break up the fight only to be restrained by more of Marco's comrades, Athos dived at the brawl but was knocked aside by a flapping wing from Tiago as he dodged a head-butt attack from Marco; Ganymede tried to step in between Tiago and Marco only to be deliberately knocked down and trodden underfoot by Marco.

"Out of my way, you red-feathered interfering nuisance!" snarled the toucan as he did it. After this, he pounced onto Tiago and another blurry roll ensued. Mimas, Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine and Guanine rushed in with Io, Sheldon, Betelgeuse and Rigel and helped Ganymede, who was somewhat bruised and dazed from being trampled on, back onto his feet. Miranda, Umbriel and Titania then tried to break apart the brawl but found themselves also blocked by some of Marco's comrades. Miranda then flashed a glance at the fence enclosing the Blu Bird Sanctuary. 'Where are our parents when we need them most?' she thought worriedly. Nearby, Frodo, Ellie, Indigo, Victor, Spyro, Marella, Phoebe, Squaw'tagnan, Fernanda, Azul, Neytiri, Charon, Blueberry and Aiden kept the kids well away from the brawl and also Marco's comrades while Anabelle, Sebastian, Stella and Soren kept hold of Sandalwood, Acerola and Ferdinand. Then Ellie reached her breaking point when she heard Tiago's pained cries as Marco's slashing claws finally hit home.

"Oh, someone DO SOMETHING BEFORE THE VIOLENCE GETS OUT OF CONTROL!" she screeched. Tiago lay on his back, his wing grasping where he had been scratched on the side, his face twisted in pain. Then Marco raised a wing and slammed it with all his might onto Tiago's head, making the Spix macaw's head jerk in the slap's direction. Matilda, Bellatrix and Bartholomew cried in anguish when they saw this, before Melissa lurched forward to try and break up the fight, this time with Tom (who had handed Lillie, Gladion and Aurora, also terrified at the violence, to some of the macaws) and Andromeda supporting her.

"SNAP OUT OF IT at ONCE, MARCO!" bellowed the female flying fox. However, Marco shot her a fiery glare.

"Stay out of it, fox-face!" he bellowed and with that, the toucan gave Melissa a hefty shove much to the utter shock of Tiago's group. Melissa was shoved so hard that she was sent stumbling backwards into Andromeda. Both the flying fox and archaeobird then continued to stumble backwards until Melissa fell down onto her back but Andromeda wound up in something far more serious. Her left hind-wing foot happened to catch into something and before the archaeobird knew it; her foot was ensnared by some sort of loop. Andromeda then screeched in shock as she felt something tighten around her foot.

"Andromeda!" cried Tom as he tried restraining Marco with Músculo while Io, along with Dione, Titania and Ash, moved Tiago whose side was scratched, out of harm's way, having managed to fight past Marco's comrade's forces. Alarmed, Andromeda gazed downward at her left foot and saw that it was ensnared in some sort of sturdy thread whose texture was too unnatural for it to be made from natural material, tied into a loop like a noose. The thread was coloured green and was tied to a thin and flexible branch. The thread also had something else tied to it: a few dull-coloured circular things hanging from the branch and when Andromeda moved, the thread was jerked, the branch moved and the things ringing loudly. Andromeda felt dread volcanically erupt within her as she realised what this was, as did the others in Tiago's group.

Andromeda and her clan had been told a lot by the macaw tribes and the other bird inhabitants of the Sanctuary de Amazon about traps used by poachers in catching animals and Blu had showed the archaeobird clan matriarch and her mate Eragon a picture book of the various nasty pieces of equipment ranging from cages to even nastier traps like bear traps, metal jaws armed with sharp teeth purposely designed to snap shut on the foot of any unsuspecting animal that stepped into the spring-loaded trigger in the middle. Sometimes poachers used string and bells to catch animals too and the trap Andromeda had stepped into must be one of them. Green string had been purposefully used to camouflage it amongst the green vegetation, and the bells coloured drably to blend them in with the jungle surroundings as well. Flooded by panic upon realising, the archaeobird began to flap and screech loudly, desperate to release her foot from the loop but this only made the trap's bells ring more as the string was jerked about. The more Andromeda struggled to free her foot, the more she shook the branch and the bells.

"Those bells are gonna bring in some dangerous animals or even worse," said Io as she helped move Tiago out of the way, but she daren't say the dreaded 'p' word. Tom then released Marco, leaving Músculo to struggle with the enraged toucan by himself, and rushed in to try and release Andromeda from the snare but the archaeobird shot the toco toucan mate of Diantha a pleading look.

"Don't worry about me," she said, "Help Tiago and the others deal with those bratty toucans. I'll get myself out of this mess."

And with that, Andromeda began to look around for a sharp piece of wood or stone, Tom standing there, torn between helping Tiago and the others or Andromeda. When he heard the sound of Marco's enraged cry, the toucan having managed to break free of Músculo's grasp, pulling his attention from the struggling archaeobird to his enraged brother-in-law as he lurched at Tiago with yet another slash of his talons only to hit Dione's face instead as Dione shoved Tiago out of the way much to the horrified screams of the kids, especially her sons Procyon and Peter and to the outrage of her mate Porthos. Stunned, Dione's wing went to her face where she had been scratched and when her aqua blue and yellow wing came away, it had a few red spots. Porthos also came in and examined the scratch on Dione's cheek. When he saw that the three short gashes were weeping blood, anger exploded violently within him. Outraged, the burly blue-and-gold macaw snapped round and shot Marco a fiery blue glare, his aqua blue and yellow plumage puffed out, much to Marco's alarm. Athos, Aramis and Squaw'tagnan saw what was about to happen.

"Porthos," said Athos as his mate Callisto restrained Canopus and Katniss. Nearby, Io, Músculo, Tom, Titania and Ash helped Tiago to his feet. Then they turned to see Porthos boil dangerously with fury as his blue gazed pierced into Marco.

"Porthos, don't," said Athos again. Aramis and Squaw'tagnan also looked on, hoping that Porthos would snap out of his boiling temper but the burly blue-and-gold macaw continued to boil. Nearby, Andromeda managed to find a sharp edged rock and as soon as she laid her wing claws on it, she began to apply it in breaking the thread linking her to the trap and bells. Porthos continued seething as his blue gaze continued to bore into Marco.

"You know something," he hissed, barely restraining himself from lunging at the toucan, "You lot ought to be banished from the sanctuary based on your behaviour, especially if you're gonna cause harm to other birds. Not to mention those horribly behaved chicks of yours."

"We should be banished?" snapped Sofia as she strode towards the dangerously boiling Porthos, "I think YOU LOT should be banished from the Blu Bird Sanctuary, not us."

This sent shock tearing through Tiago's group but Sofia swept on, her mean eyes directed at Procyon, Peter and the other chicks.

"I think you lot shouldn't have set to having kids in the first place," she continued. At this, Bia and Carla's eyes flashed with hurt while Justin and Virgil's eyes twisted into angry scowls.

"That's right, especially if they're gonna cause a lot of trouble," put in Marco and with that, he shot the boiling Porthos a glare. Behind Porthos, Dione, her scratch still weeping a bit, glared at Marco bitterly while the others shot Marco and his toucan comrades a stunned glare but the arrogant, spiteful smiles on the toucans' beaks widened all the more.

"Now why don't you lot take your kids and get out of the sanctuary right now and never come back?" asked Marco before his gaze turned to Stella, Soren, Sandalwood, Sebastian, Anabelle, Ferdinand and Acerola, "Especially those horrible bats over there since they're a part of that Cicatriz family?"

A spiteful gloat escaped his beak as these flying foxes' eyes flashed with hurt. That did it. Porthos's wall containing his temper finally ruptured. With an enraged screech, he lurched at Marco and gave him a hefty shove, knocking him over.

"How DARE YOU!" he bellowed, "How DARE YOU MOCK OUR FLYING FOX FRIENDS LIKE THAT, NOT TO MENTION SCRATCH MY MATE or ACCUSE TIAGO AND MATILDA AND THE REST OF US OF BEING BAD PARENTS FOR THAT MATTER, especially WHEN OUR KIDS HAVE DONE NOTHING WRONG!"

"Not to mention also scorn our children or make us question our decision to have them," put in Dione.

"You think you could tell us not to have kids and yet breed like a bunch of rabbits in having dozens and dozens of YOUR OWN!?" screeched Io, her temper also erupting.

"You think you could rule the sanctuary and cause the other residents a lot of trouble BY NOT DISCIPLINING YOUR KIDS FOR ONE and BREEDING LIKE MAD for ANOTHER!?" shouted Miranda. Then Porthos lunged at Marco again but was stopped by a female toco toucan.

"You pounce on my mate and I'll tear ya feathers out, you big brute," snarled Anastasia, her feathers bristled. Porthos shot her a surprised look but then Anastasia lunged at Porthos and pounced onto him.

"Porthos!" cried Dione as the toco toucan and the blue-and-gold macaw began to fight. Then Athos, Aramis and Squaw'tagnan rushed in to break up the fight but more toucans came in and blocked their way. While this happened, Marco lunged at Tiago again but Matilda jumped between them, making Marco collide with her instead.

"MATILDA!" cried Tiago as his mate and Marco tumbled along, locked in a struggle. Now it was Matilda's turn to brawl with Marco. The other toucans then lunged at the others in Tiago's group, causing the entire colourful crowd of macaws, flying foxes and archaeobirds to scatter, their terrified kids swept up in their wings. Andromeda continued struggling to sever the tether connecting her to the branch with Melissa helping, but the eyes of the flying fox and the archaeobird were flooded with horror as a massive fight broke out between Marco and Tiago's group.

Carla, Bia, Justin and Virgil, with Sirius, Einstein, Miles, Sonia, Melody and Spica in their wings, tried running away from two of Marco and Sofia's brothers but those two toucans mischievously tackled into the four macaws and knocked them down, sending the six Spix macaw chicks flying out of their parents' wings. Sonia, Melody, Einstein and Miles landed harmlessly amongst some ferns but Sirius and Spica unluckily veered from the other four and landed somewhere else. As the two macaw chicks, with squeals of fright and surprise, landed on a specific spot, the leaves suddenly moved and then before Sirius and Spica knew it, they were scooped up by a thread mesh. The two squealed loudly as they found themselves caught in some sort of net but it was no ordinary net for the threads were grey with a glinting sheen to them.

"ARRGH!" cried Spica.

"HEEELP!" cried Sirius but Carla, Justin, Bia and Virgil were too engrossed in dealing with the pesky toucans to notice that one of their chicks if each couple was caught in a trap. Nearby, Bellatrix and Bartholomew were separated by Miguel who then fiercely chased Bellatrix, screeching all kinds of abuse to her and frightening her. Bellatrix tried to flee the abusive toucan until Miguel was interrupted by a blue blur.

"Get away from my niece, you MENACE!" screeched Charlotte but Miguel fought back. Bellatrix flashed a glance back at Charlotte as she began to attack Miguel but she, along with Petunia (Charlotte's daughter), Vega (one of Jojo and Kira's chicks), Deneb, Polaris (two of Lavender and Garrett's daughters), and Adenine, Thymine, Guanine and Cytosine (the entire brood of Ganymede and Mimas) all ended up in another silvery grey net like Sirius and Spica as the other chicks tired escaping the violence between their parents and some of Marco's siblings. With frightened squeals, the chicks found themselves in a metallic mesh above the ground but Ganymede and Mimas, along with Jojo, Kira, Lavender and Garrett were too engrossed in dealing with the attacking toucans. Moments later, Betelgeuse, Rigel, Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka and Canopus ended up in a hidden cage while they tried to escape some toucans going for Io, Sheldon, Europa, Byron, Callisto and Athos, much to their horror as Canopus trigged the door into closing and locking while Procyon, Castor, Pollux, Mira, Fomalhaut, Capella, Achernar, Antares, Aldebaran and also Arcturus, Saiph, Denebola and Regulus all ended up in another metallic net, their parents, among them Neytiri, Charon, Blueberry and Aiden, too engrossed in dealing with Anastasia's gang. Then Sylvester, Carmen, Alegria, Pitaya, Gertie and Altair wound up in another cage while trying to escape the violence between Fernanda, Azul, Frodo, Ellie, Victor, Indigo, Spyro and Marella and some more toucans, one of them managing to tear out some of the flight feathers from Ellie's right wing much to her agonised screams. Amidst the commotion, Stella, Soren, Sebastian, Anabelle and Tom tried taking Sandalwood, Ferdinand, Acerola, Lillie, Aurora and Gladion to safety but some of Marco's siblings spitefully blocked the five's way, scornful looks on their faces.

"Hello, Cicatriz bats," crooned one of the toucan bullies spitefully as his gaze pierced Stella and the other four bats. Then before the four flying foxes and Tom could act, some of the toucan bullies surged forward and talked into the five. Sebastian and Anabelle were knocked down, sending Ferdinand and Acerola flying from their wings. Stella, Soren and Tom were also knocked down and Sandalwood, Lillie, Gladion and Aurora all flew out of their parents' wings as well. Aurora and Ferdinand landed amongst some ferns with Jason, the son of Músculo and Charlotte but Sandalwood, Gladion, Acerola and Lillie wound up in another metallic net like the one ensnaring Sirius, Spica and some of the other chicks. The two toucan chicks and flying fox pups all screamed as the mesh swallowed them up and swept them into the air. Gladion then began to try and bite through the thread making up the mesh but the material was too strong and hard. Then Sandalwood, Acerola and Lillie watched their parents through the holes in the mesh as they began to struggle with the toucan bullies, the words 'Cicatriz bats' chanting repeatedly from the beaks and directed at Stella, Soren, Anabelle and Sebastian.

"Mom, Dad!" cried Sandalwood as he watched Stella and Soren demand the toucan bullies stop chanting the detestable and insulting name to no avail.

"Ci-ca-triz BATS!" chanted the toucan bullies as they struggled with Stella, Soren, Sebastian and Anabelle who desperately yelled at them to stop it, "Ci-ca-triz BATS, Ci-ca-triz BATS!"

"STOP IT!" bellowed Stella, her eyes streaming with tears from the hurt, "PLEASE, STOP!"

Anabelle's eyes were also streaming tears while Soren and Sebastian boiled with fury. Andromeda and Melissa continued to struggle to free the former from the string trap with the rock shard, the violence making their desperation boil more and more, especially when Melissa heard the '"Ci-ca-triz BATS" chant from some of the toucans' beaks at her son, daughter, son-in-law and daughter-in-law despite their desperate protests for them to stop.

"This is honestly a NIGHTMARE!" cried Andromeda as she continued to saw through the thread with the rock shard, Melissa holding the thread taut to help. The shambolic conflict between Carla, Bia and Tiago's group and Marco's gang of toucans continued until finally, Sofia spotted some flashes of colour through the vegetation inside the fence bordering the Blu Bird Sanctuary.

"Someone's COMING!" she bellowed and with that, she let loose a screech. The other toucans then stopped their aggression with Carla and company and began to retreat. Carla, Bia, Tiago and especially Andromeda and Melissa, couldn't have been more relieved as Marco and his troublesome gang disappeared into the vegetation of the Blu Bird Sanctuary with the appearance of a group of familiar forms, most of which were macaws, moments after.

Sapphire, Zephyr, Roberto, Brisa, Ruby, Chiquitita, Orquidea, Esmeralda, Ultramarine, Lapis Lazuli, Cobalto and Augustus, with Trixie, Marella and Diantha as well as Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Ceres, Pluto, Blu, Jewel, Travis and Sunset, Cometa and Rafael and Eva, with Carlos and Rita (who had left Marco's group at the last minute to seek help) accompanying them, flew over the barbed wire and double fence and entered the outskirts of the sanctuary. Close behind, Broccoli and Daisy reached the fence. However, the could not climb over the fence due to the barbed wire running along the top which would be injurious to the two if they attempted it so they began to look for a way under the fence instead. Blu and company touched down around Carla, Bia and Tiago and company while Augustus and Cometa made a beeline for Andromeda and Melissa and with her sharp beak, Cometa began to try and bite through the tether attaching Andromeda to the tree to sever it and free the archaeobird. While she did that, the others sought to Carla and company. When they saw the state of some of the poor birds and also the state of Soren, Stella, Anabelle and Sebastian whose eyes were streaming tears and flooded with distress, horror flared within Blu and company. Some of them, such as Venus and Lapis Lazuli, almost fainted.

Justin, Carla, Bia, Virgil, Músculo and Charlotte were covered in minor cuts and bruises but Charlotte's forehead had a small scratch where one of the toucan's slashes caught her face during the skirmish, while Matilda and Tiago were covered in a few cuts and bruises, Tiago's side bearing a scratch. Roberto and Brisa were horrified to see the bedraggled state of Jojo, Felix, Lavender, Kira, Turquesa and Garrett and Turquesa was grasping her right wing, her face twisted in agony. One of the toucans had unintentionally sprained her right wing during the conflict. Ganymede, Mimas, Io, Sheldon, Europa, Byron, Callisto and Athos were also covered in a few bruises but Byron bore a black eye and Io was missing some of her tail feathers, one of the toucans having torn out some feathers from her tail when she tried protecting some of the chicks. Sebastian, Acerola, Stella and Soren were sobbing their eyes out, emotional bruising marking them rather than physical despite a few bruises as well; Porthos looked as though he had been dragged through a thorn bush while Dione bore the scratch across her face. Titan, Brooke, Enceladus, Tethys, Oberon, Miranda, Aramis, Titania, Ash, Umbriel, Benjamin, Indigo, Victor, Phoebe, Squaw'tagnan, Blueberry, Aiden, Neytiri, Charon, Azul and Fernanda were also covered in a few cuts and bruises but Neytiri was missing her entire plait, the entire bundle of feathers having been completely torn out by one of the toucans; Umbriel was limping, her left talon bearing a bite mark where one of the toucan beaks have caught her, and Azul's left wing was tatty and missing a large gap of secondary flight feathers. Ellie was missing some feathers also from her wing but she was missing some primary flight feathers whole Frodo was partly bold, some of his head feathers having been torn out. Spyro, Marella and Tom were largely unharmed but they had one or two bruises as well. As for the kids (those that hadn't been caught in any of the traps), they emerged from the ferns extremely frightened. Ferdinand hurried over to Augustus while Sonia, Melody, Bartholomew, Jason, Einstein and Miles made a beeline for Blu, Jewel, Venus and Zephyr. The other chicks also emerged from their hiding places but then Jupiter saw that some of the chicks were missing.

"Where are the other kids," he asked. Io, her face twisted in pain as she grasped her tattered tail, was about to reply when suddenly, a piercing, bone-chilling screech exploded from the beaks of Lapis Lazuli, Roberto, Ceres, Ruby and Orquidea following a squeaky, "We're up here, in these net things!"

At this, Rafael and Eva looked up and when they saw what the petrified macaws, especially Roberto whose crest was spiked wildly all over the place, saw, horror flared within them. Suspended in the air were Sirius, Spica and some of the other chicks, all trapped in some sort of meshes. Their faces were plastered with extreme terror and they were struggling to bite through the thread, desperate to free themselves. Jewel then sprang into action without hesitation.

"We'd better free them right away before anyone shows up," she said urgently and with that, she flapped up to Sirius and Spica with Blu while Jupiter and Ruby flew up to the net containing Bellatrix, Petunia, Vega, Deneb, Polaris and their Catalina grandkids, Adenine and his three siblings. Esmeralda, Uranus, Venus and Zephyr also flew up to the net containing Procyon, Castor, Pollux and the others with them while Neptune and Ultramarine flew up to the net containing Sandalwood, Acerola, Gladion and Lillie as they struggled in their net too. Sandalwood was especially petrified, the height between him and the ground terrifying him and making whimpers escape his mouth.

"Don't worry, we'll have you out there as soon as we can," said Neptune and with that, he began to work on breaking through the metallic threads of the mesh. On the ground, Rafael, Eva, Carlos, Rita, Mars, Chiquitita, Saturn, Orquidea, Ceres, Cobalto, Pluto, Lapis Lazuli, Cometa, Travis and Sunset sought to Carla, Bia and Tiago and the others when Saturn heard some petrified cries of a chick from some ferns. At this, he turned, traced the sounds to their source and found Betelgeuse, Rigel, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka and Canopus trapped in a cage-like structure. Stricken with horror, the blue-and-gold macaw heaved the cage containing those chicks and moved it out of the ferns. Io, Sheldon, Europa, Byron and Callisto and Athos saw these chicks after finding some of the chicks that didn't end up in any of the traps and rushed over to them.

"Betelgeuse, Rigel!" cried Io and Sheldon together and in horror.

"Mintaka, boys!" cried Europa as she and Byron rushed over to the cage.

"Canopus!" shouted Athos as he rushed to the cage with Callisto carrying the shaken Katniss in her wings. The six red macaw chicks gazed at their parents timidly as Saturn began to look for something to break open the cage. Nearby, Mercury managed to find Sylvester, Carmen, Alegria, Pitaya, Gertie and Altair in another cage amongst another patch of ferns and brought that cage out into the open. Ellie and Frodo then rushed up to the cage with Spyro, Marella, Victor, Indigo, Azul and Fernanda when they saw the chicks in it.

"Carmen!" cried Fernanda as she, Azul and Oceano fussed over the cage bars. Carmen was badly shaken and her eyes were flooded with immense fear. That fearful look was also mirrored on the faces of Sylvester, Alegria, Pitaya, Gertie and Altair and they were desperate to escape this trap. Above, Neptune and Ultramarine struggled to bite through the mesh of the net containing Sandalwood, Gladion, Acerola and Lillie when he realised that the mesh was made of a metallic threading.

"Good grief, a steel mesh!?" muttered Neptune as he unleashed all the jaw strength he could muster, only to give up when his jaw muscles cried in pain for him to stop. He then stopped and examined his effort but to his dismay, the metal 'thread' he had bitten down on only had a tiny nick. Blu flew over to them

"Can you break through the threads?" he asked the hyacinth macaws.

"Mom, Dad, we need your help down here in freeing our daughter Gertie and the others with her," called Indigo from the floor. Neptune and Ultramarine flashed her a glance.

"In a minute, daughter," said Neptune before he and Ultramarine turned to Blu.

"It's sturdy steel mesh," said Ultramarine, "We cannot break through it at all."

Blu came in and examined the mesh closely and saw that the mesh threads were indeed made of steel based on their grey colour and metallic sheen. Jewel, Jupiter, Ruby, Esmeralda, Uranus, Zephyr and Venus also saw that the nets holding Sirius, Spica and the others in them were made out of the same material. At the fence, Broccoli and Daisy had managed to find a soft spot in the earth and had begun to dig a hole under the fences for access to the outside.

"We're gonna need some sort of double bladed human cutting tool to cut through this," said Jupiter as he glared angrily at the steel net, one talon on one thread, "There's no way our beaks could bite through that."

At this, despair washed over Sandalwood, Gladion, Acerola and Lillie and the chicks in the nets but Esmeralda reassured them.

"Don't worry, we'll get you out there," said she.

"Who would use such DIABOLICAL devices to trap animals!?" snarled Uranus disgustedly as he fluttered down to the ground. He then shot Aramis, Miranda, Titania, Ash, Benjamin and Umbriel a glare as they struggled with their cuts and bruises.

"Also, how did so many of your kids end up in these stupid poachers' traps?" he demanded.

"It wasn't our fault, Uranus," snapped Aramis bitterly.

"It were Marco and his group," said Miranda.

"They seemed to have caused our kids to wind up in those traps during the chaos they caused us, without us noticing," said Benjamin. At this, Uranus shot the six a stunned look. The eyes of the others in Blu's group also glared at the five green macaws and the scarlet son of Felipe and Pearl, disbelief written all over them, especially Rafael, Eva, Diantha, Rita and Carlos.

"You've got to be joking!" hissed Rafael.

"Our son Marco and his siblings, his mate and in-laws have caused THIS mess?" put in Eva. Virgil, as he hugged Einstein and Miles, gave the old toco toucan and his keel-billed mate a genuinely honest look to show that they weren't joking.

"It's true," he said. As he said this, Broccoli and Daisy managed to dig the hole big enough for a cat to squeeze through and passed through that hole under the two rows of fences. Once they were on the other side, the two cats hurried over to the birds and the flying foxes.

"They're in a MASSIVE heap of trouble then, those wretched big nosed brats," snarled Broccoli bitterly. As he said this, Augustus stiffened as his sensitive ears picked up something. Next to him, Andromeda and Melissa both managed to free the former's foot from the trap by snapping the string. However, these two were also made aware of some suspicious sounds and they stiffened.

"Never mind our troublesome sons and daughters, Broc," said Rafael, "Let's get these birds and flying foxes back into the sanctuary and rescue those chicks from the steel nets and cages."

Broccoli and Daisy nodded and set to guiding the birds who were unable to fly properly to the hole they had dug under the fence. However, they did not get very far when Roberto and Brisa saw Augustus, Melissa and Andromeda with their bodies stood fully erect, wary looks on their faces.

"What is it, you three?" asked Brisa. The others came over and gazed at the alerted three.

"Shh, quiet," hushed Augustus.

"Come on, Dad," said Sebastian as he held Ferdinand, "Let's get back into the sanctuary."

"Shush, son," hissed Augustus again as he listened to the sounds.

"We seriously need your help," demanded Jewel who was losing patience by the minute. Then Jupiter turned to Blu.

"Do you know where we could find a cutting tool tough enough to cut through metal threads of those nets, Blu, like a pair of sheers or something?" he said with a nod to the meshes holding the chick, Sandalwood (who was most desperate to get out as his acrophobia was boiling dangerously inside him) and Acerola in the air.

"Um… Linda does have a pair in her basement with the other gardening tools," said Blu but Augustus told him to be quiet. Then Saturn came in, a look of dismay on his face.

"That would take too long to get to Linda and Tulio's cottage and search for those sheers," he said, "We might not make it back in time…"

"Quiet," snapped Andromeda, making Saturn jump. Nearby, Bia and Virgil, together with Justin and Carla, desperately struggled with the steel mesh enclosing Sirius and Spica, clearly desperate to free their son and daughter by biting through the metal threading but to no avail.

"It's no use, you four," said Jojo, "The steel mesh is too strong."

"We can't break through it," said Kira.

Bia then fluttered back and examined the whole contraption.

"There MUST be an alternative way to break open this horrible trap," she said. However, no sooner had these words left her beak when suddenly… SWOOOSH… BAM! A black comet zoomed in and bashed Bia right in the back, knocking her away, much to the horror of the others.

"BIA!" screeched Carla, Jojo, Virgil, Kira and Justin altogether and with that, the five flew over to the macaw as she crashed into a patch of ferns. Tiago, Matilda, Charlotte, Músculo, Turquesa, Lavender, Felix and Garrett rushed over to Bia as she lay in the fern patch, her face twisted in agony and her wings clasping the impact point of her back. Jewel and Blu also rushed over to their daughter while Rafael, Eva, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Ceres, Pluto, Roberto, Brisa and the others including Broccoli, Daisy, Andromeda, Augustus and Melissa snapped their gazes at the form that had knocked Bia out of the air and when they saw a black corvid bird hover next to the mesh holding Sirius and Spica, its face laced with a protective and evil gaze, horror tore through them. Then the group heard the sounds of more wing flaps but also footsteps and barking as well.


	20. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19- the nightmare escalates**

When Blu, Jewel, Roberto, Brisa, Rafael and Eva, along with Mercury, Sapphire, Zephyr, Venus, Mars, Chiquitita, Jupiter, Ruby, Saturn, Orquidea, Uranus, Esmeralda, Neptune, Ultramarine, Pluto, Lapis Lazuli, Ceres, Cobalto and also Travis, Sunset, Cometa, Augustus, Andromeda, Melissa and the rest of the group including Carla and Tiago, Broccoli and Daisy saw the approaching forms that were the source of the wing flaps, barking and footsteps, their blood turned into pure ice. Their feathers and fur bristled with Roberto, Jojo, Felix and Lavender's crests spiking out and their eyes inflated with terror. Through the trees were two legged creatures accompanied by four-footed furry forms and flapping feathered forms, many of them black and some with white markings and they were converging in the area where they were with the netted and caged chicks. The chicks and pups also gazed at the approaching group of forms in immense fear. Then Blu broke the silence.

"POACHERS!" he barked, "Let's GET OUTA HERE, NOW!"

"SEIZE ALL THE KIDS THAT HAVE NOT BEEN CAUGHT AND GET THEM INTO THE SANCTUARY," barked Jupiter at the top of his lungs.

The moment this sentence left his beak, some of the adults obeyed and grabbed the chicks, those that hadn't been caught in the traps, and rush towards the fence and the safety of the sanctuary. Justin seized Sonia and Melody, who were both terrified, while Virgil seized Miles and Einstein. Matilda also seized Bartholomew while Charlotte seized Jason and Winona, Jojo and Kira's other daughter who had not been caught in a trap, while Jojo and Kira began to help the birds that could not fly well due to injuries, such as Ellie with her tattered wing. Turquesa also seized both Austin and Diego while Garrett seized Lilac. Callisto also seized Katniss, Anabelle scooped Ferdinand onto her front fur, Dione seized Peter when he tried to fly off, Brooke caught Poppy, Tethys seized Cressida, Titania seized Basil, Umbriel and Benjamin both sized Perdita and Cecil, one each, Azul and Fernanda seized Oceano and also Olivia and Achilles while Frodo was occupied with helping Ellie, and Spyro, Marella and Tom seized their bat-birds, Bambi and Aurora. After all the free chicks and pups were seized, the said adults immediately made a break for the fence. The rest of the group then began to desperately free the captured chicks and pups but the cage and the steel mesh nets were proving impenetrable. Sirius and Spica, their eyes flooded with immense terror, watched as Blu and Jewel struggled to pry open a hole large enough for a chick to fit through while Zephyr and Venus savagely drove the crow away.

"This is certainly the most DIABOLICAL idea those ruffian poachers have ever devised," snarled Jewel as she struggled with the steel threads. She totally agreed with Uranus in these steel nets being 'diabolical'. There was no way a bird could possibly cut through the tough threads of a mesh like these with its beak. However, there was no time to complain about the cruel traps poachers sometimes use for more black comets, some with white markings, were rocketing in, straight for the remaining birds. Jupiter saw the incoming black and white feathered missiles and squawked to the others to retreat. However, he had already formulated a plan in his head. The other birds and also Augustus and Melissa stopped fiddling with the nets and dashed into the leaves of the above canopy. The terrified chicks, Acerola and Sandalwood watched their parents leave.

"Please don't leave us here!" cried Sandalwood, tears of terror falling from his eyes as he, Acerola, Gladion and Lillie watched Blu's group rush into the above canopy. However, Jupiter flashed them a wink before disappearing himself. On the way up, Neptune, Ultramarine, Cometa and Trixie heaved the cages containing Betelgeuse, Rigel, Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka and Canopus and Sylvester, Carmen, Alegria, Pitaya, Gertie and Altair into the canopy with them, moments beforethe group of two-legged creatures with four footed furry forms and more feathered creatures arrived. Broccoli and Daisy also dived through the hole under the fence they had dug and hastily replaced the soil after they had evacuated the grounded birds and the uncaught chicks through the fence into the safety of the Blu Bird Sanctuary. Bia was also carried by Diantha into the safety of the sanctuary for she was in too much pain to fly.

From the canopy, Blu and company began to watch the group of two-legged creatures which were indeed a group of poachers, walk straight to the metal nets containing the colourful feathered forms (or furred with membranous wings in the case of Sandalwood and Acerola), and surround them. By their feet were four-footed furry creatures but they weren't cats for they had a different build and were releasing small, excited barks, something cats don't do. Blu and Jewel scowled at the group of humans, dogs and crows as they began to examine the terrified chicks and two pups while Uranus began to explain to them.

"We saw a group of poachers examine the double fence during our foraging trip," he whispered.

"It was before Porthos unleashed his fury on them," said Titan and with that, he flashed Porthos a glare, a flash of irritation at his brother-in-law in risking himself in attacking those humans, but he just frowned, adamant in his decision. Athos, Aramis and Squaw'tagnan then watched as some of the poachers and four of their dogs began to check the spots where the two cages containing Betelgeuse, Rigel and the other chicks that had unfortunately ran into them, amongst the ferns. Behind the group, Europa, Byron, Callisto and Sheldon desperately tried breaking open the cage to rescue Betelgeuse, Rigel and the others but were greatly struggling. Below the group's hiding place, the poachers and the four dogs pulled back some ferns and then muttered in dismay in Brazilian Portuguese. Athos, Aramis and Squaw'tagnan then gazed at Mercury, Sapphire, Phoebe, Cobalto and Ceres and frowned.

"So translation of those words, if you please," requested Athos who still knew too little Brazilian Portuguese to translate the words himself.

"One of the poachers is saying, 'That's strange, where are the cages we set down amongst these ferns?'" said Sapphire. The group also saw that the dogs were sniffing about the places. At this, disgust tore through the rest of the group. Those poachers must be looking for the two cages that had captured Sylvester, Carmen, Alegria, Pitaya, Gertie and Altair and Betelgeuse, Rigel, Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka and Canopus. Jewel then hardened her furious glare. Other than Nigel and her relatives in trouble, poachers were one of the things she despised the most.

"They're definitely the ones who have set up those traps," hissed she. Andromeda then glared at the tether that ensnared her foot and how another poacher, a woman was examining it, a disappointed look on her face as she examined the severed string.

"This is bad," murmured Rafael.

"If those poachers find a way into the sanctuary…" began Eva, Carlos, Tom and Rita on either side of her gazing at the poachers. It was then that Jupiter called the group's attention.

"They're about to undo those steel nets to collect their catches," he said, "Here's what we're gonna do…"

Sandalwood whimpered and squeaked as one of the poachers undid the steel net and seized him in his hand, before tossing him into a smaller cage. Moments later, Acerola was thrown in, followed by Lillie and Gladion last of all. After all four were placed into the cage, the poacher closed the door and locked it, before holding the cage at the level of his face, a triumphant, gleeful grin spanning his face and a couple of crows perched on his shoulder.

"'These two flying fox pups and toucan chicks would make a lot of money'" Sandalwood translated the man's words.

"What's 'money'?" he asked Acerola, Lillie and Gladion as they huddled together in fear.

"It's the slips of paper and metallic discs humans use in trading and buying things," said Lillie.

"And the amount of money given to an object or animal prior to selling is called a price tag," added Gladion. Sandalwood continued to gaze at the man through the cage bars as he continued chortling gleefully. Nearby, a woman had placed Sirius and Spica into another cage as soon as they had been freed from their net while Bellatrix, Petunia, Vega, Deneb, Polaris, Adenine, Thymine, Guanine and Cytosine were shoved into another cage altogether. The man who did this gazed gleefully and in fascination at the four colourful Catalina chicks.

"'Looks like a new species of macaw,'" Bellatrix translated the man's words into English from Brazilian Portuguese, "'these would be worth a fortune.'"

"But we're not merely a species of macaw," said Adenine, "We're half scarlet, half blue-and-gold."

Cytosine, Thymine and Guanine then gazed through the bars on the opposite side of the cage at Procyon, Castor, Pollux, Mira, Fomalhaut, Capella, Achernar, Antares, Aldebaran, Arcturus, Saiph, Denebola and Regulus as they were all stuffed roughly into another cage by another woman. One of the men scolded her to be careful and not harm these 'precious bounties'. Cytosine, Thymine and Guanine recoiled in disgust. They had been told by their parents Ganymede and Mimas, along with Adenine, how poachers often treated animals and more often than not, they were often treated like mere objects than living things. The three Catalina siblings then saw Aldebaran lash viciously at the woman poacher from the cage, sinking his beak into her hand as hard as he could. The woman released a yelp of pain and almost dropped the cage. Handing the cage containing Aldebaran and the others to one of her colleagues, she grasped her bitten hand, a bead of red trickling from the little wound.

"Good thinking, Aldebaran," thought Cytosine, "We never thought of that."

Petunia, Vega, Deneb and Polaris also smiled spitefully at the woman as she began to treat her bleeding hand, Polaris spitting from the cage in detestation. However, snappy, bite-y chicks were the beginning of the poachers' worries. As the poachers, along with their dogs and crows, prepared to take their catches away, the air was torn apart by a blood-curdling screech. At this, the group froze and cocked their ears to listen.

"You guys hear that?" said the leader of the group, a man (translated from Brazilian Portuguese to English). In their cages, the chicks, Sandalwood and Acerola put on hopeful smiles for they remembered Jupiter winking to them as a message that they will come back once the poachers had freed them from the nets. As the poachers, along with the dogs and crows, continued shooting wary glances this way and that, they were unaware of a vermillion comet with teal and yellow wings descend from the above canopy and straight towards the group from behind.

Jupiter had launched himself from the canopy and was swooping down upon the poachers like a hawk, his talons poised to inflict injury and his brown eyes lightning storms like those of his namesake planet. Behind him, Jewel, Sapphire, Zephyr and Venus swooped down and followed him towards the poachers. Then before the poachers could catch a glimpse of a feathered flash of colour, Jupiter struck one of the men, the one holding the caged Sirius and Spica, on the face, scoring his razor-sharp claws right over his face and sending blood drops flying from his face. Agonised screams of pain erupted from the man and his hands flew to his face. Sirius and Spica clung onto the cage bars as the cage was dropped. The other poachers, along with their crows and dogs, whirled round to see the man cry in agony, his bleeding face buried in his hands and flailing on the floor, blood weeping through his fingers. Two of the women went to help, one of them with her hands aiming for Sirius and Spica but before they could make contact with the cage, three blue comets, one maya blue, one cerulean and the other blue, zoomed in and before the woman knew it, six sets of sharp cat claw like thorns raked over her face as the blue comets shot past her face and head. The woman screamed and fell over. Sirius and Spica winced as blood flew from her face as Jewel, Zephyr and Venus, one by one, slashed their claws over the woman's face and knocked her down. Then a fourth blue form came in as Blu made his appearance. He touched down before the caged Spica and Sirius.

"Don't worry, it's me," he said to two of his grand-chicks, much to Sirius and Spica's joy. However, that joy flashed to horror when the two chicks let loose a scream upon seeing something g behind Blu.

"Grandpa Blu, look OUT!" screeched Sirius. Blu turned round just in time to see a massive black dog paw appear and swipe him, knocking him down, much to the terror of the chicks. Blu flew and tumbled a good distance before coming to rest at the foot of the tree, dazed. Sirius and Spica cried for him as the black dog immediately seized the cage and darted off at his owner's command. Back up in the air, Jewel, Jupiter, Zephyr and Venus who were subsequently joined by Roberto, Sapphire, Chiquitita, Mars, Ruby, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto and Ceres and also some of the younger adults like Athos, Porthos, Aramis, Squaw'tagnan and Stella and Soren, continued their relentless and merciless attack on the poachers, getting them to drop the cages containing the captured chicks, Sandalwood and Acerola. Stella and Soren, together with Rafael and Tom, savagely went for the woman carrying Sandalwood, Gladion, Lillie and Acerola in their cage, their claws and beaks or teeth sinking into her hair or skin and enraged screeches escaping from their beaks and mouths. The woman buried her face in her arms as Stella's clawed feet and biting teeth attempted to make a bloody mark in the skin of her face. While Stella attempted to bite and claw at the woman's face, her teeth latching onto her ear and inflicting the human with pain and making her scream, Rafael, Soren and Tom surged for the cage, latched onto it and began to try and yank the cage from the woman's hands. Sandalwood, Acerola, Gladion and Lillie, flooded with terror, clung to the bars of the cage as the two toucans and flying fox struggled to pull the cage from the woman's hands, Soren savagely biting at the fingers to get her to release the cage.

"Don't worry, you four," cried Rafael as he continued to pull with Tom. The two bat pups and toucan chicks continued looking on in immense terror when suddenly, several black comets rushed in and slammed into the two toucans. Soren looked up to see where Rafael and Tom had gone when a crow talon appeared and seized him by the neck. Another crow then jumped onto Stella's back and began to attack her.

"NOOO!" screamed Sandalwood as he watched his parents then face a merciless beating from the crows. Soren struggled with the crow with its talons around his neck while Stella struggled to dislodge the crow from her back, screeching loudly as the parental instinct to save her son and niece and the two toucan chicks volcanically erupted within them. Nearby, Sebastian was fighting more crows as he tried to reach Stella and Soren to help only for these crows to block his way. Not too far away, more crows had attacked Io, Europa, Callisto, Byron, Mimas and Ganymede as they tried carrying the cage traps containing Betelgeuse, Rigel, Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka and Canopus, Sylvester, Carmen, Alegria, Pitaya, Gertie and Altair away as sent by the poachers who had seen them. Augustus, Melissa and Andromeda tried to intervene but were driven away by the crows who seized the two cage traps and took them away, one of the crows attempting to catch Andromeda only for her to slash it across the chest with her sickle-claw talons and escaping on her bat-bird Rouge. After overpowering the group of macaws and seizing the cages, the crows then made a break for it, the caged chicks in tow. However, Ganymede, with an enraged screech exploding from his beak, lunged at the crows, jumping onto a particularly large one's back but the crow seized the scarlet macaw by the neck with its talons and with all its might, threw Ganymede at a tree trunk. Ganymede flew at the tree trunk and slammed into it, excruciating pain exploding from his left wing.

"GANYMEDE!" cried Mimas as she watched her mate fall to the floor. Io, Europa, Callisto and Byron also watched in immense horror as Ganymede let loose an ear-piercing scream with his right wing over his left. The crow that had thrown him against the tree trunk then shot the scarlet macaw an unsympathetic, unremorseful gaze and followed its comrades. Then moments later, the poachers' crows and dogs began to overpower the savage macaws and flying foxes and they were forced to retreat, their efforts to rescue the caged chicks and pups going nowhere.

"Guys, retreat!" cried Jupiter as he wrestled with one of the dogs. Then a man came in with a stick and began to swipe it at Jupiter, shouting and cursing at him in Brazilian Portuguese to scram. With a frightened screech as the brown arm swung dangerously close and the dog viciously barking at him, Jupiter frantically flapped and lofted into flight. Saturn, Orquidea, Ruby, Mars, Chiquitita, Uranus, Esmeralda, Neptune, Ultramarine, Pluto, Lapis Lazuli and the others were also forced to retreat as the crows became more and more violent. Sebastian narrowly escaped having his wings slashed by one of the crows while Mercury almost had his throat slashed by another crow. Titan and Brooke also seized Ganymede, whose left wing was broken, and whisked him away before one of the dogs could attack him. However, Jewel, Stella and Soren continued savagely attacking the crows and the humans, their determination to save the captured chicks and pups completely in control of them. Their claws and beak or teeth continued sinking into or raking over crow feathers and flesh.

"Jewel, Soren, Stella, COME ON!" cried Blu as he held his side which was bleeding, one of the crows having slashed him down the side. Then one of the humans produced the most dreaded device most poachers used in catching flying creatures: a net gun. He aimed it at Jewel, Stella and Soren as they continued savagely and bloodily fighting the crows and pressed the trigger. A massive spider-web like thing flew out of the end of the barrel and launched towards the Spix macaw and two flying foxes.

"Ju-Ju, Stella, Soren, MOOOVE!" screeched Roberto and with that, he charged at Stella and Soren while Blu shot straight towards Jewel. Zephyr, Venus and the others watched in horror as the two Spix macaws seized the two bats and Jewel and narrowly avoid getting entangled by the net, the net missing Blu and Jewel by mere inches. After this, and with a protesting Jewel, Stella and Soren in their talons, Blu and Roberto retreated after the others over the fence and into the Blu Bird Sanctuary. After they had driven away the attackers, the leader of the poachers called together the others and the crows and dogs and within moments, the group made their escape, taking their captured chicks and Sandalwood and Acerola who were terrified, with them in their cages.

Blu's group continued rushing deeper and deeper into the Blu Bird Sanctuary, their injured comrades in their talons and as soon as they were at a safe distance from the spot where the poachers were, they slowed down and rested in a tree. However, many of them were absolutely flooded beyond belief with anguish, devastation, rage, despair and heartbreak. Stella and Soren were screaming like flying foxes possessed over the loss of Sandalwood while Carla, Tiago, Justin, Matilda, Ganymede, Io, Europa, Callisto, Byron, Athos and the others that had lost either part of their whole brood, including Sebastian who had lost Acerola and Tom over the loss of Lillie and Gladion, were screeching and wailing like newly hatched chicks or newborn flying fox pups. Jewel had entered into a volcanic temper and was screeching and cursing every bad word under the sun with Blu keeping his distance, not wanting to get caught in the pyroclastic flow of her wrath; Zephyr and Venus were visibly devastated and completely outraged, and Mercury, Sapphire, Mars, Chiquitita, Saturn, Orquidea, Uranus, Esmeralda, Neptune, Ultramarine, Ceres, Cobalto, Pluto and Lapis Lazuli were having a meltdown in different ways, complete disbelief at what had happened washing over them like a tsunami. Jupiter, Ruby, Augustus and Andromeda watched the group as they continued to have their meltdowns, complete devastation also enveloping them like a massive black cloud.

"This can't be happening," murmured Jupiter who was rigid like a statue, his head completely spinning as though he had been on a wild ride.

"It's like our worst NIGHTMARE!" cried Ruby, tears of devastation streaming down her face. Augustus watched Melissa as she tried to comfort Stella and Soren only for them to refuse her approach. Augustus was about to say something when he heard the cries of an anguished toucan, the cries as loud as cat claws raking over wood. At first, the flying fox thought it was from Tom but then he realised that the male voice was older. Dread coming over him, Augustus snapped his gaze from Stella, Soren, Melissa and the others to Rafael but the moment his eyes landed on him, a sharp, horrified gasp entered his beak. Jupiter, Andromeda, Ruby and then Blu then turned round to see Augustus gazing in utter horror at someone.

"What is it?" asked Blu but when he saw what Augustus saw, Jupiter, Andromeda and Ruby's gazes also converging on a certain toucan, horrified gasps entered their beaks and mouths.

Rafael was releasing an ear-piercing screech, his wings wrapped around another toucan, a keel-billed female with a lime green beak and magenta tip, as she lay limp. Long gashes ran from her neck to her chest, apparently from a slash from crow talon, blood streaming from the marks and running over her sleek black plumage strewn with silvery feathers from age. Rita and Carlos also stood in the background, devastated looks plastering their faces as they gazed at their limp mother in Rafael's wings.


	21. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20- fears, worries and dark times ahead**

Sandalwood, Acerola, Gladion and Lillie stumbled their cage was placed into some sort of large container with wheels next to Sirius and Spica in their cage by a pair of hands belonging to one of the men. In the large container were more animals also in cages. There were more birds, mammals, and also reptiles and amphibians in plastic boxes. The air above the wheeled container, called a 'truck' by humans, was flooded with a variety of distressed, despairing cries and squawks as well as joyful human chatting and laughing as the humans continued to load the truck's container, called a 'trailer', with more cages of captured animals. Sandalwood gazed timidly at the other animals which were a variety of monkeys, common exotic birds Sandalwood, Acerola, Gladion and Lillie, and Sirius or Spica could recognise, and reptiles and amphibians such as snakes, lizards and frogs as they continued to wail mournfully. A monkey, presumably a marmoset lied on the cage floor on its side with its legs against its body and arms wrapped around them, a look of extreme despair on its face. Several birds were desperately trying to escape their cages by squawking and throwing themselves against the bars of the cages. Sirius and Spica, Sandalwood, Acerola, Gladion and Lillie, along with Bellatrix **,** Petunia, Vega, Deneb, Polaris, Adenine, Thymine, Guanine and Cytosine in another cage, Betelgeuse, Rigel, Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka and Canopus in a fourth cage; Procyon, Castor, Pollux, Mira, Fomalhaut, Capella, Achernar, Antares, Aldebaran, Arcturus, Saiph, Denebola and Regulus all in a fifth, bigger cage, and Sylvester, Carmen, Alegria, Pitaya, Gertie and Altair in a sixth cage as they were placed by another man into the truck, all shuddered, especially at the distressed wails and cries of the mammals and birds and the frightened behaviour of the reptiles as their piercing eyes gazed through the transparent walls of their containers. Sandalwood could easily see the fear and despair in those creepy looking eyes. Even the snakes had those two words glowing in their cruel reptilian sparkling gem-like bulbs, their snakes flicking at regular intervals from their mouths and their heads moving about as they tried to look for a way out of their plastic boxes.

"They look so afraid," murmured Spica timidly.

"Even those reptiles despite their intimidating gazes," said Adenine. Betelgeuse, Rigel, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka then began to shudder as their brains became overwhelmed by the massive amount of distressed screeches and cries of the mammals and birds. Their wings flew to their ears and they began to shake.

"I wish Mom and Dad and the others were here," cried Betelgeuse in despair, her eyes beginning to stream tears. Canopus then began to cower at the corner of the cage, his wings wrapped around his talons and a fearful look plastering his face. Bellatrix, Petunia, Vega, Deneb, Polaris, Adenine, Thymine, Guanine and Cytosine then began to huddle together as did Procyon and the others with him in their cage. Sylvester, Carmen, Alegria, Pitaya, Gertie and Altair (who wished for his father Spyro, mother Marella and sister Bambi) also huddled together in the middle of their cage while Acerola, Gladion and Lillie huddled together in one corner of their cage as well did the same. However, Sandalwood continued watching the activities of the humans as they shut the trailer's back, awarded their dogs and crows for a job well done with treats before walking over to the driving part of the truck and climbing in. The other humans also got into several other trucks, the pets hopping or fluttering into the trailer, and the sound of something mechanical started up, an acrid smell of polluted smoke wafting into the noses of the animals in the back. Sandalwood winced at the foul smell. Blu had noted to him and the other kids that human vehicles often pumped out rather smelly gases into the air from pipes known as tailpipes which contributed to the acrid smell known to the jungle-born birds and flying foxes as 'city air'. Sandalwood and company then felt the truck begin to move as the humans began to drive away, the other trucks following. As their home began to move away, all the frightening stories Sandalwood and the other 39 had heard from their parents and friends about poaches and getting captured began to play in their minds.

Sandalwood and Acerola began to remember the story of Lily, the cousin of their grandmother Melissa, when she wound up caught in a poacher's trap but had been freed by some birds, leading to her siding with them and helping to protect as many birds as possible from the bird-detesting flying fox colony. Jewel, Zephyr and Brisa's capture by humans had led them to meeting Blu and Venus for conservation purposes, the same applying to Sapphire and Lapis Lazuli with Mercury and Pluto respectively. However, some of Sandalwood and company's relatives and friends hadn't been so lucky. Blu, Venus and Mercury and also Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Ceres and Pluto, when they were chicks, had been captured and torn from their home by poachers and smuggled out of Brazil. Blu went to the United States where he met Linda while the rest of them went to Europe where they met Susan and Lucy and also Blake, Drake and Jake who were, thankfully, kind and caring humans who took care of these macaws very well. Roberto and Ruby's stories, however, were more tragic. Both these macaws had faced a period of human cruelty, Roberto by a human girl and Ruby by animal show owners who forced her to perform. However, these two had had a lucky escape, Roberto thanks to Ginger the greyhound and Ruby thanks to her friends including Orquidea, Chiquitita and Esmeralda who had managed to find and rescue her. Stories of some of Carla, Bia and Tiago's generation almost getting caught by poachers also played in Sandalwood and company's minds. Oberon had had a close shave while he was in Guyana with Carla and some of the others who had embarked on a treacherous search for a legendary lost treasure to save the sanctuary from losing its protected reserve status, and also Flor, the younger sister of Blueberry and Charon, and Pluto and Lapis Lazuli's youngest first-brood child who was also the aunt of Saiph, Denebola and Regulus, during her family's flight to Rio with Neptune and his family. Both Flor and Oberon had had a narrow and lucky escape thanks to the presence of friends and family who had rescued them in time. Furthermore, there was also the story of how Blu, Jewel, Rafael, Nico and Pedro and many other birds were almost taken out of Rio and also the story of a group of poachers who had managed to infiltrate the Sanctuary de Amazon to poach birds but were foiled thanks to the efforts of the birds and also the nature carers.

As these stories played out in Sandalwood and company's minds, great tears welled in their eyes and fell down their cheeks but then another torrent of thoughts flowed through their minds. '"Where will we end up?' thought Sandalwood, '"What if we end up in the hands of cruel humans like how Mr Roberto and Mrs Ruby did?'

That was the last place Sandalwood and the others wanted to be. Purchased by humans who showed no care whatsoever for animals and possibly facing a lifetime of abuse and cruelty, with no way out and far away from their parents, family and friends, made the two baby bats and 38 chicks cry even more as the truck carried them and the other animals away through the jungle.

 **Meanwhile, in Rio**

It was coming to evening, the sun hovering close to its setting point in the western horizon like a disc of molten gold. Blu and company were back at Tulio's Aviary once again, like how they were when they rushed a snake venom poisoned Luna, a thorn-lacerated Hunter and injured Vincent to the place last night. Only this time, 40 of the kids were missing and the casualties were different. Ganymede had been admitted with a broken wing while Eva had been admitted with a seemingly life-threatening injury, the gashes running from her neck and down her side, inflicted on her by one of the crows during the skirmish with the poachers, which struck immense alarm in the others especially since the scratches ran so close to the carotid and jugular region, a vital area that could spell disastrous results if that had been caught by the crow's talons, and that was what the group, especially Rafael who loved his mate very much, had hoped against. On the roof of Tulio's Aviary, a flock of colourful birds and some flying foxes stood. Those that had had a meltdown had calmed down but they were still enveloped with devastation over the loss of the 40 chicks and pups including Sandalwood.

Bia, who only had a bruise on her back where the crow had struck her, stood with Virgil, Einstein and Miles, a look of despair, heartbreak and distress plastering her face. Next to her, Carla and Justin stood with Sonia and Melody, Tiago and Matilda stood with Bartholomew and Charlotte, Jojo, Felix and Lavender stood with their respective mates Músculo, Kira, Turquesa and Garrett and their chicks Jason, Winona, Austin, Diego, and Lilac, grieving the loss of their missing chicks as well. Músculo and Charlotte had lost their daughter Petunia; Jojo and Kira had lost Vega, and Lavender and Garrett had lost two of their daughters, Polaris and Deneb. Felix and Turquesa, however, had been fortunate and had not lost either of their sons, Diego and Austin but they were still devastated over what had happened, but some of the couples had lost their entire brood. Mimas was inside the Aviary, waiting for Ganymede who had been entered into surgery to fix his fractured wing with Io, Sheldon, Europa, Byron and Callisto and Athos. Mimas, Ganymede, Io, Sheldon, Europa and Byron had lost all four, two and three chicks respectively while Callisto and Athos had only lost Canopus, their daughter Katniss snuggling in Callisto's wings. Back on the roof, Sebastian, Anabelle and Ferdinand stood with Stella and Soren who had lost their son Sandalwood, the daughter of the former couple and Ferdinand's older sister, Acerola, having been lost too. Not too far away, Alexandre and Estelle who were with Phobos and Deimos, Xander and Kayley, went around comforting their devastated friends. They had not been involved in the massive trouble and thus both of their chicks had been safe.

Next to the Spix macaws and the flying foxes, Mimas's siblings and in-laws stood in their own group with their remaining chicks. Dione and Porthos stood with Peter, the devastation over the loss of Procyon gripping them like a jaguar's jaws. Titan and Brooke who had lost both their sons Castor and Pollux stood grieving with Poppy who was very upset over the loss of both her brothers. Enceladus and his hyacinth mate Trixie grieved the loss of their only daughter Mira while Tethys, Oberon and Cressida grieved the loss of Fomalhaut. With the group stood Iapetus and Rhea who had been visiting Nico and Pedro with Ariel during the harrowing incident and they wore devastated looks on their faces as well over what has happened. Next to the blue-and-gold macaws, Oberon's siblings and in-laws also stood. Miranda and Aramis were locked in a tight embrace, Miranda sobbing her heart out. This couple had lost both Capella and Achernar and Miranda had been crying her eyes out for ages. Titania and her military mate Ash and their hybrid son Basil also grieved the loss of Antares while Umbriel and her scarlet mate Benjamin grieved the loss of Aldebaran with Cecil and Perdita who missed their brother terribly. Ariel stood with them, comforting them. Like Iapetus and Rhea, she had been totally devastated after what had happened.

The rest of the group, consisting of the Lear's, the glaucous, the hyacinth and blue-throated macaws and also Frodo, Diantha, Spyro and their broken families, also stood in their own group. Indigo and Victor stood grieving over the loss of Gertie, Phoebe and Squaw'tagnan grieved over the loss of Arcturus, their only daughter, rage also boiling within them at the poachers as well, Blueberry, Aiden, Charon and Neytiri, who had lost Saiph, Regulus and Denebola all in one incident as well, also cried their eyes out, Neytiri clearly heartbroken. Azul, Fernanda and Oceano also grieved the loss of Carmen, Azul having a cut he had obtained during the poacher skirmish treated by Travis and Sunset who wore sympathetic looks on their faces, and Frodo and Ellie, whose left wing was tattered and had to be carried for she could not fly properly with a wing missing some flight feathers, together with Olivia and Achilles, also grieved the loss of Sylvester, Alegria and Pitaya. Spyro, Marella and Bambi stood with Andromeda and their bat-birds, the grief of Altair's loss gripping them hard as well and Diantha, Tom and Aurora stood with Carlos and Rita at the window as they observed Rafael waiting anxiously for Eva who had also been entered into surgery, the loss of Gladion and Lillie gripping them as well.

With the group also were Triton and Iris, Eustace, Serena, Yolanda and Oscar, Rosa, Clemont, Peach and Bruno, Milo, Orion, Hermione, Velocity, Merlin, Zelda and Spike and also Nico, Pedro, Rose, Sparkle and their rosette spoonbill friends, Kipo and his cousin Orton. They gazed sympathetically at the grieving parents with tears falling from their eyes in massive torrents, especially Triton who could not believe what had happened to Gertie, his niece. On the ground, the cat and dog friends stood talking with Blu, Jewel, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Ceres and Pluto while Zephyr, Chiquitita, Ruby, Orquidea, Esmeralda, Ultramarine, Lapis Lazuli and Cobalto were on the roof with Cometa and Lightning, Augustus, Melissa, Travis, Sunset and Andromeda with the devastated parents, comforting them and also treating their minor injuries. Roberto, however, stood separate from the others; immense devastation and flabbergast enveloping him like a cell at the fact that some of his grandkids had been captured by poachers. Overcome with shock and grief, he stood away from the others with Brisa comforting him. Luiz the bulldog, Dash, Ginger, James and Ebony the greyhounds, Broccoli and Daisy the cats and also Collette who had been swapped for Daisy months ago by Daisy's now former owners, had come with the group to Tulio's Aviary after hearing of the harrowing news. Collette had been visiting her brother and sister at the time and had heard of the incident and had decided to come. Like everyone else, devastation and disbelief smothered the land mammals like a cloud.

"I can't believe what has happened," said Broccoli in disbelief.

"It's almost like something straight out of a tragic movie," said Luiz, his saliva dripping grossly from his mouth. Blu's group continued to stand there, speechlessness gripping them like the devastation gripping their first brood offspring. Then Venus found something to say but before she could say it, the sounds of wing flaps alerted the group, drawing their attention to the owners. Neptune instantly recognised the birds as they melted into view based on their black plumage, the bright yellow patches on their chests, their large maroon, black and yellow beaks, and lime green patches around their eyes.

"Dino," he said, "Gemma, Josephine, Dino Jr. and Raymundo, what are you guys doing here?"

The chestnut-mandibled toucan family, with Dino at the front, then touched down before the group.

"Neptune, guys," said Dino, "Are you lot okay?"

"We overheard Triton and Iris explain to Ebony and James at their, Pelusa and Nevardo's cat-and-dog club what has happened," said Gemma in utter disbelief, "But since we were so busy in helping our neighbours in moving out of our trees because of that gang of pesky toucan kids, we never gave it a thought to follow them, until now."

Dino Jr, Raymundo and Gemma also gazed at the adults with sympathetic eyes as they flanked their parents.

"Triton and Iris went to visit James's club?" asked Neptune.

"It's true," said Ebony as she stood with James, "Triton and Iris happened to fly past our club while they were looking for Rhea, Iapetus and Ariel."

"And when we saw how flustered they were," added James, "we asked what was troubling them and they explained to us what has happened, and we had to adjourn our club early after explaining to our clubbers that we had a crisis involving our feathered friends and here we are."

"We're sorry we didn't turn up sooner," said Dino, his eyes narrowed, "But we had a lot to deal with back in the jungle."

"How is your evacuation going?" asked Uranus after some reluctance. He was still plagued by worry over the birds' leaving from the Blu Bird Sanctuary, as were Blu and the others. Dino turned to the great green macaw.

"It's going smoothly, no mischief from those wretched ruffian toucans to report as of yet," said Dino. His face then darkened. "However, I feel we must tell you this. A family of parakeets had been talking about Tiago and Matilda and also you guys while we were helping them to leave their tree."

Dread rolled through Blu and company like a tidal wave.

"How were they talking about my daughter and son-in-law?" asked Venus. Blu and Jewel also gazed at the chestnut-fronted toucans, fearing the worst but nothing could prepare them for what Gemma said next.

"They've been talking negatively of you," she said, "Especially about some chicks of Tiago and Matilda and also those of Carla, Bia and their mates and how bad they were and all that."

"They have also been describing those six as bad parents and you, Blu and Jewel and Venus, as bad grandparents who should not be on the sanctuary at all," said Dino before his gaze travelled to the other macaws, "They said the same of you guys and your flying fox friends as well."

It took a while for the group to absorb this information until finally, Jupiter spoke, outrage flaring within him.

"You've got to be joking," he snarled in disbelief. However, the two adult chestnut-fronted toucans shook their heads to confirm that they were not.

"It's true," said Dino sadly. Blu's group, especially Blu, Jewel and Venus, began to exchange outraged and dreaded glances. Broccoli, Daisy, Collette, Dash, Ginger, Ebony, James and Luiz did the same. This could only mean one thing and many of them had reached this in their minds already.

"Many of Rafael and Eva's offspring," hissed Jewel hostilely, her cerulean plumage bristling.

"Especially Marco," put in Jupiter, his vermillion feathers on end. Gemma then folded her wings, a scowl on her face.

"I thought you guys would have known those _awful_ pieces of work very well by now," she muttered, "You ought to have asked some of the other residents who also know those pathetic excuses for parents because many of those toucans, especially Marco's mate Anastasia and some of his siblings like Sofia and Miguel, are outright gossips who always love to cause birds they don't like a lot of trouble, especially through gossiping about them."

"They like to GOSSIP!?" blurted out Ceres, Mercury and Mars at the same time. Then Jewel began to boil dangerously with fury.

"Huh, not only do those brats not discipline their many, many kids, breed like mad, and allow them to tell as bunch of lies to get others into trouble," she snarled, "Not to mention leave others in trouble and danger like how they did our offspring, resulting in around three-dozen kids getting kidnapped including the pups of our flying fox friends…"

"They also seem to like spreading a bunch of lies about us!" growled Saturn. Broccoli then scowled.

"Rafael and Eva have only just become aware of how bad most of their numerous offspring had become," he said.

"As well as many of their grandkids," put in Daisy.

"First they ground a flying fox pup and plunge Orion and his merlin mate's son into a fatal fall into a thorn bush as well as break the son of Eustace and Serena's wing, brand Tiago and the others as bad parents," growled James, "And now they leave you lot to face a bunch of pesky poachers alone resulting in many of your kids getting caught and then spread gossip about you!?"

"Those toucans are outright rotten," said Ebony.

"I couldn't agree more," said Dash. Ginger and Luiz nodded in agreement.

"And this may make you guys despise those toucans more," said Blu. All eyes turned to him and also Jewel, Mercury and the other macaws.

"And what's that?" asked Ginger. Then Broccoli remembered.

"Of course," he said, "Jack and Jill's survey on the bird populations of the Blu Bird Sanctuary."

Blu then launched into an explanation of what he had heard from Tulio based on Jack and Jill's report and also what he, Jewel, Mercury and the others that had accompanied him, along with Travis and Sunset, had alerted him to.

"Jack and Jill's survey results have shown that the population of toco/keel-billed toucan hybrids has exploded," he said, "In other words, the numbers have sharply increased compared to the populations of the other species on the Blu Bird Sanctuary and that has made Tulio draws some serious conclusions if the humans were to allow those toucans to keep breeding, the same conclusions we had arrived at when we discussed this this back in Linda and Tulio's garden," all ears cocked to pick up this important info, "If those toucans are left to breed like they are currently doing, it could place a serious strain on the ecosystem of the Blu Bird Sanctuary, resulting in competition for food, space and other resources with the other bird species and also the arboreal, or tree mammals, on the protected reserve," Blu's eyes then narrowed, " Not to mention the fact that some of them have been attacking some tourists as of recent."

"What!?" snapped Broccoli.

"When?" asked Daisy. Then Travis touched down having heard this.

"When we went out to forage before we were attacked by a group of those toucans," he explained, "That same group was nabbing some valuables from some visiting humans. Spyro told us this, saying that Garnet, his bat-bird, had witnessed those toucans stealing jewellery from those tourists."

The four-legged mammals and the chestnut-mandibled toucans exchanged glances.

"That explains why so many of us want to move out alright besides the trouble they cause us," said Dino in understanding, before turning to Blu and company, "And also the food shortages."

"Has Tulio come up with a solution to this problem?" asked Luiz.

"He has, and has come to two possible options in reducing the population," said Blu, "Either catch many of those toucans and move them to different places such as other sanctuaries or enclosures, or…" however, he trailed off, not wanting to say the other option. Silence hung over the group until Collette broke it.

"Or what?" she asked. Blu remained silent. However the others had already deduced what he was referring to. There was only one other way to reduce the population of a species that had grown to the point of threatening the balance of a habitat's ecosystem, but it was something Tulio had always dreaded doing, especially to his favoured creatures, exotic birds since this procedure was how chickens, which he didn't mind eating the meat of for they were not exotic birds, ended up as food items sold through grocery stores. But Blu knew that it could be used as a form of population management as well. And it was something that Rafael and Eva's grownup offspring and their mates, or any other bird with chicks for that matter, would not like to have done to their chicks. While Blu thought about this, a toco toucan appeared, drawing the group's attention to him.

"How are Eva and Ganymede, Rafael?" asked Pluto who was the first to spot him. Rafael's face was perkier than it had been before.

"Just fine," he said, "Ganymede's wing is fixable and my lovely Eva's wound had just missed the important vessels of the neck," his face then turned dark, "But it was extremely close."

Blu and company breathed a sigh of relief. Eva had had an extremely narrow escape from a fatal injury when that crow had inflicted her with the nasty scratch. Normally, if the carotid artery or jugular vein, the most important vessels of the neck, were severed, the chances of survival were incredibly slim. Then Rafael's mood changed as another subject came to his mind.

"I overheard Tulio talk about the toucan population and how it is threatening the Blu Bird Sanctuary," he said.

"We were just talking about that," said Saturn.

"We didn't think that it would come to this problem," said Rafael. At this, a voice behind him said, "Well, you and your screechy mate are largely to blame for this massive problem, Big Nose."

At this, Blu, Rafael and the others looked up and saw a peregrine falcon descend from the roof with her mate by her side, bulbous eyes burning with disgust as they glared at Rafael.

"If you hadn't set to breeding like rabbits and having so many kids in the first place," said Cometa, "And also influencing your older offspring based on your example, then we wouldn't be in this big mess."

"Not to mention the lack of discipline those offspring of yours and your grandkids didn't have when they were growing up," put in Lightning. Rafael just stood there, a silent look written all over his face, Blu and company gazing at him with agreeing looks. He had to admit that the falcons were right. He and Eva had been having far too many kids and it was about time they had stopped having kids. One other reason was their age and they were getting too old to have more kids anyway. However, Rafael and Eva had already considered this especially after what had happened over the past two days: first Sandalwood's incident and then the poacher attack leading to so many of Blu and company's grandkids getting captured successfully thanks to the chaos Marco and his comrades had stirred up for them, leading to those kids getting caught in those horrible nets and cages.

Marco and many of his siblings were very badly behaved and many of their kids were just like them.

 **Meanwhile**

It was sunset, the sun halfway to setting. In the east, the darkness of the night was slowly overtaking the sunlight, the speckles of light from stars emerging from the sun's 'shadow' of light. The truck carrying the captured animals, among them Sandalwood and 39 other kids, continued to drive through the jungle after more trucks ahead of it, their trailers carrying equipment and the crows and dogs. It had reached a flat strip of brown dirt and was driving down it. The walls of trees continued to flow past and some of the animals in the cages sitting in the trailer had stopped wailing. However, sad and despairing looks still plastered their faces. Sandalwood who sat in his cage with Acerola, Lillie and Gladion huddled up in one corner, depressed looks on their faces, observed the passing scenery of trees and the darkening sky above. The other kids such as Sirius and Spica had lied down, their wings wrapped around their feet in a foetal position, frightened and distressed looks on their faces. Some were moaning.

"I'm hungry," murmured Canopus.

"I wanna go home," murmured Alnitak.

"It's scary out here," moaned Alnilam.

"Where are Mom and Dad?" squeaked Mintaka, yearning for Byron and Europa. Betelgeuse and Rigel continued to lie in foetal positions, tears streaming down their faces and sobs escaping their throats as they also missed the comforting embrace of their parents, Io and Sheldon as the cold, evening breeze blew through their feathers. In the cage next to these red macaws' one, Bellatrix, Petunia, Vega, Deneb, Polaris, Adenine, Thymine, Guanine and Cytosine continued to remain huddled together, squeaks of distress also escaping their beaks as they also missed their parents. Then Bellatrix stood up and walked over to Sandalwood.

"Sandalwood," said she, rousing Sandalwood's attention. However, the young amber coloured flying fox pup did not look at her.

"Sandalwood," said Bellatrix, "Are you okay?"

Still Sandalwood did not answer or move to look at her. However, he began to murmur miserably.

"It's all my fault," a tear then welled in his left eye and ran down his cheek, "If only I hadn't wandered away from the group after that shadowy figure, I wouldn't have brought you guys into this big mess," his eyes closed as more tears formed, seeping through his eyelids, "Not to mention those horrid toucans making their appearance and resulting in us getting caught…"

A sniffle and a sob then escaped his throat as he began to weep and cry. Bellatrix shook her head in disagreement.

"No, that's not true," she said, "You didn't know that whatever led you away would be one of them horrible crows."

Still Sandalwood refused to look at her. Then Petunia, Vega, Deneb, Polaris, Adenine, Thymine, Guanine and Cytosine came up to Bellatrix and Gazed at Sandalwood. Sympathy laced the faces of all of them but two of the chicks, Petunia and Adenine. They wore enraged scowls as they glared at Sandalwood as he continued to sulk in his cage.

"Well, I believe that it's your fault, you stupid pup," hissed Petunia, making Sandalwood wince from the remark, "If YOU hadn't have wandered away from the rest of us, we wouldn't have ended up being torn from our parents."

"Yeah," hissed Adenine in agreement, making Sandalwood wince again and cry more. At this, Bellatrix and the others shot the older son of Ganymede and Mimas and daughter of Músculo and Charlotte a glare.

"Will you two stop blaming him," hissed Bellatrix.

"You're making him feel worse," put in Guanine.

"Don't you think he's been through enough as it is already?" said Thymine.

"Especially what those horrible toucan kids have done to him in rendering him unable to fly," put in Vega. At this, Lillie and Gladion stirred and gazed at Petunia and Adenine.

"That's right," said Lillie, "Honestly, you two, don't make it worse for him."

However, Petunia and Adenine's faces remained twisted into outraged scowls.

"Well, it serves him right," said Petunia spitefully.

"And I hope he regrets it for a long time," added Adenine and with that, he blew a raspberry at Sandalwood before storming off. However, a talon appeared and seized him by the neck. Adenine squeaked in shock as he was yanked towards Bellatrix's face while Vega and Polaris began to viciously confront Petunia. Adenine then found himself gazing into a pair of volcanic hazel eyes as a torrent of furious words spewed from the beak below them.

"How DARE you say that to Sandalwood, you NITWIT!" screeched Bellatrix, her talon firmly wrapped around the Catalina macaw's neck, "HOW DARE YOU MAKE HIM FEEL WORSE, ESPECIALLY AFTER WHAT THOSE HORRID TOUCAN KIDS HAVE DONE TO HIM!"

"You and Petunia are honestly no better than Isabella and her stupid bunch of comrades who knocked him off the end of that branch," snarled Guanine furiously. This comment made Adenine wince, especially as Bellatrix shoved him away from her face.

"If you said that with our parents and grandparents around," she continued, "They would have been extremely angry."

"Especially Mrs Stella and Mr Soren," said Cytosine. Adenine flinched again. Whenever Ganymede was in rebuking mode, he always wore a serious scowl on his face which Adenine always found frightening. Furthermore, Jupiter, his paternal grandfather, would be even more frightening for he sometimes had a big voice, which he used to bark at another group of toucan kids Adenine and his three siblings and some of their red cousins including Betelgeuse and Rigel, went off with to play hide and seek only to include causing some residents trouble and talking some of the macaws into participating with them. Adenine's face then made a despondent look.

"Forgive me," he murmured before running off to one of the cage corners, curling up there and bursting into tears. Petunia did the same and began to sob her heart out. Bellatrix, Cytosine, Thymine, Guanine, Vega, Polaris and Deneb exchanged glances before gazing at Sandalwood once again who had by now begun to sob loudly, his emotions finally bursting through the dam of restraint. In another of the cages, Procyon, Castor, Pollux, Mira, Fomalhaut, Capella, Achernar, Antares, Aldebaran, Arcturus, Saiph, Denebola and Regulus, and also Sylvester, Carmen, Alegria, Pitaya, Gertie and Altair and Sirius and Spica in their two cages, having witnessed the whole confrontation in Bellatrix's cage, also began to break down. The air was then flooded with the cries of over 30 distressed chicks and one sobbing pup as the truck continued to drive along the dirt road. Suddenly, a screech jolted the 40 chicks and pups and made them turn to its source.

"Will you quit your stupid WAILING!?" shouted one of the caged mammals, a moustached tamarin, "You're driving everyone else on this stupid wheeled thing NUTS!"

At this, Sylvester, the biological son of Ellie and Frodo, stormed over to the side of the cage nearest to the tamarin and said, "How do you think WE feel!?"

"You have no idea of how it feels to be torn from parents by a bunch of humans who think of us as nothing but mere objects," added Carmen.

"Do you feel any sense of hopelessness like the rest of us!?" questioned Altair. Sirius and Spica, together with Gladion, Lillie and Acerola and also Bellatrix, Cytosine, Guanine and Thymine also glared at the monkey as his face fell. In the other cages, the other animals, a variety of other mammals and birds, and also some of the reptiles and frogs in the plastic containers, also gazed at Sandalwood's group. The tamarin then sighed, especially as another bird which Sirius, Spica and Bellatrix identified was a sun parakeet, said, "Look, they're only kids. They must be missing their parents. Why don't you show them a bit of sympathy rather than yell at them to shut up?"

"I'm sorry," said the tamarin, "It's just that… being in this stupid box thing with those happy sounding poachers driving this thing is just driving me up the trees."

"Their triumphant mu-ssssic is driving ussss ALL up the treessss," hissed a lizard from one of the plastic boxes, "Not jussssst you."

It then gazed sympathetically at the chicks, Sandalwood and Acerola and added, "But it mussst be worsssse for thesssse young creaturessss, to be ripped from their home at that age."

"Most poachers have no care about us animals whatsoever," said the sun parakeet, but then her face became dark, "But when we get to the sorting stage, that's where things are gonna get frightening."

At this, terror tore through the 38 young chicks and two pups.

"What?" asked Alegria.

"What do you mean?" asked Sirius. Sandalwood then began to stir and gaze at the sun parakeet with tear-stained eyes. The sun parakeet, the lizard and the tamarin then gave the kids a very dark look.

"Ooooh, every animal that knowssss about poachersssss know thisssss," hissed the lizard, its tongue flicking in and out of its mouth, similar to a snake's tongue, "When poacherssss take usss to be ssssorted, we are plassssed in different groupsss to be ssssent to different countriessss outsssside Brazil."

"Some might end up going to other countries in South America to be sold as pets," said the tamarin disgustedly, much to the worried gazes of Sandalwood's group, "While some might end up taken out of South America to be sold to other parts of the world."

At this, Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Petunia and Arcturus the Lear's macaw all shuddered, remembering how their grandmother Venus and Arcturus's grandfather Mercury were taken out of Brazil to be sold to Europe and also how Blu, the grandfather of Sirius, Spica and Bellatrix, ended up in the United States, in the state of Minnesota when he was smuggled. Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Ceres and Pluto were also smuggled out of South America as chicks and sold to Europa as well and Carmen remembered Ceres, her grandmother, explaining to her and the other chicks how frightening it had been when she had pieced together what had happened, to be ripped from one's home as a chick or flying fox pup and sold to countries outside South America. The thought of this began to add fuel to the fire of fear within Sandalwood and company.

"Is there any way out of these horrible cages before that happens?" asked Sirius timidly. However, to his utmost dismay, the lizard, tamarin and sun parakeet's heads shook from side to side.

"I'm afraid not, sorry to crush your hopes," said the tamarin, "Those poachers are in charge of our destiny from here on out. We can only sit here and allow them to do what they usually do and put up with it."

As this reality hit the minds of the young chicks and pups, distressed wails exploded from their beaks and mouths. Then Altair began to panic.

"I DON'T WANNA be smuggled out of BRAZIL! I WANNA GET OUTA HERE AND…" he screeched and with that, he began to throw himself against the bars of the cage, making it jerk and rock and making Gertie, Pitaya, Sylvester, Carmen and Alegria stumble.

"Whoa, what are you doing!?" shouted Gertie as she fell on her front.

"Getting outa here," shouted Altair, tears of terror streaming down his face, "I DON'T WANNA BE SOLD AS SOME SORT OF STUPID ROCK OR SOMETHING!"

And with that, he slammed himself against the side of the cage even harder and made it rock a bit again. Sandalwood, Gladion, Lillie and Acerola gazed at the baby archaeobird as he took up his position and threw himself again at the cage bars, rocking the cage again.

"Oi, little metallic feathered… long tailed bird… or whatever you are," said the tamarin, "Stop throwing yourself against the cage."

"You'll never break out of it like that, plussss you'll hurt yourssssself," hissed the lizard, its tongue flicking out of its mouth. The others in Sandalwood's group watched the cage containing Altair, Sylvester, Carmen, Alegria, Pitaya and Gertie as it merely rocked each time the little archaeobird Altair slammed himself against the cage. However, Altair was too blinded by desperation to listen to this fact.

"I DON'T CARE!" he bellowed at the top of his voice as he slammed harder into the cage bars, "I WANT OUTA HERE THIS MINUTE!"

He then slammed himself against the cage bars again and again, making the cage rock and throwing the other five with him off balance each time.

"Seriously, Altair, you could break a wing or something," said Gertie as she steadied Pitaya and Sylvester with her larger wings.

"And those poachers are likely not to care about that," said the sun parakeet, "Their focus only being on selling us abroad."

Still Altair refused to listen and continued to throw himself against the cage bars but no matter how hard he tried, he could not bust out. then Bellatrix tried fiddling with the padlock holding her and Petunia, Vega, Deneb, Polaris, Adenine, Thymine, Guanine and Cytosine in their cage but to her dismay and despite the smartness she had inherited from her paternal grandfather Blu through Tiago, she found that she had no experience with padlocks. Plus her talon claws were too short to be used as a lock pick to unlock this slab of metal and click the u-shaped mechanism out of its slot. However, the 40 kids didn't realise that the truck was not far from its destination: a large tent where captured animals were sorted into destination groups before the smuggling stage. Altair continued smashing himself against the cage bars, not noticing the truck slow down and then pull up in front of a large construction covered by a large sheet attached to some trees to form a shelter. Lights shone from some sort of glass containers in the tent, providing light. Altair continued throwing himself against the cage bars to break out of the cage until a pair of human hands appeared and lifted the cage, making him snap out of his frenzied urge to escape, especially when he found himself gazing in a dark tan coloured face through the bars.

"Oops, we can't have these valuable creatures hurting themselves," he said in Brazilian Portuguese as translated by Gertie, Carmen and Sylvester who were fluent in the language, "We need to preserve these ultra-rare specimens for our clients."

At this, Altair stopped and slumped down against the bars as the man carried the cage over to the tent.

"Ultra-rare specimens?" he asked the other five confused.

"I believe he's referring to you, Alegria, Pitaya and Sylvester," explained Gertie, "Since you're an extremely rare creature that's supposed to be extinct like the dinosaurs; Sylvester is a Cuban macaw chick, Alegria is a Dominican green-and-yellow macaw and Pitaya is a newly discovered species of pink and purple macaw."

"Two of which are supposed to be extinct for more than a century," said Carmen. At this, Altair, Sylvester, Pitaya and Alegria shot the blue-throated macaw chick and hyacinth chick a surprised look as their cage was carried to the tent. Then moments later, the other caged animals including Sandalwood and the others were brought from the truck to the tent by the other poachers. As soon as all the captured animals had been unloaded and carried to the tent, which appeared to be some sort of hidden poacher and smuggler base, the group of humans then set to examining each of the animals and sorting them into destination groups. One of the men held up the cage containing Sirius and Spica and smiled gleefully, striking fear into the two chicks.

"Wow, Spix macaw chicks, these will be worth a fortune," he said as translated by the two cousins. The man then put the cage down and turned to the next cage, the one containing Sandalwood, Acerola, Lillie and Gladion and began to examine them, smiling in fascination at the two flying fox pups with Spica and Sirius looking on, both with despairing looks on their faces as they began to prepare for the inevitable.

"Well, looks like this will be the last time we'll be seeing Sandalwood and the others," murmured Sirius, a tear falling from his eye. Spica, a sob threatening to escape her throat and her eyes also weeping tears, nodded in agreement. As the man continued examining the timid Sandalwood and the other three with him in their cage, a woman picked up the cage containing Procyon, Castor, Pollux, Mira, Fomalhaut, Capella, Achernar, Antares, Aldebaran, Arcturus, Saiph, Denebola and Regulus and began to examine them. When her eyes landed on Saiph, Denebola and Regulus, her mouth widened into a smile and she began to witter something in Brazilian Portuguese.

"What is she saying?" asked Saiph.

"I believe she is saying 'Wow, some chicks of an extremely rare species of macaw' or something like that," said Arcturus.

"Referring to the glaucous macaw which is what we are?" asked Denebola. She recalled what her father Charon, uncle Quincy, aunt Flor and grandfather Pluto and several others including Blu had told her, Regulus and Saiph about how sought after extremely rare birds, such as the glaucous macaw and Spix macaw, were by poachers. They, along with the Cuban red macaw, the Dominican green-and-yellow macaw, the newly discovered purple-and-pink macaw and the seemingly Jurassic and Cretaceous archaeobird, were seen as extremely rare gems of the animal world by poachers and often had a massive price tag attached to them, which Denebola remembered was a value in terms of the thing humans called 'money'. Then Aldebaran fiercely gazed at the woman and hissed hostilely, the fierce, short temper he had inherited from his scarlet grandfather Felipe through Benjamin beginning to manifest.

"Well, I'm NOT GONNA let THAT HUMAN GAZE greedily at MY friends," he snarled and with that and before anyone could stop him, he lurched forward and applied the skill his great green and maternal grandparents Uranus and Esmeralda had taught him, Perdita and Cecil during self-defence lessons they had before the Rio trip. Rushing straight for one of the fingers of the woman as they held the cage, the young male Verde (scarlet/great green hybrid) macaw sank his beak as hard as he could into the hand to the point of tasting the metallic tang of blood. A piercing scream erupted from the woman's mouth as she suddenly lowered the cage onto a desk and withdrew her hand which began to weep blood. Aldebaran then quickly wiped away the drops of human blood from his beak with a wing and then scornfully watched the woman as she grasped her bitten hand, her face twisted with her teeth gritted in utter pain. The others gathered around him.

"Good thinking, Aldebaran," said Procyon with no sympathy whatsoever.

"We never thought of that," said Castor and Pollux together.

"I'd have clawed her in the eye," said Mira, her fierce gaze on the woman as she began to painfully ask one of her comrades for a first aid kit. Saiph, Denebola, Regulus and Arcturus, however, wore timid and uncertain looks as did Capella, Achernar, Antares and Fomalhaut.

"I don't think you should have done that, Aldebaran," said Capella.

"Those strange humans could see us as vicious birds," said Achernar. The smug look on Aldebaran's face however remained.

"Well it's what uncaring humans get for messing with birds, ain't it?" he gloated, "I hope that bite mark I made will leave a nasty scar on her hand."

Then Aldebaran's group heard another piercing scream from another human, this time a man. At this, the thirteen macaws all snapped their heads in the direction of the screamer and saw the man jerk his hand away from Sandalwood, Gladion, Lillie and Acerola's cage, tooth marks carved into the skin of the palm part of his hand, near the knuckles where the fingers joined the palm, and two of his fingers, all weeping blood. Aldebaran then gazed at Sandalwood's cage and saw Acerola hiss viciously at the human as he grasped his bitten hand while Lillie, Gladion and Sandalwood huddled together in the corner farthest from the human. It was obvious that Acerola had been the one to deliver the bite, especially based on the small red spots smeared over her muzzle, some of the man's blood having soaked into her facial fur. Aldebaran then remembered that a flying fox's teeth had fang-like incisors, similar to a cat but these fangs were used for piercing the skin of fruit. However, Aldebaran then remembered Anabelle and Sebastian teaching Acerola and Ferdinand and Stella and Soren teaching Sandalwood that their teeth could also be used to defend themselves, similar to how macaws would use their beaks. Another flash of smugness then sparked within Aldebaran as he watched the man apply a sheet of soft paper, called a 'tissue' by humans, to his bitten hand and fingers while Acerola hastily tried to wipe away the human blood from her face which was burning with disgust, with her wings. However, that smug flash soon died out as one of the poachers, apparently the leader, called out to the others that it was time to sort the caged animals into destination groups before their clients turned up.


	22. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21- Another night of despair for Blu's group**

Night had finally fully fallen in Brazil for the sun had fully set. In the poachers' base, Sandalwood and company continued to prepare themselves for the inevitable separation from each other as their captors sorted their cages into destination groups. Like all the other animals, despair, depression and hopelessness enveloped them like a dark cloud. Sirius and Spica sat together in one cage, tears falling from their eyes as they wished that Virgil, Bia, Einstein, Miles and Carla, Justin, Sonia and Melody were here. The thoughts of their parents and grandparents also plagued the minds of Sandalwood and the others, and their eyes were oozing tears all the time.

"Come on, guys," said the lead poacher in Brazilian Portuguese (translated into English in the heads of some of Sandalwood's friends); "Our first clients will be here any moment!"

Sandalwood who was lying on his side with his wings wrapped around his body, at this, gazed at the humans through the cages as they went about between the light from the containers (called 'lamps') and darkness, preparing the caged animals. Based on what the lead poacher said, the first group of clients were to arrive shortly. A despairing sigh escaping his mouth, Sandalwood returned to lying on his side to sulk, feelings of blame and 'It's all your fault' echoing painfully in his mind.

"Well, this is it," Sandalwood heard one of the macaw chicks, which he recognised as Rigel, say but it was edgy and broken for she was on the verge of tears, "This is where we say goodbye to each other."

"I hope some caring humans might be some of the customers who will buy us," said Betelgeuse tearfully, "Like how Grandpa Jupiter and the others ended up in the care of their owners Lucy and Susan when they were smuggled out of Brazil."

Vega, Deneb and Polaris in Bellatrix's cage, did not feel perked up by this hopeful remark. These three were greatly plagued by fears of ending up in the clutches of abusive humans, like how their grandfather Roberto had ended up in the cruel hands of an uncaring human girl who took immense pleasure in torturing him. History seemed to be repeating itself for these three.

As for the chicks of the rarer species, such as Sylvester the Cuban macaw, Alegria the Dominican green-and-yellow macaw, Altair the archaeobird and Pitaya the purple-and-pink macaw, they were likely to end up in a collector's hands. Their species were far rarer than the Spix, Lear's and glaucous macaws after all. As for the chicks who were hybrids or mixed species, with Betelgeuse and Rigel being 25 percent green-winged and 75 percent scarlet due to their mother Io being a full scarlet and Sheldon a half scarlet and half green-winged; Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine and Thymine being half scarlet and half blue-and-gold due to their father Ganymede being a scarlet and mother Mimas a blue-and-gold; Canopus being a half scarlet, half green-winged due to his father Athos being a green-winged macaw and his mother Callisto a scarlet; Mira being a hyacinth (from her mother Trixie) and blue-and-gold (from her father Enceladus) hybrid; Fomalhaut being a cross between a blue-and-gold macaw (his mother Tethys's species) and a great green macaw (which was the species of his father Oberon); Antares a great green and military hybrid (due to his mother Titania being the former and his father Ash, the latter); Aldebaran being a great green and scarlet cross (his mother Umbriel being a great green macaw and his father Benjamin, a scarlet macaw), and Lillie and Gladion being 75 percent toco and 25 percent keel-billed toucans due to their heritage (Diantha, their mother being half toco, half keel-billed and their father Tom being full toco), they were likely to be sought after by their clients as well since hybrid and mixed-species macaws were extremely rare in the wild, with Falkor the milicinth macaw, the result of the crossing of a hyacinth macaw with a military, being the only other known case besides these birds. However, in captivity, hybrid macaws were much more common and were often bred for their colour and behaviour.

As these thoughts passed through Sandalwood and company's minds, a shout from one of the humans snapped the group back to reality.

"Here they come," called the woman. Then the sounds of footsteps on soft grass and soil filled the air as some of the poachers went to meet the first clients. Dread came upon Sandalwood and company.

"Here we go," said Acerola in a broken voice. At this, Lillie and Gladion huddled together as did the other chicks in the other cages, dreading separation.

"I don't wanna be separated from you guys," said Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka together to Betelgeuse, Rigel, Canopus and also the others in the other cages. Then Fomalhaut, his emerald green back, amber front and aqua blue wing and tail flight feathers resulting from the mixing of Tethys and Oberon's plumages flashing in the light from one of the nearby lamps, climbed up the bars until his head touched the roof of the cage to try and get a better view of the new arrivals.

"Can you see anything, Fomalhaut?" asked Capella as she huddled with Achernar and Antares. Arcturus, Saiph, Denebola and Regulus also huddled together as did Procyon, Castor, Pollux and Mira, fearful looks plastering their faces. Fomalhaut then gazed into the darkness and saw the movement of the humans just on the edge of the area of light. He also heard the humans talk in Brazilian Portuguese but they were so muffled that he could not pick out meaningful sentences. However, he managed picked up a few words for he, too was fluent with Portuguese.

"I can hear words like 'rare creatures', 'new species' and 'brilliant'," replied the blue-and-gold/great green hybrid chick, "But the other words are too garbled to make out."

"Oh, here they come," said Mira. At this, Fomalhaut dropped down from the top of the bars and joined the others, moments before the shapes of the humans melted out of the dark night air into the light shining from the lamps hanging from the hooks of the bars supporting the tent's silky roof. The poachers then began to talk with the newcomers and introduce them to the animals they had caught. Fomalhaut and several others began to translate the Portuguese to English in their heads.

"We believe we may have discovered some rare species of macaws," said Fomalhaut as he translated the lead poacher's words as he gestured with a hand to his and the others' cage, "They have colours that we have never at all seen before."

"New species?" repeated Aldebaran in irritation.

"We're _hybrids!"_ said Antares.

"However," said Fomalhaut along with the poacher as he continued to speak Portuguese, "Some of them are pretty feisty. Pablo and Angelina ended up with bitten hands while we were examining the baby macaws, toucans and Brazilian flying fox bats while one of the monkeys almost lashed at my hair with a hand when I examined it…"

"I'm not surprised," said Antares with folded wings, "These poachers have no right to shove their stupid faces right up to us when they know it frightens us."

Then one of the newcomer humans began to speak. Fomalhaut translated the man's words to English.

"Right, we'll take most of those animals, including those rare and newly discovered species and take them to Peru," said Fomalhaut along with the speaking man. At this, an alarmed look came upon his face. Looks of alarm also formed on the faces of the others.

"Peru!?" said Sirius in the adjacent cage.

"But that's another country in South America, isn't it?" said Spica. Sandalwood, however, was too miserable to care.

"Yeah, but it's still a long way from home," said Mira sadly and despondently.

"What are we gonna do?" wailed some of the other chicks in despair and with that, the group broke down in tears again, the despair of never seeing Brazil and their families and friends again boiling within them once again.

Moments later, the group of clients purchased the cages of most of the animals from the poachers after some persuasion and soon began to load their purchased cages onto another truck. Among the purchased animals were Sandalwood and his group, all 40 of them, and they were loaded into the truck with a variety of other animals. Only a few animals remained behind and the poachers received some slips of paper from the clients. Then a while later Sandalwood and company were on the move once again as the truck began to carry them away from the poachers' base. They remained on the truck for a long while until finally; the truck was out of the jungle and in a clearing, but it struck more fear into the minds of Sandalwood and company as they were driven through the clearing. In the sky above, a swathe of stars shone from the black canvas, a few wisps of cloud drifting gently sky. The moon was nothing more than a sliver of silver hovering in front of the sea of stars. However, Sandalwood and company were in no mood for stargazing, the despair and hopelessness continuously crushing them like an anaconda. Tears falling from their eyes, most of the group and some of the animals soon cried themselves to sleep, tiredness coming over them like a blanket but there was barely little comfort, especially without the soft feathers or fur of their parents to settle them. Sandalwood and Acerola especially missed the comforting embrace of their mothers Stella and Anabelle while the chicks missed the blanket of feathers of their parents. Then moments later, the truck stopped and the purchasers of the animals got out of the truck and began to unload the cages. Sandalwood, along with Sirius and Betelgeuse who were still awake, wearily lifted their heads.

"Now what?" asked Sirius tiredly. Then Betelgeuse saw a large black box shape partly lit up by the light from the crescent moon. Jutting from the sides of the box were protrusions. Betelgeuse had seen similar protrusions in a picture of a plane Blu had once showed her and the other kids, the same sort of plane Blu, Jewel and several other birds were placed in before being almost smuggled out of Brazil. As recognition took hold, her skin crawled and her nerves shuddered.

"Looks like some sort of airplane," she murmured. She shot the sleeping forms of Rigel, Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka and Canopus as they stirred in their tearful slumber. Sirius and Sandalwood, at this, flinched, and Sandalwood soon felt a massive wave of extreme fear and despair wash over him. He had heard of those vehicles and had been told by Blu that airplanes were what humans used to fly to different places. _Fly_. This 'f' word made Sandalwood wince as though he had smelt something absolutely foul. However, Flight, along with heights, _was_ likea bad smell to him but it was not just any bad smell. It was like a terrifying cave stuffed with a pile of rotting skeletons of animals that had been killed and left to rot and decay to nothing more than a pile of bones. Thus flight and heights were like the smell of death and the decay of rotting carcases to Sandalwood and he began to shudder violently. Even the thought of flying things including manmade flying things like planes was enough to send Sandalwood into a seizure-like state. His breathing spiralled out of control and his heartrate shot steeply upward. His head also began to spin and Sandalwood began to feel sick, as though his stomach wanted to jump out of his body and run away. Betelgeuse and Sirius watched worriedly as the young, hyperventilating and panic-stricken flying fox began to sway like a drunken bat.

"Sandalwood, calm down," said Sirius but he knew that this was useless. Sandalwood was too overcome with extreme fear to even hear him. As his fear overwhelmed him and his vision blended into a blurry mess, his head feeling floaty, Sandalwood soon passed out and flopped down onto his front, moments before a pair of hands appeared and took hold of the cage containing him, Acerola, Gladion and Lillie and lifted it out of the cage. Sirius and Betelgeuse watched as one of the women carried Sandalwood's cage to the plane's cargo bay.

"I hope he doesn't wake halfway through the flight," said Betelgeuse worriedly. Sirius just stared back at her through the bars of his cage and her cage before gazing into the night air. 'If only Mom, Dad and the others were here,' he thought fearfully.

 **Rio**

Tonight was even more stressful and despondent for Blu's group than last night following Sandalwood's incident. The majority of the group had returned to their sleeping spot outside Linda and Tulio's cottage while a few of them, such as Mimas, Rafael and Frodo, stayed behind at Tulio's Aviary to remain with Ganymede, Eva, Ellie and also Luna and Vincent. Olivia and Achilles, however, were taken back to the staying spot with the other remaining chicks and were put to bed by Phobos, Deimos, Iapetus, Rhea and Ariel while Ferdinand was put to bed by Augustus. However, it was going to be an extremely difficult night for Blu and company, the devastation of losing 40 of the kids to poachers still gripping them like an anaconda squeeze. Rafael was also extremely guilty, not over the loss of Gladion and Lillie but also the behaviour of so many of his grownup kids and grandkids. He had decided that he would tell Eva that they were going to stop having kids the moment she woke up from her surgery to stitch up the gashes and in the morning. However, part of him wanted to continue to have more kids for he adored kids, but Rafael knew that it was coming to the point when he and Eva will be too old to conceive more kids, much less add more to their already MASSIVE family. This point was backed up by Dash and Ginger who had explained to him how their days of having litters of puppies had to end eventually, even though mammalian reproductive physiology was different to that of birds. Venus, who also loved having chicks, also knew that the time for her and Zephyr to stop having future broods would come eventually as well. However, Venus had more wisdom than Rafael and Eva and always waited until the current brood of kids were grown up and had left the nest before setting to have another clutch, something Rafael and Eva had often failed to do during their breeding years. No wonder so many offspring of the toucan couple was so badly behaved since having so many kids meant keeping an eye on all of them, something Venus, along with Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Ceres and Pluto had noted to Rafael and Eva as well. It was going to be an extremely difficult time for Rafael and Eva indeed.

As Blu and company prepared for a miserable night's sleep in their hollows and birdhouses, Stella and Soren joining Augustus, Anabelle, Sebastian, Ferdinand and Melissa in their hollow for they couldn't bear to sleep in the floor hollow at the base of the tree due to the painful reminders of their son Sandalwood and the fact that he had gone missing, hovering there, Triton and Iris sat on a branch of a nearby tall tree overlooking Blu and company's place of stay. Like everyone else, they were still devastated over today's events as well. However, Triton also had some personal problems, especially now that it was coming to a point that he and Iris might move on to the next step of their relationship anytime soon.

"Boy, what a day it's been," he murmured to Iris who sat next to him, his leaf bandana covering his scarred left facial side and eye, "It seems that the nightmare has just gotten worse for Blu and company."

"It's gotten worse for everyone, including us two," said Iris who was still disgusted and outraged at what had happened, "Violet, your and Indigo's younger sister, had to be taken to be babysat by Orton and Kipo to give your parents Neptune and Ultramarine a break while we sort this massive mess out, Blu had been considering ringing up your friends back in the Sanctuary de Amazon…"

At this, Triton's right eye widened. He hated the thought of how Eduardo, Mimi and the others including Charon and Blueberry's younger brother and sister Quincy and Flor, Azul's brothers Wilbur and Aurelio and Phoebe's younger sisters Jasmine and Annette would react to what had happened to Sandalwood and the others, especially the poacher incident and Sandalwood's accident leading to him to becoming severely afraid of heights and flying. However, Blu had put off the idea for a bit for he had more important things, such as the toucan overpopulation affecting the Blu Bird Sanctuary's ecosystems, to think about. Triton then moved onto another subject.

"Those wretched toucans, especially Marco and Anastasia, have honestly crossed the line," he muttered disgustedly, "First they damage Tiago and his family and friends' reputation by gossiping, and now they cause them trouble leading to 40 of the kids including Stella and Soren's son Sandalwood in getting captured."

Iris nodded in agreement, a look of utter outrage plastering her face. She never liked Marco, Anastasia or any of Marco's siblings apart from a few, such as Diantha, Rita and Carlos who were nicer and more polite, especially the first of the three, one bit. Iris often found many of them, especially Marco and Anastasia, extremely stuck up, obnoxious, boastful, bratty and snobbish and she especially thought of Marco and Anastasia as being no different from the cruel stepmother and her two daughters from a certain fairy tale story she had read to Violet once before.

"And I absolutely agree with Jewel and Zephyr 100 percent," continued Iris, "Mr and Mrs Tremaine are pathetic excuses for parents."

At this, Triton shot her a confused look.

"Mr and Mrs Tremaine?" he repeated.

"It's a nickname I have coined for Marco and Anastasia after that cruel stepmother from the story of _Cinderella_ ," replied Iris, "And that nickname fits them as easily as a sock does a human foot. They're cold, cruel, snobbish and extremely condescending just like that wicked stepmother is to Cinderella, and their kids or the majority of them, are no different."

Triton gazed at Iris's choice of nickname for Marco and Anastasia in surprise. It definitely fit those two snobbish toucans alright. Their personality was no different from that character at all. Then Iris moved on, keen on leaving the subject about the troublesome toucans who she utterly despised.

"Anyway, moving on," she said, her gaze on Triton, "I've been wondering and thinking about our relationship since last night."

At this, Triton shot her a surprised look.

"Yes, what about it?" he asked before dread flashed within him. "You're not gonna consider breaking up with me, are you?" he asked with dread in his voice.

"What? No, I wasn't thinking of that," said Iris with surprise, "Why would I wanna do that? What I was about to say was I was thinking about us possibly becoming mates."

Triton then stepped away from her, a stunned look on his single-eyed face.

"Why?" he asked, "I don't feel at all ready to become your mate and start a family."

"But… we've been together for more than three years now," said Iris, "And our bond has become stronger over those years. Do you remember our first dance at Nico and Pedro's club to a certain song by a certain human woman? What was her name again, Christina Polly?"

"Christina Perry," said Triton correcting her.

"That's right," said Iris. Then a delightful sigh escaped her beak. "Honestly, it was so romantic."

"It was, but us two becoming lifelong mates and starting a family," said Triton, "I don't… really want to discuss that topic."

At this, Iris's face fell and she shot him a surprised look again.

"Why don't you wanna discuss it?" asked she. Triton only gazed at her silently, sadness lacing his one-eyed face. At this, Iris frowned.

"I believe you're hiding something from me that needs discussing," she said. At this, Triton's head shook as he snapped out of his thoughts.

"Oh, no," he said, "Nothing at all."

However, Iris, who had known him for a long time now, could see through the façade.

"I don't believe you," she said firmly and suspiciously, "You're hiding something from me that needs to be discussed. I can feel it. As your girlfriend who has built three years of trust and friendship with you, I demand to know what it is."

Still Triton remained silent before his head turned away.

"I don't think our chicks would want me for a father," he replied at last, his only eye beginning to weep. Iris put on an appalled and shocked look.

"What do you mean that our chicks wouldn't want you for a father?" she asked in utter shock, "You're good around chicks, especially your niece Gertie," a pang of sadness came over her as she remembered that Gertie had been taken by poachers with 39 other kids including Sandalwood. Triton, in response, looked up and glared at Iris, before his wings went to the knot tying his bandana in place and removing the large leaf. The moment it came away, his clouded left eye and the tiger stripes of scars running through the navy blue facial feathers and spanning the height of his face from his forehead to his chin with the eye enclosed in its yellow ring situated in their path, were exposed.

"It's because of this," he snapped, his functional eye and clouded, blind eye beginning to weep tears, "How would our chicks react if they saw their father with THIS disfiguring mess!?"

Iris gazed at the scarred left side of Triton's face. Then she frowned.

"It's what that ex of yours, Penelope was it, has told you so many times, isn't it," she said, "Not to mention those HORRIBLE remarks from that MANGO HEAD Sofia and her equally HORRIBLE mate!"

She said those names with utter malice and detestation. Triton shuddered and began to weep all the more. While he and Iris were out on a flight out at one point, they happened to bump into Sofia and her mate and also their massive family and Sofia had insensitively made a cruel remark about Triton's scarred face as well as how his chicks, if he were to have any, would find him too terrifying, a 'scar-faced monster' as she called him, and avoid him, her mate and many of her chicks giggling. This tore Triton's fragile heart and confidence into two and Iris had lurched forward and slapped Sofia hard across the face and screeched at her to get away before she lost her temper, prompting Sofia and her mate to lead their forty-plus chicks away from the enraged hyacinth macaw but not before she insulted her by calling her a 'former scrawny pet', referring to her tragic time as an abused pet macaw that was beaten and half-starved, along with a seriously derogatory name that I won't mention. Iris then led Triton, who was sobbing his eyes out, back to Neptune and Ultramarine. This insult had added to the insults Penelope, Triton's ex, had heaped on Triton before his family's move to Rio about his scarred face. Triton had kept these emotions bottled up and now, it was about to come spilling out like an overfull reservoir of water bursting its dam. Iris then swept on.

"Look, I've heard of macaws and other birds who have become proud mates with families of their own and yet they've got disfigurements as well," she said, "Take Eustace, your cockatoo friend for instance. He's lost a talon during that Great War that happened in the Sanctuary de Amazon some years ago and yet, Serena loves him regardless of his loss and so do his offspring, Vincent, Yolanda and Oscar and I've heard of a military macaw who has lost a wing in a horrible accident and yet her mate loves her despite that loss as well," Triton continued to gaze at her, tears falling from both his functional eye and clouded eye, "So if those two are living happily with a mate and family then I see no reason why we shouldn't either," Iris then hardened her gaze, "And as for what your ex said, those things are absolutely NOT true whatsoever. You're the same Triton I know even if you had both your eyes. Also, think about what your father Neptune told you."

Triton continued gazing tearfully at Iris and breathed a sigh, before retying his bandana back over the scarred area of his left facial side.

"I'm going to go and try and get some sleep," said Iris in a gentler voice, "And please think about what I've said and I'll see you in the morning."

And with a blow-kiss, the unusually three pointed crested hyacinth macaw opened her wings and flapped away, leaving Triton alone to digest her advice, rebukes and encouraging remarks.


	23. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22- unfamiliar surroundings and creatures**

 **Many hours later**

Sandalwood stirred, murmurs emanating from his mouth. He felt a cool breeze blow through his silky amber pelage, carrying with it the smell of fresh flowers, leaves and water from the rivers and streams which ruffled his fur like grass. Along with the breeze, a warm beam bathed the pup. At this, the little amber-furred flying fox opened his green eyes and lifted his head to take in his surroundings, and saw that he was in a jungle, the breeze blowing through the branches and making them dance, leaves and flower petals dancing with the small, gentle gusts, butterflies flitting about and birds flying in the blue sky. Shafts of honey-coloured sunlight bathed the scenery, and Sandalwood's ears picked up the sounds of water rushing: a waterfall not too far away and the birds flying in the sky were a variety of colourful avian inhabitants that flew through the sky, among them Spix macaws. One or two furry creatures with black membranous wings also accompanied these birds, happily chatting with them. Sandalwood then sat up and rubbed his eyes with his black wings.

As he sat up and opened his eyes again, he was greeted by several familiar brightly coloured feathered forms of various heights, along with several drabber furred forms with black or greyish wings.

"Hey, Sandalwood," said one of the forms, a young chick.

"Are you ready to go to Rio?" said a larger form, an adult bat. At this, Sandalwood blinked and gazed at the forms as they began to come into focus. To his surprise, he was greeted by his parents Stella and Soren, aunt Anabelle, uncle Sebastian, cousins Acerola and Ferdinand, other aunt Luna and grandparents Augustus and Melissa, their faces widened into warm, loving smiles. Accompanying these flying foxes were several families of Spix macaws including Carla, her mate Justin and daughters Sonia, Spica and Melody; Bia, her mate Virgil and their sons Sirius, Einstein and Miles; Tiago, his mate Matilda and their two chicks Bellatrix and Bartholomew; and Charlotte, her mate Músculo and their chicks Jason and Petunia. These four were accompanied by Blu, Jewel, Zephyr and Venus and also Roberto and Brisa who were flanked by Jojo, Felix and Lavender, their respective mates Kira, Turquesa and Garrett and their chicks, Vega, Winona, Austin, Diego, Deneb, Lilac and Polaris. Sandalwood blinked.

"Mr Blu?" he asked one of the Spix macaws, "Mrs Carla? Mrs Bia, Mr Tiago? Guys?"

Sandalwood's confused green eyes then found some more macaws, among them Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto and their respective mates Sheldon, Byron, Mimas and Athos and their chicks, Betelgeuse and Rigel, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka, Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine and Thymine, their colourful plumages glowing in the sunlight, and Canopus and Katniss. With these families were Jupiter and Ruby and they also wore warm smiles on their faces.

"Are you ready, Sandalwood?" asked Jupiter, the chicks all jumping up and down excitedly.

"We're gonna go to Rio," said Stella and with that, she ducked and opened her wings, gesturing to Sandalwood to come to her embrace. Sandalwood, his mouth widening into an excited smile, rose to his feet and launched into an excited dash towards his mother.

"I look forward to it, Mommy," cried the pup excitedly as he approached his mother. Stella continued kneeling and holding her wings open, her face widened into a warm, loving, motherly smile but as Sandalwood got closer to her, the scene suddenly changed. His green, excited gaze suddenly turned to horror and surprise when the image of Stella, along with those of Soren, Sebastian and his family, Augustus, Melissa, Luna, the Spix macaws and the red macaws (except Mimas who was blue-and-gold and Adenine and his three siblings being a hybrid of her and their father Ganymede), began to smear and become out of focus. Sandalwood felt horror flash within him.

"Mom, Dad!?" he blurted out, "Grandpa? Grandma? Mr Blu? Guys!?"

However, the images of Stella, Soren, Augustus, Blu and the others continued to smear together into an amorphous mess of colour and then fade away. Their voices became echoes and unrecognisable and within moments, Sandalwood was left alone as the images soon disappeared. At this, he stopped abruptly and shot frightened gazes at his surroundings. To his immense fright, he found himself in a new environment but it was not as scenic and as beautiful as the previous environment. The sun had gone, the beautiful trees had faded and the breeze saturated with the sweet smells of flowers, fresh water and green leaves had vanished, leaving behind a very dark, shadowy scene with almost black walls. Sandalwood continued shooting terrified glances this way and that.

"Guys!?" he cried, fear gripping him, "Mom, Dad? Mr Blu? Mrs Carla? Guys? GUYS!?"

As fear boiled volcanically inside him, a new voice sounded form the darkness, but it was not as friendly and as warm as the voices of the images of Stella and the others that had spoken. This voice was colder, meaner and, to Sandalwood's fright, pirate-like.

"Hello, Sandy-bud," it said, getting Sandalwood's name wrong. Based on its pitch, it was from a young female character. At this, Sandalwood continued shooting terrified glances around the dark room.

"Who are you!?" he cried. Then suddenly, thick green tendrils appeared out of the darkness and wrapped around the young flying fox, making him screech in shock, fright and surprise. Seconds later, Sandalwood soon found himself tied in a coil of green vines with his wings bound to his sides and feet tied together. At this, he looked up, fear saturating his gaze.

"Hey, what gives!?" he shouted. In response, some black wings flashed out of the darkness and gave him a hefty shove.

"It's time to walk the plank, cowardly bat!" said a voice and soon, Sandalwood found himself standing on the end of a black branch, a shriek of fright exploding from his mouth. Then Sandalwood looked down and saw that he was before a large drop right below the black branch. That was when fear gripped him hard. His breathing spiralled out of control, his heartrate skyrocketed and his nerves and muscles began to tremble like jelly. Sandalwood then shot a petrified look at the other end of the branch, timid murmurs escaping his mouth. It was then that several small forms melted out of the shadow at the node of the branch. All these forms had black feathers, reddish cream undersides, orange and black-tipped or lime green and magenta tipped large bills and some sort of bandanas and sticks on their heads and in their wings. Sandalwood then gazed at the faces of the big-billed feathered forms and saw that they were saturated with pure mischief, like those of Isabella and her comrades had been before he was accidentally knocked off the end of the branch the other day. But then it dawned upon Sandalwood; was this some sort of replication of that horrible incident?

"What do you have to say for yourself, flying fox?" said one of the big beaked forms at the front, a female; bring Sandalwood out of his thoughts. Sandalwood shuddered.

"P-p-please untie me," he begged. However, the forms didn't budge.

"I'm afraid we can't do that," said the lead female and with that, she and the other forms surged towards Sandalwood. At this, Sandalwood screamed and prepared for impact. He felt something slam into him and before he knew it, he was falling through space. Cackling then exploded as Sandalwood screamed and tried desperately to open his wings and pull himself out of the fall but to no avail, his wings bound to his sides by the thick green vines. Sandalwood continued screaming and plummeting into some sort of bottomless pit, the cackles continuing to echo wildly in the darkness until…

Sandalwood crash-landed into something soft and sandy, the force of the impact throwing him out of the nightmare and back into reality. At this, the little flying fox jolted awake and began to examine his surroundings. His breathing was on edge and he was trembling like a leaf all over.

"Please, someone help!" he shouted until he realised he was out of the nightmare and in a different place entirely. His surroundings were now flooded with the sounds of animal calls, mostly birds but Sandalwood could also hear monkey calls as well. At this, he shot terrified gazes this way and that and daw that he was in some sort of enclosed animal place. The area of the place was vast, and there were many trees scattered about the area. Sandalwood then saw that these trees, along with the air, were decorated with a colourful variety of different birds, many of species Sandalwood couldn't recognise. Above the trees, Sandalwood saw that an unnatural looking slab ran over the area. Sandalwood could also hear the sounds of rushing water, like that of a stream, but that stream was hidden. He then checked the floor and saw that he had landed in a large soil mound. The colour of the soil was like that of the sand in the sandpit of Tulio and Linda's son, Tommy. However, Sandalwood turned to focussing on himself. He checked his wings, afraid that they were bound to his sides but to his relief, he found that he could move them. He checked down his front and saw no green snakes binding him, and his feet were free to move as well. Relieved, Sandalwood breathed a sigh and placed a membranous wing on his head. It was then that he heard a familiar voice.

"Sandalwood, are you okay?" it squeaked. At this, the little flying fox jumped and snapped his gaze to the speaker, only to be relieved again when he found himself gazing into several pairs of concerned faces. One was auburn furred with ears and blue eyes and the rest were feathered of various colours, but most of them were blue. Sandalwood recognised them as Acerola, Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Vega, Deneb, Polaris, Cytosine, Betelgeuse and Rigel. Opposite them, the rest of the birds also gazed with concern at Sandalwood, which he turned and saw.

"That human saw that you weren't responding when he opened the cage door to allow us to leave ourselves and decided to gently drop you out of that cage," said Gladion. Then Lillie, Sylvester and Carmen went over to Sandalwood and helped him to his feet. As the flying fox pup wobbly stood up, he gazed at his three helpers, Acerola and the other chicks.

"Do you guys have any idea of where we are?" he asked, fear still gripping him.

"I've just sent Capella and Achernar to examine this place from the air," said Sirius, "They'll be back in a minute."

Sandalwood gazed at Bia and Virgil's oldest son with surprise. Then moments later, the two full great green macaw chicks appeared.

"What's the report, you two?" asked Spica. The others gazed at the two chicks of Miranda and Aramis but based on the dreaded looks on their faces, they expected the worst.

"We must be in some sort of pet store," said Achernar, his wings buried in his wavy head feathers and his blue-green eyes saddened. At this, Capella shot him a frowned look at his conclusion.

"Pet store!?" she said, "This doesn't seem anything like a pet store at all. Haven't you been examining the unfamiliar birds and other creatures in this place?"

Achernar gazed at his sister wearily. It was clear that he was still shaken from the events of being captured by poachers and it seemed to have clouded his ability to concentrate. Capella breathed a sigh, regretful at snapping at him.

"Unfamiliar birds and other creatures?" asked Mira confused.

"What do you mean by those?" squeaked Pitaya as she huddled close to Sylvester and Alegria. Sandalwood and Acerola just said nothing but the idea that the group were in a pet store made their stomachs cringe. Then Spica and Bellatrix frowned. Opening their small wings, the two Spix macaws took off to get a closer look at the animals. Petunia then began to criticize Achernar.

"You honestly seem to always rush thing, you know," she muttered sourly.

"Stop it, Petunia;" said Gladion in rebuke, "Can't you see that we're all still badly shaken from the events of hours ago?"

Petunia just shot the young toucan chick and son of Diantha and Tom a sour-faced look and stormed off to sulk. She seemed to have inherited her maternal grandfather Zephyr's feistiness through Charlotte and was at times a moody chick. Back up in the air, Spica and Bellatrix began to examine the strange new animals that squawked, fluttered around and chatted to each other in the trees and on the ground. And as they did, their nerdy bird trait they had inherited from their grandfather Blu sparked into action. Spica squinted at one small bird perched in one of the trees, snoozing with its head under its wing. She had never seen this species of bird before in real life and she had read that this particular bird species originated from the continent of Africa. The bird had jet black plumage and Spica could see that its tail feathers were forked but the prongs of the fork curved outward towards the tip, rather than fall parallel as in the tail of a swallow or a frigatebird, a seabird Spica had once seen in a book about seabirds back in Brazil.

"That looks like an African drongo," she said.

"A what?" asked Bellatrix. Spica gazed at her.

"A drongo," she repeated, "I've seen it in Aunt Bia's book of the birds of the world. It's a passerine bird from Africa and it is sometimes known for duping meerkat clans into diving into their burrow by falsely alerting them of a predator above before snaffling their snacks."

"What's a meerkat?" asked Rigel as she and Betelgeuse fluttered up to them. Bellatrix rolled her eyes.

"You should have read those books more, Rigel," she said, much to Rigel's frowned glare. Betelgeuse then began to scan the environment but she did not see where she was going as she hovered further away from her sister and the two Spix macaws until she bumped into something feathery. At this, the red macaw flinched and found herself gazing into an annoyed glare from a large unfamiliar bird with a scarlet red face, long beak and grey head **.**

"Oi, watch where ya goin', you clumsy little kid," it snarled in a gravelly voice. Betelgeuse, terror flaring within her and spiking her pineapple-like crest out like an urchin, let loose a short shriek before darting back to Spica, Rigel and Bellatrix. However, she was zooming back to the other three so fast that she collided into them. On the ground, Sirius, Sandalwood and the others flinched as the four chicks then tumbled out of the air and landed onto a patch of leaves at the foot of one of the indoor trees. Then a red comet with green, yellow and turquoise streaks exploded out of the small commotion and rocketed past Sandalwood and Acerola, much to their surprise, while some of the others went to help Spica, Bellatrix and Rigel sort themselves out. Betelgeuse continued rocketing through the air, her turquoise, green and yellow wings a blur as they flapped madly. Around her, flashes of colour indicating the presence of highly unfamiliar birds added to her terror. Betelgeuse stole frightened glances at these creatures and continued zooming on. However, she crashed into something solid but with holes. After shaking herself to, Betelgeuse examined the wall and saw that it was a silvery mesh of crisscrossing manmade metal. This mesh separated Betelgeuse from an indoor path that ran past the artificial jungle. Propelled by terror, the little red macaw darted off in another direction to find another way out, spotting a hole in the wall, sunlight streaming in, but as she flew to it she slammed into another solid barrier, this time without holes. However, she did not care; all she cared about was finding a way out for herself and her friends. Betelgeuse darted away from this hole to another hole in the wall but the same result happened: Betelgeuse slammed into an almost-invisible force field. After a third time attempting to fly out of a third hole in the area's walls with the same result, Betelgeuse stopped and examined the barrier and saw that it was smooth and transparent. The word 'glass' came to mind, along with the word 'window'. Gripped with dread, Betelgeuse gazed out of the window.

The scene she saw was a sea of blocks, all coloured grey, white or other drab colour, unlike the green, natural sea of trees of the Amazon rainforest and like the sea of blocks in Rio. Grey strips divided the blocks and on this strips, moving specks flowed on them. Betelgeuse then tried to find the iconic grey figure of the Christ the Redeemer statue and the lump of brown topped with green somewhere in the landscape but to her dismay, she could not find either of these two landmarks.

'Where are we?' she thought in her head timidly. As Betelgeuse thought over this, a familiar voice attracted her attention.

"Betelgeuse," cried the voice, belonging to Adenine. The very colourful chick, along with Sirius, Bellatrix, his three siblings, Spica and Acerola were flying towards her, horrified looks on their faces.

"I can't find that Christ the Redeemer statue anywhere out there," said Betelgeuse as the four Catalina chicks, three Spix chicks and flying fox pup slowed to a hover before her, "Are we in Rio nonetheless?"

"You're not gonna believe this but I believe we're in some sort of animal enclosure," said Spica. At this, Betelgeuse's eyes widened and her body began to tremble all the more.

"The variety of birds, many of which are unfamiliar," said Guanine.

"The trees, all of which appear to be natural," said Cytosine,

"The metallic mesh separating the area in which we are in from those paths which appear to be human areas based on a few humans we have seen walk past," said Thymine.

"Not to mention a variety of other animals apparently in other compartments outside this place," said Sirius.

"Petunia, Polaris, Vega and I had checked what was out of one of the windows and we saw some large, unfamiliar animals, including several strange, long-necked animals called giraffes," said Bellatrix.

"Called what?" asked Betelgeuse, having never heard of the word, much less seen one, but Bellatrix had in one of Bia's animal books, along with Einstein, Miles and Spica. On the ground, the others including Sandalwood all walked slowly in, fearful looks on their faces as Acerola then peered out of the window.

"This… city or whatever it's called is so unfamiliar," she murmured timidly, "You sure you can't see the Christ the Redeemer thingy anywhere, Betelgeuse?"

Betelgeuse shook her head.

"Not at all," she replied. Sandalwood, Rigel, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka and the others continued to exchange fearful and dreaded glances, fearing the worst. Then Mira happened to sway in one direction when she bumped into a soft lump. At this, the blue-and-gold/hyacinth hybrid macaw shot a frightened gaze in the lump's direction and found herself face to face with the strangest creature she had ever seen.

The creature was a plump animal, its body covered with a coat of grey-brown fur but when Mira examined this 'pelage' closely, she realised that they were actually _feathers_ but Mira saw no signs of wings on either side of the animal's body. A long bill extended from the creature's smaller head. Thin protrusions extended from the creature's face, like the whiskers of a cat, and its legs were long and slender, each ending in a three-toed foot. The creature's eyes gazed at Mira with surprise.

"Whoa, steady on, little parrot," it said in an equally strange accent, "You nearly knocked me over."

Mira, however, only responded with a frightened screech and dashed off into a nearby bush decorated by a sprinkle of colourful flowers. Sandalwood and the others also saw the bizarre animal and followed Mira into that bush. Sandalwood, his breath in hyperventilation mode, then peered out timidly through the leaves while the chicks behind him shuddered and huddled together.

"What do you see, Sandalwood?" asked Saiph as he huddled against Regulus and Denebola. Sandalwood gazed out and saw several shadowy figures approach the group's hiding place. Two were potato-shaped with long legs and bills, another was a bizarre four-footed creature with webbed feet and Sandalwood believed he saw a flat bill protruding out of the creature's front; another resembled a porcupine but had a long snout as well, and another three resembled cockatoos but were smaller, had long tails and a differently shaped crest, but all were completely unfamiliar creatures to Sandalwood so he could answer Saiph's question. The birds behind him continued to shudder and huddle together while Sandalwood backed away to join them when suddenly, Gertie's foot happened to land on something sharp. As piercing pain shot through her leg, the hyacinth macaw chick screeched, throwing everything into chaos as she jumped and knocked into the others. Sandalwood cried in immense shock as he was shoved forward and sent tumbling out of the bush, the others subsequently following. As the group tumbled like stones out of the bush, Sandalwood stumbled towards one of the strange creatures, crying in fright.

"Whoa, steady on, little bat," said one of the strange, wingless birds, a foot held up and breaking Sandalwood's fall. Sandalwood then darted back and hid behind Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka and Carmen as they gazed timidly at the strange creatures just as Betelgeuse, Acerola, Spica, Bellatrix, Sirius, Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine and Thymine rushed in to help them. The porcupine-like creature with the long snout then took pity on the frightened group, speaking in a feminine voice heavily laced with another strange accent.

"Oh, Flax, Harakeke, they're honestly scared out of their wits," it said. At this, the two strange plump fur-like feathered creatures without wings gazed sympathetically at the group and they continued to sort themselves out, all of them trembling all over. Gertie was holding her foot with her wings, her face twisted in pain. Then one of the three little cockatoo-like parrots went over to her. These three parrots, though they resembled cockatoos, actually looked very different from cockatoos. Most of their plumages were slate grey with a splash of white marks on their wings and tail. Their heads were lemon yellow with orange-red patches on their cheeks but two of the birds had solid yellow faces with bright red-orange patches while the third's face was paler with fainter red cheek patches. It also had stripes on the feathers under the tail and all three creatures' crests were mostly yellow.

"Oh, dear, it looks as though you've stepped onto a thorn or something, blue parrot," said the small parrot as he saw the pained look on Gertie's face. At this, Altair, alarm flaring within him, rushed over to Gertie to check her foot.

"Let's have a look at it," he said. When Gertie gave him a look, Altair continued, "Mom and Dad taught me very basic skills in treating small injuries before we departed to Rio."

When the word 'Rio' came out of his snout like beak, confusion coursed through the seven strange creatures.

"'Rio'?" repeated the flat-billed creature with four limbs perplexed.

"Never heard of the place," said another of the three little crested parrots, the one with the fainter yellow face and cheek patches. The two plump fur-like feathery creatures, however, were transfixed by Altair's appearance as he checked Gertie's foot, the one that had stepped on something sharp in the bush, amazed looks on their faces. Then Acerola spoke.

"It's a city in Brazil," she said, "Its full name is Rio de Janeiro."

"'Rio de Janeiro'?" repeated the porcupine like creature in amazement.

"Isn't that the place where that famous 'Carnival' annually takes place?" said the third little crested parrot. Sandalwood and the others continued gazing at the seven strange creatures in surprise. However, the two fur-like feathered creatures continued to gaze at Altair as he said to Gertie, "It's just a little scratch but it'll heal in a short time."

"I don't mean to be rude, folks but… do you see what we're seeing?" asked one of the fur-like feathered creatures, its leg and toe pointing to Altair. At this, the three little crested parrots, the flat billed furry creature and the snouted 'porcupine' followed the creatures point and when their eyes landed on Altair and took in what sort of creature he was, especially based on his feathered legs and prehensile tail ending in a frond of flight feathers as it wavered up and down, their lower jaws dropped open.

"Good grief," said the flat-billed furry creature with webbed feet, disbelief lacing its face.

"I thought that kind of feathered creature died out with the dinosaurs," said the snouted 'porcupine', "And replaced with the modern birds that we see today."

"That's gonna rewrite the evolutionary history of birds," said the other fur-like feathered creature. At this, Sandalwood and the others including Gertie and Altair turned to the seven strange creatures with perplexed looks on their faces.

"Rewrite what?" asked Sirius.

"Oh, just discussing something," said the snouted porcupine innocently. Then Rigel began to examine the creatures.

"So what kind of creatures are you?" she nervously asked. The snouted 'porcupine' frowned in confusion at this question.

"Um… I'm a spiny echidna," she replied.

"We're kiwis," said the two fur-like feathered creatures.

"I'm a platypus," said the flat billed-like creatures, before nodding to the three little parrots, "And these three are cockatiels."

Sandalwood and the others gazed at the seven creatures in both awe and nervousness. They had never heard of these creatures at all, much less seen them in the flesh, though Bellatrix, Spica, Adenine and is siblings remembered seeing a picture of a kiwi, an echidna and a platypus in Bia's book of animals before. Then the snouted 'porcupine', the echidna, turned to Altair and asked, "And what kind of creature are you? A feathered Cretaceous dinosaur, I believe?"

"I'm not a dinosaur," replied Altair rather snappily, "I'm an archaeobird."

"A what?" said one of the kiwis.

"He's one of the surviving dinosaur-like birds known by its scientific name _Microraptor modern_ ," explained Spica.

"There's a flock of them living in the Amazon rainforest and another flock apparently living in Guyana as well," said Bellatrix. The seven creatures exchanged confused glances. At the back of Sandalwood's group, Pitaya, Sylvester and Alegria timidly peered out from behind Saiph, Regulus, Denebola, Procyon, Castor and Pollux, timid gazes lacing their faces.

"We've never heard of a flock of these 'primitive birds' still living in any of those places," said the platypus, much to Altair's irritated sigh. Then Sandalwood stepped forward to ask the seven creatures the most important question.

"Do you guys know where we are?" he asked.

"We looked out of those transparent glass holes in the walls but cannot find the Christ the Redeemer statue," said Betelgeuse. The echidna was about to answer when suddenly, the sound of a door leading to the enclosure reached the group's ears, alerting them. at this, the echidna gazed in the direction of the sound.

"Oh, boy, some of our human carers are entering the enclosure," it said. At this, Sandalwood and company shot the echidna and its friends a frightened look.

"Human carers!?" said the little amber bat pup.

"They're heading toward us!" cried Gertie. The other 39 then followed her frightened gaze and when they saw the group of humans, all dressed in white gowns like the ones Tulio and his team wore at Tulio's Aviary, and their hands covered in some sort of plastic covering and armed with some sort of sticks ending in a ring with a mesh tied to it, then begin to approach them. The moment they realised this, fear tore through them and some of the chicks let loose frightened screams.

"Fly for it!" cried Gladion and with that, all but Sandalwood and Altair took to the air to hide in the trees, Altair who could only glide, rushed to the foot of the tree and began to scramble up its trunk, desperate to reach the leaves and branches on the top. Sandalwood tried to follow but realised that he could not fly due to his phobia. Instead, he dived into a nearby bush and hid. He then turned and watched the humans as they began to talk to each other in an unfamiliar language. Sandalwood tipped his head to one side. 'That doesn't sound like Brazilian Portuguese', he thought to himself but as he saw three of the humans then walk towards the tree where Altair was scrambling up the trunk, his blood turned to ice. From the tree branches, Canopus also saw the group of humans head towards the tree where they were. Seeing Altair continue to struggle up the trunk, he opened his wings and dropped from the hiding place.

"Here, let me carry you up, the rest of the way," he requested, offering his talons. At this, Altair reached for his talons with latched onto them with his wing claws. Then Canopus began to heave the archaeobird chick to the tree.

"Hurry," cried Vega as she and the others watched the humans continue to approach the tree. However, it was too late. As Canopus continued towards the tree with Altair hanging onto his talons, his surroundings became crisscrossed by threading, accompanied by a thump of something hard against the trunk. It took the archaeobird and the ruby macaw chick a few seconds to realise that the mesh was trapping them, especially based on the piercing screams of the chicks and Acerola above. Blood feeling like iced water, Altair and Canopus turned to see the human, a male with his face smiling and uttering gentle words in a language they couldn't recognise, then gently begin to extend a hand towards the pair, another human, a woman, stood by with a small cage open and ready.

"They've caught ALTAIR AND CANOPUS!" cried Acerola.

"AND THEY'RE GONNA GET THEM!" put in Vega. Then Carmen, Sylvester, Alegria, Pitaya and Sirius, Bellatrix and Spica, the instinctive urge to protect their friends washing over them like a wave, let loose enraged screeches before finally launching themselves into the air at the humans.

"Carmen, Sirius, guys," cried Rigel, "DON'T!"

Too late. As soon as the seven chicks collided with the humans attempting to catch Canopus and Altair, they began to unleash their full fury on them with their tiny beaks and talons. Acerola, Lillie and Gladion then jumped into flight and joined in the fray. Human shouts of frustration and pain then erupted into the enclosure air, accompanied by enraged screeches of several chicks and a flying fox pup as Sirius and the other seven began to savagely bite and claw the humans. The fray whipped up by these kids then sent Canopus and Altair, still entangled in a net mesh, flying and crashing to the ground as the man accidentally yanked his net from the tree trunk, the two caught in the threading. The commotion attracted the attention of the other animals within the area, alongside several human passers-by outside the metal mesh separating the paths from the artificial jungle. On the ground nearby, the two kiwis, the three little crested parrots called cockatiels, the platypus and the echidna all watched on in utter horror as the three cerulean comets of Sirius, Spica and Bellatrix, the red and orange comet of Sylvester with azure and brown streaks on his wings, the green and yellow streak of Alegria, the two black, orange and lime green comets of Gladion and Lillie, the auburn and black streak of Acerola, the purple and pink streak of Pitaya and the rich blue and yellow comet of Carmen, continued shooting all over the humans, inflicting bite and scratch marks all over their faces and hands and drawing blood in the process. Then moments later, the rest of the group joined in. Betelgeuse and Rigel went straight for the man that attempted to catch Altair and Canopus while the others made a beeline for the woman and the other two humans.

"Those little chicks are gonna hurt themselves if they keep attacking our carers," said the platypus. Then the echidna turned to the cockatoos.

"Sparky, Cody and Lilo," it said, "Can you three get in there and attempt to catch some of the chicks while Reepicheep and I round up some larger birds to help?"

"Yes, Kiara," said the three cockatiels and with that, they immediately sprang into action while the platypus and the echidna rushed off to round up some larger birds, the two kiwis following them.

Sirius and company continued their vicious assault on the humans, biting, pecking and clawing at them and releasing enraged screeches while on the ground, Sandalwood rushed from his hiding place in the bush and over to Canopus and Altair as they struggled out of the net's mesh.

"Hurry, Sandalwood, get us out of this horrible web!" cried Altair in immense fear.

"Don't worry, I'll have you out of that thing as quickly as I can," said Sandalwood and with that, he set to examining the mesh.

"Quickly!" cried Canopus as he clung onto Altair. Sandalwood then tried biting through a thread of the mesh but found that it was too strong for his tiny jaws.

"Oh, no!" he muttered as he glared at the thread. Altair and Canopus gazed at the flying fox pup as he shot them a dreadful, realisation look.

"My jaws aren't strong enough to bite through these threads," he said. Suddenly, a bird's foot appeared and seized him from behind. Sandalwood, taken by surprise as he was ripped away from Canopus and Altair, let loose screeches and the occasional naughty word, words that his mother and father would cuff him for if they heard them coming out of his mouth as one of the kiwis dragged him away. Just then, a pair of hands appeared and seized the still-netted Altair and Canopus, making them scream.

"LET ME GO!" screeched Sandalwood as he flapped his wings and writhed in the kiwi's foot but the kiwi refused to loosen his grip on the bat.

"Look, those human carers only want to examine a few of you since they are of species that they have never seen before," retorted the furry bird, "Now stop throwing a paddy and CALM DOWN!"

"It shan't take long," said the other kiwi. Sandalwood then looked up and saw Sirius's group as they were plucked away a few at a time by several large birds, some of which were species of birds the little pup had never seen before. During the commotion, Sylvester, Pitaya and Alegria were seized by a few human hands and hastily tossed into the cage held by the woman. Altair subsequently followed while Canopus was quickly released by another man after he had untangled him from the net. Canopus, however, refused to give up and lunged at the man, his beak open wide but the man made a hasty retreat after the others with Sylvester, Altair, Pitaya and Alegria in tow. The man then slammed the door shut and locked it, forcing Canopus and Gladion, who had managed to escape the grasp of his captor, to slow to a hover to avoid crashing into the metal mesh. Canopus, tears in his eyes, then clung onto the mesh and peered through the holes with Gladion hovering nearby, watching in despair as the humans carried the four chicks away. The rest of the group were dragged away by the large birds and the three cockatiels named Lilo, Sparky and Cody who carried the writhing Sirius, Bellatrix and Spica each in their small talons, followed, the platypus and the echidna who gave them orders to take them somewhere. The two kiwis then glared at Sandalwood.

"Time to take you to our leader as well," said one of them firmly. Sandalwood, fear in his eyes, was then carried away by the kiwi after the others in his group.


	24. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23- sadness and anger outbursts; intro to the leader**

 **Rio**

The city of Rio continued to bubble with the activities of its citizens and the animal residents in the jungle as people went about their daily business in taking kids to school, going to work and other activities. Happiness seemed to hang over much of the large community but for one group, the sky was not at all bright blue with golden yellow sunshine. Blu and company had woken to another day of sorrow. They had not slept a wink last night and were still saturated with the devastation of losing Sandalwood and the other kids yesterday. Bia and Virgil stood on one branch, Bia leaning against her mate's chest and Virgil on her crown with his wing draping her back, immense sadness in their eyes as the thoughts of Sirius boiled within their heads. Next to them, Sirius's brothers, Einstein and Miles, miserably gazed onto a book as they missed their older brother dearly. Not too far away, Carla, Justin, Tiago and Matilda stood on another branch with Bartholomew, Sonia and Melody, devastation clearly gripping them like an alligator's jaws. Next to these macaws, Charlotte was crying her eyes out in Músculo's wings, Jason hugging her. Charlotte had been crying all through last night over the loss of Petunia and was still crying now, hours later. Jojo, Felix and Lavender stood with Kira, Garrett and Turquesa with the remaining kids, Winona, Diego, Austin and Lilac, weeping nearby over the loss of Vega, Polaris and Deneb. Like Charlotte, Kira had been awake all night but she had wanted to go out and look for Vega and the other kids despite it being not safe. As a result, she had had a massive falling out with Jojo that went on through most of the night. Although they had made up, Kira was still gripped with extreme despair and kept constantly gazing into the green sea of trees, the desire and desperation to find Vega and the others still boiling within her. As these Spix macaws continued to grieve, Blu, Jewel, Venus, Zephyr, Roberto and Brisa stood on a higher branch looking down at their depressed sons and daughters, devastation written on their faces over the loss of some of their grandkids and the other kids as well.

Ganymede and Mimas were still at Tulio's Aviary with Io, Sheldon, Europa, Byron, Callisto and Athos. Of this group, only Katniss was present, the rest of the offspring of the four couples, including both of Io and Sheldon's daughters, Betelgeuse and Rigel, having disappeared yesterday with the poachers. Devastation gripped these eight and Katniss like the jaws of an alligator as well and Katniss kept imagining all sorts of horrible scenarios of her brother and cousins, including them all disappearing off the face of the earth, never to be seen again. Back at Blu and company's place of stay, Alexandre, Estelle, Phobos, Deimos, Xander and Kayley stood on another branch, grieving. Some half-eaten fruit brought to them by Linda and Tulio, lay right next to them, the green-winged macaw family not hungry at all. Dione, Porthos and Peter, their remaining son, sat nearby also grieving over the loss of Procyon while Titan, Brooke and Poppy grieved the loss of Castor and Pollux. Enceladus and Trixie were perched together, Trixie weeping into her smaller mate's crown, as they grieved the loss of their only daughter Mira. The entire group was clearly extremely upset and devastated but it was not just sadness that hung over them like a big black cloud. Flashes of lightning-like anger and resentment were also present in some of the macaws and the others, especially against Marco and his comrades. Tethys and Oberon had been seething about these toucans all through last night, Cressida timidly keeping her distance from her parents for fear of setting off a volcanic eruption; Miranda and Aramis, who had also lost both their chicks Capella and Achernar, also felt storming over to Marco, Anastasia and the other arrogant toucans and tearing their feathers out for causing this whole mess, while Titania and Ash remained quiet about what they would like to do to those horrible toucans as well, Basil keeping his distance from his parents as well. Umbriel's mate Benjamin was simmering in silence, his anger threatening to erupt. All through last night, he REALLY had it out with his temper with screeching and slamming his feet against a variety of things such as rocks and stones, almost injuring himself in the process and while he vented his fury, Umbriel had kept well away from him with a terrified Perdita and Cecil in her wings. These three still kept their distance from him even now and the brother and sister of Aldebaran daren't go anywhere near him for fear of setting off the volcano within their scarlet father.

Indigo, Victor, Phoebe, Squaw'tagnan, Blueberry, Aiden and Charon and Neytiri all stood together, weeping over the loss of their chicks and also furiously blaming Marco and his comrades for this whole mess, Azul and Fernanda had entered a state of deep depression and grief, rendering them unable to care for Oceano, Carmen's brother, and forcing Ceres and Cobalto to care for him in the time being, along with Olivia, Sylvester's sister, and Achilles, Alegria's brother for Frodo and Ellie (who was also at Tulio's Aviary) were too depressed for caring for them, the grief of losing Sylvester, Pitaya and Alegria gripping them to the point of extreme depression as well. Spyro, Marella and Bambi, along with Andromeda and their bat-birds, were also at Tulio's Aviary with Eragon who had been totally devastated at what had happened, especially to Altair. Back at Blu and company's place of stay, Diantha and Tom sat with Aurora and also Eustace, Serena, Yolanda, Oscar, Clemont, Rosa, Milo, Bruno and Peach and also Ariel, Rhea, Iapetus, Triton and Iris, and also Soren, Stella, Sebastian and Anabelle and Ferdinand, all grieving over the loss of Sandalwood and the others. It truly was a sad and angry time for everyone.

While everyone in Blu's group continued to simmer or sob in heartbreak and anger, Blu, Jewel, Zephyr, Venus, Roberto and Brisa continued gazing sympathetically at their first-brood offspring, their gazes saturated with heartbreak like them. Mercury, Sapphire, Pluto and Lapis Lazuli then flew in with some bags of food.

"Hey," said Mercury, rousing the attention of the six Spix macaws into looking at them.

"We've brought breakfast from Susan, Bernardo and Lucy," said Pluto.

"Oh, thank you, that's great of them," said Zephyr.

"Our stomach's been begging for food since we woke up from that horrible night's sleep," said Blu tiredly as he stifled a yawn. As the two Lear's and the two glaucous macaws set the bags of food, which was fruit and nuts brought for them by Jupiter and company's human friends and former owners, down by the Spix macaws, Sapphire gave the food a stink eye.

"This is _honestly_ not at all natural for us to rely on our human friends for food," she muttered, "But since we've been having a hard time trying to search for our own food in the jungle with little success, we've had to turn to our human friends to help."

"Mars, Chiquitita, Jupiter, Ruby, Saturn, Orquidea, Uranus, Esmeralda, Neptune, Ultramarine, Augustus and Melissa have said the same thing," said Venus as she picked out a mango from one of the bags, "So have Dino and his family of chestnut-mandibled toucans. The food supply on the Blu Birds Sanctuary has diminished quite dramatically."

"Rafael, Eva and a few of their many, many, many grown up offspring including Carlos and Rita have noticed that as well," said Brisa.

"This is honestly a serious problem," said Blu as he began to eat a bunch of grapes, "Many of Rafael and Eva's adult offspring and their mates such as Marco and Anastasia have just been breeding like rabbits."

"Oh, don't mention those horrible toucans," snapped Roberto bitterly.

"Yes, the mentioning of those two wretched ruffians is enough to make someone's temper or emotions snap like a fragile twig," said Lapis Lazuli before her gaze which turned sympathetic fell on Bia and company as they continued to grieve, "Especially those lot down there."

"You should have seen Benjamin last night," said Jewel as she ate a Brazil nut, her favourite food, "He wouldn't stop screaming and shouting like a macaw possessed."

"A macaw possessed by a violent temper over what had happened thanks to you-know-who, you mean?" said Roberto. Jewel nodded as the group of Spix, Lear's and glaucous macaws continued to eat.

In Tulio and Linda's garden, Avellana, one of Dash and Ginger's daughters and James's sisters, was visiting with Broccoli, Daisy and Collette. Accompanying Avellana was her mate, a male brown greyhound named Rusty and their two puppies, a daughter named Cleo and a son named Fido who shared their mother's fascination with ecology, and also Orton the rosette spoonbill, the cousin of Kipo who had befriended the ecology-fascinated greyhound and her family a few years ago. Avellana and her family had been told by James and Ebony of the horrible and harrowing things that had happened to Blu and company including Sandalwood's incident and also the poacher attack resulting in 40 of the kids including Sandalwood getting captured, both involving Marco and his comrades and/or their chicks, and had come to visit but she had something troubling on her mind.

"How are our bird friends doing?" asked Avellana as she sat with Rusty and Orton, Fido and Cleo playing nearby under the watchful eyes of their parents.

The three cats gazed at the greyhounds and spoonbill with saddened eyes.

"Not good, I'm afraid," said Broccoli sombrely, "They hadn't slept a wink at all last night."

"Some of them had been crying or throwing an outright temper tantrum, ranting and railing like a chick throwing a paddy for most of the night, especially Umbriel's scarlet mate," said Daisy, "The devastation of what happened yesterday has seriously torn their hearts into two."

"According to Blu," said Collette, "Umbriel's scarlet mate, who I believe is named Benjamin, kept screeching and squawking and kicking things. It's a wonder he didn't injure a foot or something."

"It was all about those horrible toucans that had caused this mess," said Daisy. She snarled this sentence in utter resentment.

"I'm not surprised," said Rusty, "I'd probably go berserk if those pesky big nosed birds caused us trouble resulting in our two pups," he nodded to Fido and Cleo as they continued to play, laughing heartily, "getting… say caught in a trap set up by dog-nappers and subsequently stolen away to places unknown."

Then Orton lowered his head, a tear falling from his eye. "And Sandalwood and company are so young as well," he said in an edgy voice as these chicks and the pup, and also Acerola who was also taken, came into his head, "It breaks my heart to think of a young chick or flying fox pup torn away from their parents by poachers to be taken to an unknown destination."

The others nodded in agreement. Then Broccoli moved on.

"Anyway, I do believe you have something to tell us?" he asked.

"Yes," said Avellana, "After hearing from some other of my bird friends such as Ónix the red-tailed black cockatoo about the food shortages in the Blu Bird Sanctuary because of some toucan overpopulation, and also from Tulio and his team, I have sent Orton and Kipo out to do a proper and thorough survey of the amount of food available and how many toucan groups are in the sanctuary to see for sure if the results are indeed true."

Then Orton gave a dark look. "And believe me, it was not good."

"Jack and Jill have done a survey on the bird populations and have come to the same conclusion of the toucan overpopulation as well," said Broccoli.

"It's not just the overpopulation of toucans and their displacement of many of the other birds from their homes," said Orton with a frown, "It's also the food shortages," he paused, "There aren't many ripe fruit on many trees at all, which explains why Blu and company are having trouble finding enough fruit. We believe that the food shortage is caused by that massive population of those toucans…"

"Bia told us that she had theorized that consequence," said Collette, "A large family of forty chicks would need an awful lot of food to sustain."

"And that's not all," continued Orton, "Kipo and I have also been to the outskirts of the Blu Bird Sanctuary, at the double barbed wired fence that separates the land from the outside land and we saw a pair of humans behaving suspiciously in one spot."

"What were they doing?" asked Broccoli. Then a thought hit him, "Of course, poachers…"

As he said this, the sound of wing flaps alerted the group of greyhounds, cats and rosette spoonbill and cut Broccoli off his sentence. At this, the group turned and saw two blue-throated macaws and two green-winged macaws touch down onto the grass and walk over to them. At this, Avellana turned to the group as Mars, Chiquitita, Ceres and Cobalto stood before the group.

"Has Tulio set to constructing any plans to reduce the toucan population yet?" asked Avellana.

"He's currently going over the options," said Chiquitita. Her face then became stern, "But it's not going to be an easy task."

"Rafael and Eva had also opted that we speak to Marco and the other toucans to reduce the number of chicks they are having to help Tulio and his team," said Mars, "But that's easier said than done as well," a look of disgust came upon his face, "And you know what those arrogant brats are like."

Collette, Broccoli, Daisy, Avellana, Rusty and Orton nodded in agreement. Ceres was about to say something when suddenly, an unexpected cry of a song sent fright coursing through the group and making them jump. It was an eighties song, 'Pride (In the Name of Love)' by rock band U2 and it was the ringtone of the mobile phone, also called a cellphone, that Blu and company had picked up at some point during the last three years to allow the group to communicate with their friends and relatives in the Sanctuary de Amazon who also had a phone on them connected by a specific phone number.

"Sounds like our friends and relatives are trying to contact us from the Sanctuary de Amazon," said Ceres with a smile, the first one she had managed since Sandalwood's incident and the incident yesterday.

"I'll get that," said Cobalto and with that, he darted off, Mars following. Chiquitita then gazed at Ceres, the greyhounds and the cats and Orton with a worried look on her face.

"We can't possibly tell our relatives back in the Amazon rainforest about what has happened," she murmured, "Certainly not Felipe and Eduardo regarding the disappearance of some of their grand-chicks and great-grandchicks yesterday. They've got enough worries on their branches as it is with tribe and clan responsibilities and we can't have then going berserk over what had happened to Sandalwood and the others yesterday."

As she said this, Mars and Cobalto returned with the mobile phone which was blaring out the U2 song loudly and shaking, its screen with the words 'Incoming Call' flashing. The music from the phone had alerted Blu, Jewel, Zephyr, Venus, Roberto, Brisa, Sapphire, Mercury, Pluto and Lapis Lazuli and the first two had took off from the branch to fly down to Ceres's group as Mars then pressed the 'answer' button. The screen then flashed to an image of two smiling male blue-throated macaws as one of them adjusted the phone and then stood back.

"Hi, Mom, Uncle Mars," said one of them, Wilbur, the one who had adjusted the phone.

"Dad, Auntie Chiquitita," said the other macaw, Aurelio. Around him were a number of little blue and yellow macaws, among them Desdemona and Lucy, the sisters of Aurelio and Wilbur and of course Azul. When Desdemona, a wide smile on her beak, attempted to seize the phone, Wilbur immediately extended his wings in her path and stopped her.

"Oh, no you don't, Desdemona," he scolded as he gently pushed the young female chick away. Desdemona let loose a mischievous titter and darted away.

"Sorry, guys," said Wilbur apologetically as Aurelio commanded the blue-throated macaw chicks to behave, "We've got a class of chicks with us in the Spix macaws' ravine, among them our two little sisters."

"Yeah, we're on an outing to the Spix tribe's ravine," grunted Aurelio as he struggled to reach for another chick as he crawled on his head with a foot pressed over his eye. Ceres, Cobalto, Chiquitita and Mars smiled in amusement.

"Hi, Wilbur and Aurelio," said Mars.

"I can see you're very busy," said Chiquitita with a slight giggle, especially at Aurelio as he was almost covered in a thick blanket of chicks.

"I remember you two and Azul being like that with us when you were chicks," said Cobalto.

"And I can see our cat and dog friends are doing fine in the background," said Wilbur. Avellana, Rusty, Collette, Broccoli and Daisy, at this, all said 'Hi' through the gaps between the four macaws. Just then, an 'excuse me' sounded, making the group turn in the direction of the speaker which was Blu accompanied by Jewel.

"Who is that on the phone?" asked Blu.

"It's Wilbur and Aurelio back in the Sanctuary de Amazon," said Ceres.

"They're ringing to check on us," said Mars.

"Well, can we speak to them please?" said Jewel. Mars, Chiquitita, Ceres and Cobalto and the cats, greyhounds and Orton, at this, exchanged glances and Mars passed the phone to the Spix macaw couple.

"Hi, Wilbur and Aurelio," said Blu.

"Hi, Uncle Blu and Aunt Jewel," said Wilbur enthusiastically, Aurelio too occupied with the chicks including Lucy and Desdemona as they climbed all over him despite his protests.

"Hey, you lot, easy, easy, EASY!" barked Wilbur's brother under the blanket of small bundles of rich blue or turquoise and yellow as he collapsed under their weight. The chicks, giggles escaping their beaks, then crawled under Aurelio and carried him away like a log. Wilbur stole a glance and shook his head in amusement.

"Our pupils certainly our little rascals including our two little sisters," he said, "Anyway, how are you guys over in Rio?"

Blu and Jewel, at this, gazed at each other and then at Ceres, Cobalto, Mars and Chiquitita before gazing back at Wilbur on the screen. As Chiquitita said, they did not want Wilbur and Aurelio worried about the problems over in Rio, so an idea came into Blu's heads but it was something he was reluctant to execute.

"W-W-We're doing fine, thanks," he said with a smile to hide the true emotions, "Rafael and Eva are doing fine, Avellana has two puppies…"

"Oh, that's brilliant," said Wilbur with delight, "I can see the two little cuties in the background playing."

"They're very energetic," said Avellana over Blu's shoulder.

"Just like how Avellana and her siblings were when they were puppies," said Jewel with a smile of her own.

"Our grandkids are doing fine as well," said Chiquitita, "They're… um…" she turned to Mars who stepped in as her tongue stuck in her throat.

"They're on an outing with their parents," he said, "I think to Tulio's Aviary. Sandalwood, Ferdinand and Acerola are also there with Stella, Soren, Luna, Anabelle, Sebastian and Augustus and Melissa," his insides churned as he told these lies.

"Yes," said Chiquitita, "They're on a tour at Tulio's Aviary to show our grandkids and your niece Carmen and nephew Oceano where we met and what Tulio and his team do."

As she said this, Wilbur's face twisted into a frown. At first, Blu and company thought he was seeing through the façade but when Wilbur said, "I hope they're not gonna bump into that psycho of a cockatoo Nigel, are they? Because you remember those previous times when Jupiter, Uranus and Zephyr's families went to Rio before the chicks were born when they encountered him."

"Well, if they do run into Nigel, then they'll abandon the tour for something else," said Ceres. Wilbur smiled before flashing a glance behind him when he heard Aurelio's shouts.

"Hey, Wilbur, a wing over here please? YEOW! Indiana, Lucy, will you STOP IT!?" was what Blu and the other listeners heard from Aurelio in the background behind Wilbur, obviously indecisive of him becoming a bit too overwhelmed by the rather rambunctious chicks, although none of those chicks were like many of Rafael and Eva's countless kids and grandkids who were FAR naughtier.

"Oh, aye, looks like my brother needs my help," Wilbur said to the macaws and the other listeners, his face turned to the screen, "Sorry to cut this conversation short."

"Okay, tell my father Eduardo and also Jasmine, Annette, Quincy and Flor and the others we send our regards," said Jewel with a smile.

"I will and let Carla, Bia, Tiago and also Augustus, Andromeda and the others know I send my regards too as does Aurelio," said Wilbur. Then after both ends said goodbye, Blu pressed the 'Disconnect' button and the call was cut off, the image of Wilbur vanishing from the screen, blackness replacing him. Sighs of relief then rolled through the group.

"That was close," said Mars, a wing behind his head.

"There was no way we were gonna let Aurelio and Wilbur know about the incidences in the past two days," said Chiquitita, "Otherwise they would have spread the word to Eduardo and the others, spreading along with it worry."

"I can't believe we had to make up a story," said Blu as guilt flashed within him, "One of these days, we're gonna have to come clean with them. Anyway, let's just return to having breakfast."

Jewel nodded and with that, the two Spix macaws took off and joined Zephyr and the others on the height branch. Mars gazed up at them, a wave of sadness coming back over him as reality returned.

"This is honestly a nightmare for us all," he said, "Especially for those kids that have been kidnapped."

The others nodded in agreement before Avellana and Rusty shot Fido and Cleo a glare as they began to dig in one of the flowerbeds of Tulio and Linda's garden.

"Oi, you two, out of that flower patch!" Avellana scolded, much to the amusement of the others, especially as Fido and Cleo stopped digging and shot their mother an innocent smile.

 **Meanwhile**

Io, Europa, Callisto, Byron, Athos, Mimas and Sheldon and Katniss all flew along through the jungle from Tulio's Aviary to their place of stay where the others were waiting. Sadness gripped them greatly, especially Mimas after what had happened to her entire family with all four of her chicks missing and her mate grounded with a broken wing like Vincent, Eustace and Serena's oldest son. Katniss flew alongside Athos and Callisto, her parents, as the thoughts of her brother Canopus and the others that were missing, including Sandalwood, ran through her mind. However, some good news had thrown in a sliver of joy amongst the black sea of sadness but that sliver would soon fade.

"I'm so glad Eragon is fine as is Luna," said Io, "It seems like Luna's recovered from the snakebite the other day."

"And Eragon's just got a broken upper arm bone right near the shoulder which has been fixed," said Europa, "He should recover in a few months."

"His bat-bird was sorry for throwing him off his back and injuring him during the toucan attack," said Sheldon, "But it wasn't his fault."

"It was then wretched toucan chicks," hissed Callisto sourly, her vermillion feathers bristled, "And their parents are no better."

"Why didn't they help us escape those poachers rather than let many of our kids get caught in those traps anyway?" growled Athos bitterly, flashing a glance at Katniss to make sure she was present.

"They have no excuse for all this," muttered Byron, "First; they allow their kids to do this to Sandalwood and now THIS!"

"No wonder Benjamin, Umbriel's mate, and some of us were so pent up with rage," said Mimas bitterly, "In fact, I'm utterly outraged myself, especially how Marco and Anastasia branded Tiago and Matilda regarding their daughter Bellatrix."

The others nodded in agreement and continued resuming their flight to where the others were staying near Linda and Tulio's cottage. However, the seven red macaws and blue-and-gold macaw hadn't flown far when they were stopped by a very scornful, condescending giggle. The macaws fluttered to a hover and glared at the laugher but the moment their eyes landed on who it was their feathers, especially Io's bristled like a threatened cat's fur. Even worse, the laugher was not alone; she was accompanied by around a dozen other toucans her age, including her mate.

"Well, hello, Io, Europa, Callisto and Mimas," said Sofia spitefully, "We meet again."

The said four macaws shook with rage, as did Sheldon and Byron. Athos, however, hooked his claws onto Katniss and tried to sneak away, wary of these horrible toucans. Since the incident yesterday, he had developed a complete untrusting attitude towards these toucans, especially with the remaining chicks and Ferdinand around and did not want them to be subjected to acidic comments from the toucan ruffians. Then suddenly, an explosion from Io's beak sent a shockwave through Athos's body and made a short and frightened shriek escape from Katniss's beak.

"What do you want, SOFIA!" screeched the scarlet macaw furiously. Sheldon shot his pure scarlet mate a wary look. If Io didn't control her temper, she could get herself into trouble, especially based on how on edge she, like everyone else, were. However, despite this, the condescending, spiteful looks remained on Sofia and company's faces. Then the group of toucans opened their wings and lofted into flight to confront the macaws in mid-air.

"Oh, my, my, testy, ain't we," said Sofia's mate as he flew alongside Sofia, "Not got a hair-trigger temper have we?"

Laughs rolled through the other toucans. The macaws, however, were not amused.

"Look, we don't have time for petty palaver like this," growled Byron, barely able to restrain his boiling temper that threatened to rupture its confines, "We wanna return to where we're staying. We've got WAY too much on our minds to consider than to have you lot mock us after what has happened…"

"Oh, you mean when your little kiddies were snaffled by those poachers yesterday?" said one of Sofia's brothers named Gilbert insensitively. This was followed by giggles from the other toucans. That struck a nerve. With an enraged screech, Io lurched forward and threatened to slash the condescending looks off each of the thirteen or so toucans' faces but she stopped herself, barely, but her temper violently erupted an explosion of angry words like one the volcanoes on her namesake moon erupting sulfur.

"YOU THINK WHAT HAPPENED TO OUR CHICKS AND TWO OF OUR PUPS YESTERDAY was a JOKE!?" she bellowed at the top of her lungs, her eyes beginning to well tears. When the nasty smiles remained on the toucans' faces, Europa flapped in to back up her sister, her temper also erupting like a pressurised hose.

"YOU have no idea WHAT NIGHTMARE YOU HAVE PUT US THROUGH!" she bellowed, "SOME OF US HAVE lost our ENTIRE BROODS to those POACHERS… because of your RECKLESSNESS!"

"Well, you shouldn't have left the outskirts of the sanctuary then, shouldn't ya?" said Sofia nastily and scornfully, followed by the laughter of the other toucans. This sent disgust tearing through the group of macaws.

"WE shouldn't have left the sanctuary?" retorted Sheldon disgustedly. Sofia, at this, backed away as Io's ruby (scarlet/green-winged hybrid) macaw lurched forward and began to pelt her with fiery missiles of words.

"If YOU LOT HADN'T confronted us outside the sanctuary's fence and caused US TROUBLE resulting in so many of our KIDS getting caught in those TRAPS IN THE FIRST PLACE, WE WOULDN'T HAVE ENDED UP IN THIS MESS!" he bellowed. Suddenly, Sofia's mate came in and gave Sheldon a hefty shove with his feet, much to his shock.

"Get away from my mate, you RUFFIAN!" he snarled. Sheldon glared daggers at the toucan and flared his talons, the shove having shattered his composure.

"You wanna fight with me!?" he screeched.

"If that's what you want then so be it!" Sofia's mate screeched and with that, Sheldon and the toucan began to circle each other like a pair of cats, their claws flared and poised for attacking and the other toucans cheering their friend on.

"Yeah, give him a piece of your mind, Marcel," said Sofia scornfully as her mate, named Marcel, continued circling with Sheldon, hisses filtering through their beaks and their feathers puffed out like pufferfish spines but before this could escalate into a full-blown fight, Callisto zoomed in between them.

"Let's break it up, shall we?" she rebuked, "You know what our elders said about unnecessary violence," she then glared at Sheldon, "Let's go before this spirals out of control."

Sheldon, at this, reluctantly lowered his talons and the fire in his blue eyes and joined the others. The group then turned their backs on Sofia and her gang and left but not before Sofia spewed out the most acidic comment she had concocted.

"Maybe you macaws shouldn't have had CHICKS in the FIRST PLACE," she bellowed, rage lacing her voice, "After all, you lot are TOO USELESS to be parents, not like us! It serves ya right for them going missing! Not us! In fact, those chicks SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN BORN! You lot were STUPID IN MAKING THE DECISION TO HAVE KIDS IN THE FIRST PLACE!"

Then with a gaggle of extremely mean and scornful laughs escaping their beaks, Sofia, her mate and their comrades left to return to their hollows… and their many, many, many kids, laughing along the way, but it had left an extremely sharp porcupine spine laced with a poison far more caustic than any snake venom, lodged in Io's group which added to the extreme grief and heartbreak of the macaws. As the poison took hold, and the eight macaws began to either boil in extreme anger, as in the case of Io and Sheldon, or break down uncontrollably, as in the case of Mimas and Europa. Even Katniss, who was carried in Athos's talons, was deeply offended by that vitriolic remark.

 **Back at the unfamiliar enclosure**

Sandalwood and Acerola stood with Sirius, Bellatrix, Spica, Petunia, Vega, Deneb and Polaris with Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine and Guanine the Catalina chicks flanking them. Nearby, Betelgeuse, Rigel, Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka and Canopus the red macaw chicks; Procyon, Castor and Pollux the blue-and-gold macaw chicks; Mira the blue-and-gold/hyacinth hybrid chick, Fomalhaut the blue-and-gold/great green hybrid chick, Capella, Achernar and Antares the green macaw chicks, Aldebaran the scarlet/great green hybrid chick, Gertie the hyacinth chick, Arcturus the Lear's macaw chick with glaucous macaw chicks Saiph, Denebola and Regulus, blue-throated macaw chick Carmen, and Gladion and Lillie the toucan chicks stood with three cockatiels and a variety of other birds and animals, almost all of which were completely unfamiliar to Sandalwood and company, surrounding them. Pitaya the purple-and-pink macaw, Sylvester the Cuban macaw, Alegria the green-and-yellow macaw and Altair the archaeobird chick were still missing, having been taken away for examination by the humans and their friends were still unhappy about this. As the group of chicks and two flying fox pups continued to either seethe in anger, flicker their gazes this way and that timidly as though they wanted to flee or grumble under their breaths but all with nervousness hanging over them like the shadow of the tent like construction, the echidna walked to the front while the platypus was speaking to someone through a hole in the back wall, presumably where the leader resided.

The group was in some sort of leafy construction, like a tent, and it was where the leader of the animals in this compartment of the enclosure resided. Flowers decorated the outside of the tent and the entrance was sealed off by a curtain of vines but these vine curtains had been hung back and held open by another vine to allow entry. While the platypus which Sandalwood's group now knew to be named Reepicheep continued speaking to someone through the hole, the echidna (which was a female) stood before Sandalwood and the others apart from the four missing. However, she did not look very cross but was delighted though some sternness was mixed in with her expression.

"Now you little 'uns," she said, "Our leader is a male emu called Dundee," he snout-like mouth then made a slight smile when she saw the alarmed gazes of Sandalwood and company, "But there's no need to be afraid. He's friendly and kind," the echidna's face then creased into a frown, "Unless of course, you get on his bad side, which I'm sure you little 'uns won't."

Sandalwood, Acerola and the chicks exchanged glances before gazing back at the echidna.

"Are we in trouble?" squeaked Sirius timidly.

"We're sorry for the chaos we whipped up," said Spica.

"It's just that… we did not trust those strange humans at all," said Canopus. At this, one of the kiwis came in.

"It's understandable since you lot are new here, but you didn't half inflict plenty of cuts and scratches on those human friends of ours," he said. Sandalwood and the others blinked with surprise. 'Human friends'? The way they just walked in and seized Altair, Sylvester, Pitaya and Alegria and walked away with them didn't seem like they were friendly from Sandalwood and company's perspective. As worry for those four macaws gripped the two flying fox pups and the chicks, the platypus returned to the ground.

"Dundee's on his way, Kiara," he said.

"Excellent, Reepicheep," said the echidna named Kiara, before turning to Sandalwood and the others, "We address him by his name even though he leads our group and the whole community in this part of the enclosure."

Sandalwood was about to ask what an emu was when suddenly, the vines leading to the leader's room moved. Then moments later, a large, bipedal creature emerged from the vines and stood before the animals.

He was a large creature and resembled a flightless bird Sandalwood and the others had once seen called a rhea and like one, he had a long neck and long legs. However, this bird's feathers, which were almost hair-like, were greyish and he appeared to lack wings. His face was surrounded by a bright blue patch and his eyes were a friendly pale grey colour, especially as they gazed at Sandalwood and the others with him. His long legs were also dark grey and each ended in a three-toed foot, the middle one being the largest with a massive claw. Sandalwood shuddered at the large claw. Behind the emu, another emu and several smaller animals, among them a monkey of a species Sandalwood and the others could not recognise but which Sandalwood and the others assumed were the first emu's inner circle, the other emu being the second-in-command and the first emu's right-wing bird, stood by the entrance to the leader's room. Like the first emu, this emu was a male and had blue eyes. As the first emu's gaze found the crowd of animals standing before him, his beak widened into a smile.

"Greetings, all," he said in a deep voice, "I believe you have come to meet me to introduce me and my inner circle to some newcomers, I believe."

In response, the echidna nodded to the two kiwis and they ushered Sandalwood and the others to approach the emu. However, they were afraid at the massive flightless bird but at the two kiwi's gentle persuasion, they relented somewhat. As the group stood before the emu who was named Dundee, he peered down his beak and gazed at the two flying fox pups, the variety of macaw chicks and the two toucan chicks.

"These are the newcomers, Dundee, sir," said one of the kiwis, "However, four of them have been taken away by our human carers for examination."

"But during the humans' catching of those four, these lot attacked them," said the other kiwi, making some of the kids in Sandalwood's group shoot him an alarmed and afraid look. Then Acerola spoke.

"P-p-please, Mr Emu," she said timidly, unnerved by the massive bird's side, "W-w-we've only arrived here and we did not trust those humans one bit. We were only trying to protect those four chicks that were taken."

"Yes, they've arrived a while ago today," said the platypus.

"What sort of birds are you, if I might ask?" asked the emu. At first the chicks and two pups did not reply. Then the three cockatiels began to examine them, starting with Sirius, Bellatrix, Spica, Petunia, Vega, Deneb and Polaris, much to their shock.

"I'm not sure, Dundee," said the female cockatiel named Lilo as she turned Sirius around to take in every detail of his plumage, "Some of these macaw chicks are of species we had never seen or even heard of."

"But we do recognise these macaw species," said one of the male cockatiels named Cody as he examined Betelgeuse and Rigel, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka, and Canopus and also Procyon, Castor, Pollux, Capella, Achernar and Antares and Gertie with the other male cockatiel named Sparky, "These macaw chicks are scarlet, green-winged, military, blue-and-gold and hyacinth macaws."

Capella, Achernar and Antares hissed under their breath in annoyance at Sparky's misidentification of their species. 'We're great green macaw chicks actually,' said Capella in her head, a frown at Sparky as he moved on to examine Gertie, 'While Antares is half-military.'

Canopus also shot Cody an annoyed glare after he had placed him back on the ground, the chicks apart from Mira and Gertie only being slightly taller than the cockatiels, before moving on. After identifying Carmen as a blue-throated macaw, Sparky, Cody and Lilo came to the hybrid macaw chicks.

"And what sort of macaws are you?" asked Sparky to Adenine, Cytosine, Guanine and Thymine, "Are you some sort of new species or something."

"We're hybrids, actually," said Adenine.

"Our father's a scarlet and our mother's a blue-and-gold," said Cytosine. At this, Sparky shot the other animals an amazed and surprised look.

"Hybrids?" said Dundee the emu with a raised eyebrow, "We rarely hear of different species of macaws pairing up and having chicks."

"I'm also a hybrid macaw," said Mira, "But a cross between a hyacinth and a blue-and-gold."

"I'm a cross between a blue-and-gold and a great green macaw," said Fomalhaut.

"And I'm a hybrid of a scarlet and a great green," said Aldebaran. Betelgeuse, Rigel and Canopus, and also Gladion and Lillie, who were also mixed species, were too afraid to speak, the thoughts of their parents and also where they are plaguing them. The three cockatiels stood back with the platypus, the echidna and the two kiwis.

"Hmm, interesting mix," said the echidna in fascination before her gaze turned to the Spix macaw chicks, Saiph, Regulus, Denebola and Arcturus, "And you blue macaws must be…"

"Spix macaws," said Sirius.

"I'm a Lear's macaw," said Arcturus.

"And we're glaucous macaws," said Saiph. Regulus and Denebola only nodded. At this, awed smiles appeared on the strange animals' beaks and faces while murmurs rolled through the animal crowd behind Sandalwood and company.

"Spix, Lear's and glaucous macaws?" said Dundee in fascination, "Are those three macaw species critically endangered?"

"There's a flock of each of those macaw species living in Brazil," said Adenine, "All under the protection of conservationists."

"Oh, yeah," said Kiara the echidna, "We remember now. We've heard of the story of those macaw flocks and how they came to be protected, along with their habitats, in the Amazon rainforest."

"It was all on the news several years ago," said the platypus named Reepicheep.

"That's where we are from," said Denebola.

"We were born in that area," said Regulus.

"I see," said Dundee before his eyes found Sandalwood and Acerola, "And what species are those flying foxes?"

"We're Brazilian flying foxes," said Acerola.

"We're also from the Sanctuary de Amazon," said Sandalwood.

"Interesting," said one of the kiwis, Flax.

"We've got a group of flying foxes living in this compartment of the enclosure too," said Sparky, "But they're from Africa, Asia or Australia."

"While we've got some scarlet, green-winged, blue-and-gold and military macaws and I think a couple of blue-throated macaws here too," said Cody. Sandalwood and Acerola gazed at each other in surprise, as did the red, the blue-and-gold and the green macaw chicks. Then the most important question resurfaced in Sandalwood's head.

"Oh, I forgot," he said, "Mr Emu…"

"Please, address me as Dundee," said Dundee.

"Okay, Dundee," said Sandalwood, "If you mind us asking, where exactly are we?"

"We tried finding the Christ the Redeemer statue out of the windows," said Betelgeuse, "But we could not find that Rio landmark anywhere among the cityscape."

"Christ the Redeemer?" repeated the other emu, Harakeke in confusion.

"It's a statue of a biblical figure overlooking Rio de Janeiro," explained Kiara the echidna, "Have you not been listening to our scarlet and green-winged friends when they talked about their place of origin?"

This seized the attention of Betelgeuse, Rigel and the other red macaws. 'They're from Rio de Janeiro as well?' thought Betelgeuse in surprise. Dundee then smiled.

"Well, you won't do," he said, "You're in a different city altogether."

At this, alarm tore through Sandalwood and company.

"Different city!?" blurted out Sandalwood.

"Which city are we in?" asked Sirius but nothing could prepare Sandalwood's group for what Reepicheep the platypus said next.

"You're in Iquitos City, Peru," he said. At this, some of the chicks mouthed the word 'Peru' while the others, including Sandalwood and Acerola, glared at the strange mammal in disbelief. Then Dundee went on to explain the enclosure.

"And the name of this conservation area is called 'Sanctuario del Paradíso'," he said, "Which is Spanish, I believe, for 'Paradise Sanctuary'."

This struck a bell in the minds of Sandalwood and the others and they shot the emu a surprised gaze. That sounded familiar. Then the memory of seeing 'Sanctuario del Paradíso' on the cover of a magazine at Susan and Bernardo's cottage flashed in Sandalwood and company's heads. Was this the place?

"What this conservation area does is protect and care for a variety of critically endangered and rare animals from all over the world," said Kiara proudly, a paw on Sandalwood and Acerola's shoulders, "Though there are a few residents who are of the commoner species as well, like Sparky, Cody and Lilo the cockatiels are, and those macaws from Brazil that we mentioned."

"We also have a few cockatoos," said Cody, "And also one or two parakeets."

"Most have us have been rescued from poachers," said Sparky. He nodded to the two kiwis, "For example, Flax and Harakeke and four other kiwis that reside here are some such animals."

"We were almost sold as souvenirs through something humans called a black market," said Harakeke sourly, "But then these kind humans from this conservation area stepped in and rescued us before we got to that stage," he said this in a more positive and grateful voice. Sandalwood and the others gazed at the kiwi. They had been captured by poachers too but then some 'clients' came in and purchased all 40 of the group, along with several other animals, and then… as realisation hit, Sandalwood and company's heads shook in utter disbelief.

"We were taken by poachers top," said Acerola.

"But then we were purchased by some humans and must have been brought here," said Gladion.

"You must have done," said Kiara.

"It sounds like those humans that brought you here are from this conservation area," said Dundee. At this, Sandalwood and the others froze in disbelief. Was this true? But then Cytosine asked, "So what do you mean, various parts of the world?"

"My cousin Harakeke and I, along with the other four kiwis," said Flax, "are from New Zealand."

"Kiara, Dundee and his right-wing emu and younger brother, Nick, and I are from Australia," said Reepicheep, "As are the cockatiels…"

"And everyone else on the entire conservation region come from other parts of the world," said Dundee, "For example, the three giraffes that live here come from Africa, as do that family of cheetahs and some other animals…"

Sandalwood and the others continued to gaze at the emu in utter surprise. However, the fear of being in this unfamiliar place soon resurfaced after being under the surface all this time and Sandalwood and some of the others began to quiver.

"What's wrong?" asked Reepicheep sympathetically.

"Something scaring you?" asked Dundee. The other animals also gazed at the newcomers as some of them began to weep and wrap their wings around their bodies as though to protect themselves.

"We just wanna go home," murmured Acerola in a fragile voice, tears falling from her eyes.

"We wanna be back with our families," said Sirius as he huddled with Spica, Bellatrix, Petunia, Vega, Deneb and Polaris as they also began to quiver and weep. The other chicks and Sandalwood and Acerola did the same.

"Little 'uns," said Kiara trying to calm their fright, "Your families are probably somewhere else on the conservation region."

"And besides that," said Dundee, also trying to assure the group, "There's nothing at all to be afraid of. You're in paradise. Our human friends are kind and caring and you'll be well looked after."

"As long as you keep away from the forbidden areas which Dundee and some of us will show you when we give you a tour when the other four newcomers are returned," said Reepicheep, "You'll be just fine."

"And to add," said Flax as he stood with Harakeke, "We've got a small community of parrots, flying foxes and toucans for you guys to meet and I'm sure they'll take you in until you reunite with your proper parents and families."

However, these words did not soothe the fears of Sandalwood and the others and they continued to weep. Dundee then nodded to Kiara, Reepicheep, the two kiwis and the three cockatiels.

"Please take them to a quiet place until they settle down," he commanded, "After that, make sure you give them a tour of the area."

The six animals nodded and went over to Sandalwood and the others as they continued to weep. Kiara put a foreleg around Sandalwood and Acerola's backs, a look of sympathy lacing her face while the three cockatiels, the two kiwis and Reepicheep sought to the chicks.

"Come, you two," Kiara said gently, "Let's take you to somewhere quiet."

Sandalwood and Acerola continued to sob as they were led away by the echidna while Sirius and the other chicks were gently led away by the cockatiels, the kiwis and the platypus.


	25. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24- a tour of the area**

 **Later**

Sandalwood and the others all sat by themselves under a shrub, sulking and still shedding tears. Around them, the daily activities of the animals living in the enclosure of the conservation area which Sandalwood and the others now know to be called the Sanctuario del Paradíso, and the human carers, called the 'Sanctuario del Paradíso Foundation' workers as noted to them by Flax and Harakeke the kiwis, continued to flow by. In the trees, monkeys, birds and other arboreal animals played, kids chased each other and adults chatted. Happiness seemed to be teeming all around Sandalwood and company who seemed to be the only group that was miserable. As Kiara the echidna, Flax, Harakeke, the three cockatiels and Reepicheep the platypus escorted the group to the shrub, Sandalwood had requested that the group be left alone. Kiara granted the group's request but told them that they will be having a tour of the area after feeding time and left, leaving Sandalwood and company to get to grips with their location.

Sandalwood and company missed their parents and siblings and relatives dearly and wondered how they were feeling back in Rio. Utterly devastated and heartbroken, they presumed. Furthermore, Sandalwood continued to blame himself for getting himself and his friends into this whole mess. First with his fear of flying by going off with the wrong group (Isabella and her comrades) and then this, sneaking off after a curious thing only to be caught by a crow, leading to a wild chase of his captor by his parents to outside the sanctuary's fence and subsequently a violent confrontation with Marco and his gang leading to Sandalwood and the others getting caught by poachers. As these thoughts boiled within his mind, the guilt also boiled in Sandalwood and he began to break down in tears again. His wings went to his face and he began to sob, especially after he heard one of the chicks, Vega, say, "We feel so lost and alone… in an unknown place, folks."

"Far away from our home country… and our parents and relatives," said Petunia in an edgy voice, a tear falling from her left eye. Nearby, Betelgeuse and Rigel observed the activities of the other animals as they played, talked and did other things. 'They look so happy, and yet we're down on the dark forest floor,' thought Betelgeuse despondently. Rigel, however, continued to silently watch the animals as her mind was enveloped by a storm cloud of depression and other emotions of sadness and fear. Next to the sisters and the daughters of Io and Sheldon, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka were pacing back and forth sadly, Mintaka picking the flowers from the shrub and her brothers just gazing at the floor, wings behind their backs. Gladion, Lillie, Procyon, Canopus and the rest of the group including Acerola were just loitering around doing nothing, their misery weighing them down like a massive boulder. Just then, Procyon saw some flashes of colour zoom towards the group.

"Oh, here come Sylvester, Altair, Alegria and Pitaya," he said, and pointed a wing at them. At this, Sandalwood, Sirius, Bellatrix, Acerola, Spica and the rest of the gang followed the blue-and-gold macaw chicks' point and saw four chicks, one red, orange, yellow, blue and burgundy, another a lime green and yellow with red skin enclosing her eyes and partly her beak, the third a metallic purple and green four-winged bird and the fourth a purple, pink and aqua blue, rush in towards them. Relief flowed through Sandalwood's group as the quartet, which were indeed Sylvester, Altair, Alegria and Pitaya, touched down before them. However, the faces of all four were saturated with bitterness, outrage and disgust.

"At least none of YOU guys didn't have to face what WE went through at the hands of those humans while they examined us," snapped Sylvester sourly, making the relief of Sandalwood and the others fizzle out and shoot the Cuban macaw chick and the other three a surprised gaze.

"You won't BELIEVE how they handled us and that," grumbled Alegria, her bright green and yellow feathers puffed out with rage. Altair nearby straighten out his spiky crest by brushing his wing claws over them for they were all over the place. Pitaya just stood nearby, her face laced with disgust as well.

"What happened?" asked Sandalwood, the others standing around him with curious looks on their faces. Lillie and Gladion, however, bore more sympathetic looks. At this, Sylvester shot Sandalwood a bitter glare, making the bat pup flinch harshly as though he expected the Cuban macaw chick to lunge at him.

"You wanna know?" he retorted, "After we were taken out of this place to some sort of room, we were fussed over by those humans who sounded overly enthusiastic about our species."

"Yes, they took us out of that foul cage against our wishes," growled Alegria, "Handled us roughly in their excitement, took pictures of us using those slab things (Ipads), we _hated_ it."

"One of the studiers sounded like he spoke Spanish," said Altair, "And based on what he said in his enthusiasm through Pitaya's translation for she is fluent with that language," he nodded to the purple-and-pink macaw chick who nodded in agreement, "he was excited in having three creatures that are supposed to be extinct plus one that appeared to be a newly discovered species of macaw and would like to find each of us a partner so that when we become adults, we could have chicks of our own."

"And thus establish a family of Cuban macaws, Dominican macaws, archaeobirds and purple-and-pink macaws HERE," said Sylvester, gesturing with a talon to indicate the artificial jungle. Sandalwood, Sirius, Acerola, Gladion, Lillie and the rest listened to the four's story, their mouths wide open and eyes inflated in disbelief.

"So they want you four to become breeding birds for this place?" asked Spica.

"Whatever that means," said Pitaya, "It would seem so but we're too young to understand that subject."

Then Alegria stormed off and kicked a flower petal bitterly, making Mintaka, along with Alnitak and Alnilam, back away from the infuriated Dominican green-and-yellow macaw chick.

"Well, when I grow up and have chicks of my own," she snarled, her chartreuse eyes blazing yellow-green fires, "I would like it to be in our home, in a natural environment, not in some wretched… stupid… manmade _replica_ of one like this miserable place is!"

As she angrily stomped off, like she usually did when exasperated, Acerola came forward.

"While you four were away," she said, "We've met the leader which is a giant rhea-like bird."

"Yes, and what did that bird say?" asked Sylvester, Altair and Pitaya flanking him with sour-faced looks.

"You're not gonna believe this but this place is called the Sanctuario del Paradíso, or 'Paradise Sanctuary'," said Sirius.

At this, the sourness on Sylvester, Altair and Pitaya's faces flashed from bitterness to disbelief.

"The WHAT!?" blurted out Altair. Nearby, Alegria continued to rant and rail.

"Well, paradise or not, this place is a MISERABLE, ROTTEN SO-CALLED…" she bellowed and with that, the little Dominican green-and-yellow macaw chick raised a wing and was about to swipe at a flower on the shrub and launch into a full-blown hissy fit when a voice said, "Hey, you lot."

At this, Alegria froze and shot a glance at the speaker. When she saw that it was an echidna accompanied by the three cockatiels, the platypus and the two kiwis all carrying something, she snapped out of her frenzied rage and joined the group. Sandalwood and the others gathered around the seven animals.

"Kiara?" said Sirius with surprise.

"We've brought you lunch," said Kiara and with that, she nodded to the kiwis and Reepicheep and they came forward, a very large leaf bulging with something, trailing behind them. Sandalwood and the others' eyes widened in awe. Leaf bags were frequently used by their tribes and clans including the Brazilian flying foxes back in the Sanctuary de Amazon to carry more fruit than usual to save plenty of trips to and from a grove. However, the leaf bags used by the residents of this artificial jungle were larger and Sandalwood and Acerola saw that the bag dragged in by Flax, Harakeke and Reepicheep consisted of slender leaves woven tightly together with very tough material like coconut fibres. There were plenty of these large leaf bags scattered throughout the artificial jungle and they were used by the animals to drag food about or as hammocks to relax in, indicated by some of the tree mammals lying in a few of them tied between the trunks of some trees close together. Then Flax opened the large leaf bag, revealing a colourful pile of fruit and nuts Sandalwood and company recognised.

"Some of this fruit and these nuts are provided to us by our human carers," explained the kiwi as he took out a papaya with a foot, "The rest is provided by the artificial jungle trees."

"It's clever how this place is put together isn't it?" said Harakeke. At this, Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Adenine, Cytosine and Guanine smiled. Sandalwood, Thymine and the others, however, did not look as pleased, especially Sylvester, Alegria, Altair and Pitaya who gazed disdainfully at the fruit in the large leaf bag. Kiara then took out a mango and some berries and offered them to the group.

"You must be hungry by now," she said.

"You haven't had a thing since you arrived here," said one of the cockatiels, Sparky. Sandalwood, at this, hesitated but then slowly extended his membranous wings and took then mango from Kiara's forepaw. Sirius and Bellatrix also took the bunch of berries from Kiara's other forepaw and slowly began to eat. Cody and Lilo, the other cockatiels, then took out more fruit from the leaf bag and handed them to the other chicks. When they came to Sylvester, Alegria, Altair and Pitaya, Lilo offered the first one a couple of guavas but Sylvester, resentment and exasperation against the human carers for handling him and the other three roughly in their excitement still boiling within him, sourly and disdainfully turned his face away, his blue, red and burgundy wings crossed like a moody bratty chick.

"Hey, you haven't eaten anything since you got here pal," said Lilo firmly, "Have some lunch."

She held the guavas out to Sylvester but the Cuban macaw chick refused to take it. Pitaya, Altair and Alegria also turned their backs on Cody and Sparky when they offered them some fruit.

"We're not hungry," snapped Altair rudely.

"Okay, if you want to collapse from hunger, then so be it," said Sparky firmly, "Have some lunch."

Nearby, Sandalwood, Sirius, Bellatrix and Spica, as they ate, gazed at the quartet.

"Please, do as the cockatiels say," said Spica gently, a guava and some nuts in her wings. At first, Sylvester, Alegria, Altair and Pitaya did not reply until finally, they relented but they rudely snatched the fruit out of the cockatiels' wings and stormed off to disdainfully chow down the food like gannets. Lilo looked on with slight disgust at the four's attitude.

"Talk about an attitude problem," she muttered.

"They didn't even say thank you," put in Cody in annoyance.

"They've only just returned from their examination," explained Achernar as he sat with Capella and Antares, eating a pre-chopped up coconut from a shell.

"Yes, based on their experience," said Antares, "It sounds that they were handled roughly."

Flax and Harakeke then gazed at Sylvester, Alegria, Altair and Pitaya as they grumpily shoved down the fruit.

"Well, I guess we shouldn't be surprised," said Flax, "The Cuban macaw and the Dominican macaw, according to one of the hyacinth macaws that live here, are extinct species, while the dinosaur-like bird is thought to have died out with the dinosaurs."

"Not to mention the fact that the purple and pink macaw is totally unheard of," said Kiara, her eyes on the incredibly sour Pitaya as she shoved down a large lump of fruit. Sandalwood and Acerola, Gladion, Lillie, Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Petunia, Vega, Deneb and Polaris gazed at the quartet as did Adenine, Thymine, Guanine and Cytosine, Betelgeuse and Rigel, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka and Canopus, Procyon, Castor and Pollux, Mira, Fomalhaut, Capella, Achernar, Antares, Aldebaran, Gertie, Arcturus, Saiph, Denebola and Regulus, and Carmen as they all continued to eat and did not reply. As the group continued eating, Kiara said, "We're going to give you guys a tour of the area, as ordered by Dundee, after you lot have finished."

"A tour?" repeated Saiph with his mouth full of mango.

"Don't talk with your mouthful," scolded Gertie, making the only son of Aiden and Blueberry shoot her a startled look.

"Yes, it's not polite," said Reepicheep with an amused smile. He then moved on.

"Anyway, we haven't learned your names yet," said the platypus, "Can you each tell us your names?"

"I'm Sandalwood and this is my cousin Acerola," said Sandalwood. Acerola just nodded.

"I'm Sirius and this is Bellatrix, and Spica, and Vega, and…" said Sirius as he pointed from one macaw to the next, starting at Bellatrix before going to Spica and Vega and so on. The other kids also gave their names, including the still-bitter Sylvester, Alegria, Altair and Pitaya. After this, Kiara and the other six smiled.

"Quite an interesting assortment of names," said the echidna in fascination.

"Our parents chose those names," explained Regulus as he sat with Denebola eating some nuts, "Some of us are named after stars; Sandalwood is named after a type of tree…"

"I see," said Lilo with an intrigued smile. however, as Regulus mentioned the group's parents, his face fell and a tear welled in his eye as thoughts about Charon and Neytiri, his and Denebola's parents, flashed in his head. The other chicks, Sandalwood and Acerola also wept as they continued to eat.

"We would love to hear about your parents but that will have to be later," said Flax, "We've got to introduce you lot to this place first, along with the animals."

Sandalwood and the other 39 sighed and continued tearfully, or in Alegria, Sylvester, Altair and Pitaya's case, disdainfully, eating their fruit and nuts. After the last of the berries had been downed and some water given in coconut and lightweight stone cups had been downed to wash down the meals, Sandalwood and the others prepared themselves for the tour.

Sometime later, Sandalwood and company were led by Kiara, Reepicheep, the three cockatiels and the kiwi cousins through the artificial jungle. Around them, various animals, many of which were part of rare and endangered species, decorated the trees, the floor and the trunks as well as the air. These animals ate, chatted, raised young and played. The activities of the animals gripped the heartstrings of the group as they were reminded of the activities of play in their own tribes and clans and some also began to shed more tears, including Pitaya, Sylvester, Alegria and Altair despite the sourness still lingering in the backgrounds of their moods as they began to yarn to be back with their own species and playing with them and the flying foxes and birds of the other tribes and clans back in Brazil. Sandalwood and Acerola were especially squeezed by sadness as they deeply missed home as well, and the mood was mirrored on the other kids.

"This entire area is ours," explained Kiara, pulling Sandalwood and the other kids pout of their thoughts, the echidna gesturing with her front paws to the artificial jungle, "It's especially built for birds, mammals and certain replies such as us. But this area is not the only area of the Sanctuario del Paradíso."

Reepicheep then appeared and put his webbed forefeet and limbs around Sandalwood, Acerola, Gladion, Lillie and Sirius's shoulders, much to their surprise.

"The Sanctuario del Paradíso is massive," he said with a proud grin under his duck-like bill, "And it is divided into many compartments."

"Each built specifically for a variety of animals," said one of the cockatiels, Sparky as he walked with Cody and Lilo, "There's a compartment for larger animals like the giraffes and rhinos…"

Spica, Bellatrix, Adenine and his three siblings blinked. They were aware of the notorious problem rhinos faced with poachers in Africa, especially for their horns and had read it in a book of animals of the world back in the Sanctuary de Amazon. Then Rigel, who walked with Betelgeuse, Canopus, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka around her, asked a question.

"Is this jungle built for our species the only place in this building?" she asked. At this, Kiara frowned, as did Reepicheep, the cockatiels and the kiwis.

"No, there is another compartment built next to ours," she said but her frown faded, "But we'll get to that later."

And with that, she led the group on. The red macaw chicks exchanged confused glances.

"I didn't like the way she frowned at that question," said Alnitak.

"Maybe that compartment might have some dangers associated with it?" asked Canopus. However, the only answer he got to this question was a series of shrugs from the other five. As the group continued walking through the jungle, Sirius, Bellatrix and Spica spotted a group of three monkeys as they ate from one of the fruit trees. These primates were a very unfamiliar species the group had never at all seen before. Their fur was a shade of sandy brown, pale amber and gold colour around the head and body but their limbs and tail were silvery greyish, the amber colour fading to those colours down the limbs. But what really caught the attention of Sirius, Spica and Bellatrix and also Adenine, Cytosine, Thymine and Guanine were the noses of the creatures. The noses resembled a large teardrop-shaped appendage hanging from below their eyes but the seven macaw chicks noticed that the feature in one of the three monkeys was smaller than the other two.

"Those three are extremely rare proboscis monkeys," explained Harakeke to the seven macaws, "They come from regions of Central Asia such as Indonesia."

"There's a troop of up to ten of them plus babies," said Flax.

"We've never seen primates like those three before," said Sirius, intrigue briefly sparking.

"There are plenty of extremely rare and critically endangered primates that reside here," said Cody, "Many of which have been rescued by poachers by our human carers, the Sanctuario del Paradíso staff."

"Have those big nosed monkeys been victims of poachers?" asked Petunia as she walked with Vega, Polaris and Deneb.

"Three of them have," said Lilo, "The rest of them were brought here for breeding purposes for those three rescued monkeys."

"Breeding?" asked Acerola confused. Kiara smiled.

"I'm afraid you're a bit too young for me to explain that at the moment," she said gently, "When you're older, we'll get to that grown-up topic."

Acerola stared at Sandalwood and the chicks, confusion lacing her face. She had always been curious about how babies came to be and had asked Sebastian and Anabelle that same question but she, along with Sandalwood and several of the chicks when they asked their parents that question had given the same answer. Deciding that the subject was not important and also pointless in asking about it anyway, Acerola moved on. Soon, the group entered an area where a group of parrots, bats and other exotic birds like toucans lived. The sounds of parrot calls and flying fox screeches ringing in the air pulled greatly at Sandalwood and company's heartstrings again and they flinched.

"This is the zone where you lot will be staying," explained Kiara as a pair of large hyacinth macaws flew over the group's heads, much to the anguish of Gertie and Mira as they were reminded of their parents Indigo and Victor and Trixie and Enceladus. In the trees in this area, colourful forms of various parrots and toucans decorated the green and brown balls of leaves and branches. Adenine, Cytosine, Thymine, Guanine, Betelgeuse, Rigel, Canopus, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka saw a small group of scarlet and green-winged macaws chat and eat in one tree; Procyon, Castor, Pollux, Mira and Fomalhaut spotted a group of aqua blue and yellow macaws with green foreheads, some of which were chicks, play some sort of ball game with a fruit shell, light-hearted laughter escaping their beaks; Capella, Achernar, Antares and Aldebaran spotted a small group of small green macaws with blue, red and yellow areas, markings, wings and tail in another tree also chatting; and Carmen saw a trio of blue-throated macaws on the ground talking with some toucans which Lillie and Gladion also saw. The group also spotted one or two cockatoos including a galah, a cockatoo that was pink and grey and was native to Australia, many smaller species of parrots, some rare corvids and a variety of other birds. Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Petunia, Vega, Deneb, Polaris, Saiph, Denebola, Regulus and Arcturus then began to scan the area for any blue or cerulean birds like them but to their dismay; the only blue macaws they spotted were a small group of hyacinth macaws.

"Aren't there any Lear's, Spix or glaucous macaws here?" asked Arcturus. As she asked this, Sandalwood and Acerola's eyes found a group of large fox-faced bats hanging upside down and chatting in another tree. Kiara then prepared to answer Arcturus's question, a sad look on her face.

"I'm afraid you nine might be the only Lear's, glaucous and Spix macaws living here at the moment," said Kiara, much to the immense disappointment of the nine macaws.

"Our human carers might try and find some more of those macaws for this place for you nine," said Lilo before her eyes rested on Arcturus, "Especially a Lear's macaw since you might be the only one currently here," her eyes then travelled to Altair, Alegria, Sylvester and Pitaya, their sour looks having returned once again, "Just like how you four will be needing another of your species for that grown-up purpose as well."

Sad sighs, at this, escaped from the beaks of Sirius and company as the wishes that their parents were here returned. Then Kiara called to one of the birds and flying foxes, pulling Sirius and the others out of their thoughts. Within moments, several pairs of wing flaps, two made from membranous wings, reached the group's ears, followed by the placement of talons and feet on the grass as two scarlet macaws and two flying foxes touched down and walked over to Kiara. As the quartet greeted the echidna, Sandalwood and Acerola examine the two flying foxes. To their surprise, they saw that these bats had golden brown body fur and greyish facial fur. Brazilian flying foxes came in a variety of colours ranging from pale reddish to bright amber, as in Sandalwood's case, through brown to very dark chocolate brown. The only exceptions were Sebastian, Stella and Luna who had white fur and greyish white wings due to albinism but these two flying foxes, along with some of the other flying foxes, appeared to have the same pelage colours of grey heads and golden brown bodies. However, Sandalwood and Acerola spotted several other flying foxes with different fur colours, indicating that they were of other flying fox species. The two pups, along with Ferdinand, had seen in Bia's book of animals that there were other flying fox species outside Brazil.

"They're grey-headed flying foxes of Australia," whispered Adenine to Sandalwood and Acerola.

"Are they?" asked Acerola. Just then, the group found themselves standing face to face with the pair of bats and scarlet macaws. Kiara and Reepicheep stood alongside them.

"These four are Shade and his mate Sadie," said the echidna, gesturing to the grey-headed flying foxes, "And Greg and his mate Sardonyx. They are going to take you into their little clan of birds and flying foxes."

Reepicheep then introduced the quartet to the chicks and the two pups. The male flying fox then stepped forward and extended a wing to Sandalwood, Acerola and Sirius.

"Hi, little dudes," he said in an Australian-laced accent similar to that of Kiara, Reepicheep and the three cockatiels, "I'm Shade and this is my mate Sadie. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Sandalwood, at this, shyly raised a wing and interlocked it with the flying fox's, shaking it. Both Shade and Sadie had grey heads and deep golden brown fur. Their wings were coloured brownish and Shade was stockier than Sadie. Shade had brown eyes while Sadie's eyes were blue. The scarlet macaw couple, Greg and Sardonyx, were both red like all scarlet macaws. However, Sardonyx's plumage was rather unusual. Her red plumage was more red-orange, similar to Katniss Callisto and Jupiter, Canopus's sister, mother and grandfather respectively but this scarlet macaw's plumage was very red-orange. Greg, however, was deep red like Rigel, Betelgeuse, Canopus, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka. He was stocky with green eyes while Sardonyx was slim with some curvature and had auburn eyes. Both macaws had very small crests, merely a flick of feathers atop their crowns. Then Alnitak and his triplet brother and sister noticed something on Sardonyx's side. It appeared patchy, the feathers not very tidy and uniform in that area, much to the surprise of the two brothers and sister and the others. When she saw the surprise in their gazes, Sardonyx smiled and covered her patchy area.

"Oh, I've been in a bit of a tussle with a certain reptile a few days ago," she said shyly, "The feathers will grow back in a few days."

"Tussle?" repeated Sirius confused.

"What sort of tussle?" asked Saiph as he stood with Denebola and Regulus. At this, Shade came up to the group.

"We'll explain after your tour with Kiara," he said, "In the meantime, enjoy the rest of your induction."

"Yep, it's important to get to know this place," said Sadie with a smile, "It's a pleasure to meet you guys though, her gaze rested on Sandalwood and Acerola, "Especially you two."

Acerola gave a slight nod but Sandalwood remained there, silent with tears threatening to well in his eyes again. The chicks also stood there, some with tears threatening to well also.

"They were all rescued from poachers like most of the other animals here," explained Flax.

"Oh, poachers, horrible humans they are," hissed Shade bitterly.

"All four of us have been captured by poachers as chicks and pups as well," said Sadie, "It was a devastating time," her face then changed from bitterness to a look of joy, "But thanks to these caring humans, we've been rescued and now we're safe and sound in this place."

Just then, the quartet heard a call from a hyacinth macaw. At this, Shade and Greg flashed the macaw a glance.

"Oh, aye, we're needed," said Shade before turning to Kiara with a smile, "We're sorry to cut this introduction short."

"You lot carry on with the tour and when you guys return," said Sardonyx, a bright smile to Sandalwood and company, "We'll give you lot a proper intro to ourselves and our families."

"You'll really love it here," said Shade.

"Yep, Sanctuario del Paradíso certainly does live up to its name for all of us here," said Sadie and with that, the two grey-headed flying foxes and two scarlet macaws left, leaving Kiara and the others to continue the tour.

Sometime later, after meeting some of the other animals, Kiara and company finally came to the part Sandalwood and the others had been waiting for, the other compartment Kiara briefly mentioned when Rigel asked about the artificial jungle the group was in being the only compartment in this part of the conservation area. As the group approached the outskirts of that compartment, Sandalwood and company saw two silvery mesh barriers with a path of the human visitor area running between them divide the current compartment from another. In that compartment running from the second mesh barrier, Sandalwood and company saw another artificial jungle but its design was different to the jungle in which they were in. Trees were scattered throughout that compartment but then the two flying fox pups and 37 chicks saw several logs and burrows dotting the area here and there and Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka saw a couple of the humans move something within the area. When they looked at what they were shifting closely, they realised that it was organic and based on its shape; it appeared to be a four-footed animal. The triplets shuddered and backed away as Kiara began to explain, a stern frown on her face.

"This," she said, gesturing a forepaw to the beginnings of the other compartment, "Is where a variety of rare and endangered meat-eating animals, amongst some species that are still fairly common, are kept. Many of them are small wildcats from Africa and Asia, such as the serval…"

"What's so dangerous about that area?" asked Sirius timidly and in a squeaky voice as Bellatrix and Spica flanking him shuddered at the decrepit looking jungle opposite the two barriers and path. It clearly resembled a barren death zone even though a variety of trees grew in there. Reepicheep the platypus then came forward, a look of sternness glazing his face.

"Those cats and other animals within that area are extremely dangerous to us, especially the birds and the monkeys," he said in a low voice that made the skins of Sandalwood and company crawl with fear and unease, "Any bird that is unfortunate enough to end up in there would become easy prey to those carnivorous mini-beasts."

Adenine, Cytosine, Guanine, Thymine, Spica and Bellatrix's eyes blinked with surprise at Reepicheep's use of the ecology word meaning 'meat-eating'.

"That bizarre egg-laying mammal knows the word 'carnivore'?" whispered Adenine under his breath with surprise.

"One of the leaders in that compartment is an African caracal called Carnassial, and he's the patriarch of a small group of those small wildcats," said Cody, his face also creased into a stern look.

"He and many of his underlings absolutely adore eating birds and small mammals including bats alive," said Lilo, "A cockatoo foolishly strayed into that Compartment of the Carnivores as we've named it," she nodded to the indoor land through the two barriers, "And was caught and devoured by those caracals and some of the servals…"

This made Sandalwood and company's bodies tremble like jellies. Lillie and Gladion, eyes inflated with fear, slowly ducked behind Mira and Gertie whose faces were also laced with immense fear and even Altair, Sylvester, Alegria and Pitaya felt fear rupture their shell of bitterness. Based on the description of those small cats from Africa, the description of the infamous and late Brutus, the cat that led the band of smugglers' cats and his behaviour flashed in the minds of Sandalwood's group for they had been told about that cat and his violent behaviour.

"So you lot must NEVER… EVER… fly into that region," said Kiara seriously, making Sandalwood's group flinch.

"Yes, unless you want to become the next meal of those mini-beasts," said Flax.

"And we don't want to lose any of you extremely rare species," said Harakeke, his eyes fixed on Arcturus, Sirius and the other Spix macaws, Denebola, Regulus, Saiph and also Altair, Sylvester, Alegria and Pitaya. Cody, Lilo and Sparky nodded in agreement. Sandalwood and the others nodded obediently, promising to never go anywhere near that place. As soon as she was satisfied that the newcomers had taken in this important warning and message, Kiara moved on, leading Sandalwood's group with Reepicheep, the two kiwis and the three cockatiels back into Dundee's group territory. As the group walked along, Kiara began to explain more on the activities of the inhabitants of the artificial jungle.

"We pretty much have plenty of freedom to do our activities," she said, "There's not much set routine except to take young 'uns to classes, forage for food grown on the jungle trees or a health checkup from our human carers…"

As she said this, the group passed by a group of birds playing and laughing in a lake and fountain built into the artificial habitat. Sirius, Spica and Bellatrix gazed at the birds and saw that these birds were a type of aquatic flightless birds called penguins. Most of the penguins were chubby and had black backs and white fronts, but their plumage markings varied depending on what species they belonged to. Bellatrix and Spica managed to identify at least three of the species as the penguins splashed in the lake, swam, relaxed, dived, danced together and did other things. All except one lone individual who appeared to sit on a rock away from the other penguins. At this, Sirius, Bellatrix, Spica, Sandalwood and some of the others with eyebrows raised in puzzlement, squinted at the lone young penguin.

"That's the penguins' play-zone," said Harakeke, "Though other animals are welcome to play in the lake as well."

"What's up with that loner on that rock?" asked Alegria, a bright green and yellow wing pointing to the lone and depressed-looking penguin chick. Flax came in and gazed at the chick.

"That's a young emperor penguin," he said, "His name is Atreyu and he's the only emperor penguin in this enclosure."

"There aren't any other emperor penguins in this enclosure like him?" asked Arcturus in surprise.

"No wonder he looks so despondent and lonely," said Alegria, a flash of sympathy lighting up within her as she gazed at the penguin chick. The chick, though he was an emperor penguin, was smothered with grey downy feathers but his head was black with a white facial mask with part of the black dividing it between the eyes. His feet were also black. Seeing some flashes of colour out of the corner of his eye, the little chick slowly raised his head and gazed despondently at Alegria, Sandalwood, Sirius and the others as they gazed sympathetically in return.

"How did that penguin end up here?" asked Sandalwood.

"He, like many of the other animals that live here," said Reepicheep, "Is rescued from humans but his story is a little different."

"He apparently got caught in a fishing net off the coast of Chile and was rescued and brought here," said Sparky, "He originates from Antarctica where a massive group of emperor penguins live."

"A large number of penguins in that group are very talented dancers and singers," said Cody with an intrigued smile, before it fell as he gazed at the penguin chick once again, "But we've never really seen or heard that penguin chick perform any dance moves or sing any song."

"Maybe he's shy?" asked Rigel.

"Or maybe he misses his family," said Betelgeuse before the flood of emotions over the loss of Io and Sheldon and the other relatives returned, splintering her voice and bringing tears to her eyes, "Like how we do…"

A sniffle escaped her throat. Some of the others including Sandalwood also began to ooze tears once again. Reepicheep flashed them a sympathetic gaze.

"You'll eventually overcome the shock of being brought here and settle in but it's gonna take time," he said with encouragement, making Sandalwood and the others gaze at him. "Anyway, let's resume the tour."

"Yes, there are still plenty of other animals for you to meet," said Kiara, hoping to lift the despondent group's spirits. However, this did not work as Sandalwood and company breathed sighs of sadness. As the group left, Alegria flashed a glance back at the emperor penguin chick who continued to gaze at the group before finally bowing his head, a sad sigh escaping his beak. Seeing that he was not interested in her presence, Alegria darted off after the others.


	26. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25- a close call and a terrible realisation**

 **Meanwhile**

Sonia and her sister Melody, together with their cousins Einstein, Miles and Bartholomew and their second cousins Jason, Winona, Diego, Austin and Lilac flew with scarlet/green-winged hybrid macaw Katniss, Ferdinand the remaining flying fox pup, green-winged macaws Xander and Kayley, Peter and Poppy the blue-and-gold macaws, Cressida the blue-and-gold/great green hybrid macaw, Basil the great green/military hybrid macaw, Aldebaran's sister Perdita and brother Cecil, Carmen's brother Oceano, Sylvester's sister Olivia, Alegria's brother Achilles, Altair's sister and Spyro and Marella's daughter Bambi, and Gladion and Lillie's sister and Diantha and Tom's remaining chick Aurora flew by the sides of Broccoli, Collette, Daisy, Avellana, Rusty, James and Ebony. The two puppies of Avellana and Rusty, Fido and Cleo, had been put under the care of Eustace, Serena, Milo, Travis, Sunset, Clemont and Rosa by their parents while they went out with this group. Accompanying them were Sebastian and his mate Anabelle and Alexandre, Phobos, Deimos and Estelle, Rhea, Iapetus and Ariel and Violet, the youngest daughter of Neptune and Ultramarine who had opted to come along with Broccoli's group to help keep an eye on the remaining kids, with Violet tagging along to give Neptune and Ultramarine a chance to comfort and console Indigo and her mate Victor and also Triton and Iris to help deal with the situation plaguing the Blu Bird Sanctuary.

The 24 remaining kids had been put under the care of Broccoli and the others for a bit to give their parents a break, especially Io, Europa, Callisto, Byron, Sheldon, Athos and Mimas who had just returned from Tulio's Aviary after visiting Ganymede, Luna and the other casualties, but had unfortunately crossed paths with Sofia and some of her siblings and siblings-in-law and mate who took the opportunity to hurl some fiery cinders of searing, acidic insults at the group. This had poured corrosive acid into the wounds of the seven macaws and they had returned in an even bigger meltdown than before, much to the utter horror and outrage of their parents, especially Jupiter, Ruby, Saturn and Orquidea, but the flames of that outrage had burned higher after Athos had told them what Sofia had said to him and the other six. Following this, Jupiter had put Katniss, who had been there when Sofia and her comrades had hurled those corrosive insults at Io's group, along with the other chicks and Ferdinand, under the care of Broccoli and the others to give their still-devastated parents a break until the stormy meltdown subsided. Broccoli and the others had agreed to the task and Sebastian, Anabelle and Alexandre, Phobos, Deimos and Estelle, Rhea, Iapetus and Ariel had opted to come along to help keep an eye on the kids and to get away from the constant meltdowns their siblings and 'cousins' kept erupting, and Violet had also opted to come with the group under the from rule from Neptune and Ultramarine that she stay by the adults' sides at all times.

During this, Blu, Jewel, Venus, Travis, Sunset, Augustus, Melissa and Cometa had decided to go and investigate where the poachers trying to find an access into the Blu Bird Sanctuary were coming from for Cometa had deduced that these poachers must have set up some sort of base by drawing analogy from how her former group had established theirs in the city of Rio, as well as the groups the late calico Catina and the infamous cockatoo Nigel used to serve before their owners and comrades were caught and imprisoned. Lightning had decided to take Orion, Velocity, Hermione, Merlin, Zelda and Spike out for a while to keep the two young falcons away from the meltdowns of Carla and the others, again until things calmed down, and also to give Orion, Hermione (who were still grieving the loss of their son Hunter), Merlin and Velocity a change of scenery, especially after being told by Blu and Jewel of the harrowing news of what Sofia had said to Io and the other six.

Alexandre, Estelle, Phobos, Deimos and Rhea, Iapetus and Ariel had been looking after the remaining kids with Sebastian and Anabelle who looked after Ferdinand while at the same time tried to console their still-devastated siblings and 'cousins' including Carla, Justin, Bia, Virgil, Tiago and Matilda while Io, Callisto, Europa, Mimas, Athos, Byron, Sheldon and Katniss went out to visit Tulio's Aviary. Things had been quiet when all of a sudden, that quiet had been shattered by the sounds of anguished or outraged wails. At first, Phobos (who was drinking coconut juice from a coconut shell) and Deimos thought those wails were from some other macaws but when Estelle and Alexandre, who recognised the owners of the wails, disagreed and mentioned that they were Io, Europa, Callisto, Mimas Sheldon, Byron and Athos; Phobos and Deimos, together with Rhea, Iapetus and Ariel and also Sebastian and Anabelle and Carla and company, especially Enceladus, Tethys, Dione and Titan who were Mimas's siblings, and their respective mates Trixie the hyacinth macaw, Oberon, Porthos and Brooke, and Aramis and Squaw'tagnan as well, all felt dread splash over them like a tsunami and the aforementioned macaws all rocketed off with the others following. Then when the group all saw the state of Ganymede's three sisters, blue-and-gold mate and three brothers-in-law as they made a beeline to a disbelieving and utterly shocked Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Ceres, Mercury, Venus and Zephyr, with a frightened Katniss trailing behind, horror tore through Phobos, Deimos and the others, but nothing could have prepared them for what Athos, who had managed to gain control of his explosive wrath that erupted from the burning hurt from the worsened wound as a result of Sofia and her comrades' spiteful remarks, explained to Jupiter and the others what had happened after being asked by him.

After what happened had come out of Athos's beak in the form of an explanation including the encounter with Sofia and her comrades and what they said to him and the other six, an even BIGGER wave of horror, along with disgust and outrage, tore through Phobos and company like a massive shockwave from a huge explosion. Phobos almost choked on his coconut juice and was forced to spit it out to prevent the juice from going down the wrong way in his reaction; Rhea and Ariel almost fainted, Iapetus felt sick to the stomach and Alexandre and Estelle drew in sharp gasps, as did the others including Bia, Carla, Tiago, Virgil, Justin, Charlotte, Músculo and the rest. That was when Jupiter had made the decision that Katniss and the other 24 kids be taken under the care of Broccoli and the others until things had settled down. As the group walked or fluttered along, Iapetus wore a look of immense thunder on his face, the utter rage still boiling within him after the revelation of Sofia and company's attitude towards Io and the other six.

"I cannot BELIEVE that TOUCAN WRETCH had the AUDACITY to say something like THAT to the three sisters, three brothers-in-law and mate of Ganymede," he bellowed, his talon lashing at a stone and kicking it away, "Especially since we're still devastated over the loss of so many of our kids."

"It's beyond unbelievable that Sofia would say something so insensitive to those seven macaws, especially when they had one of the kids by their side as well," muttered Ariel, a sympathetic glance flashed at Katniss who was still deeply shaken and traumatised from the outburst, especially from her parents Athos and Callisto. She was clearly frightened and was timidly staying beside Estelle's side with Kayley and Xander who could only gaze at the ruby daughter of Athos and Callisto sympathetically. Katniss had been badly affected by Sofia's spiteful remarks about how she and her brother Canopus should never have been born, and now she was too afraid to fly out into the jungle, preferring to stick with the family's ground friends for the time being. Avellana, Rusty, James and Ebony who trotted alongside Broccoli, Daisy and Collette, gazed at the timid red macaw and also the other chicks and Ferdinand as he clutched onto Anabelle's breast.

"Rafael's gonna have a MASSIVE attitude problem to deal with when he confronts his older offspring to discuss with them about their constant breeding," said Ebony with a frown on her face, "He's left that arrogant streak in many of his offspring like Marco and Sofia to develop for too long."

"According to that toco toucan," said James, "He didn't think that the streak would develop into something totally aggressive."

"It's like a weed overtaking an entire garden," said Avellana, "And soon enough, there comes a point at which removing that weed is going to require a LOT of effort whereas in its initial stages, it can be simply nipped in the bud."

"Correct, Avellana," said James, "As a father of those toucans, it's Rafael's responsibility, as well as Eva's since she's the mother of all those bratty birds."

"Too bad only a few of their offspring, like Rita, Carlos and also Diantha, are wise and sensible even though the former two are sometimes a bit mischievous," said Collette with disappointment, "But those two had only begun to realise how many kids they have been having and what impact it's having on the ecosystems of the sanctuary."

The others nodded in agreement.

"These incidences are honestly getting out of hand," said Alexandre with a sigh, "What's next?"

At this, Broccoli made a stern frown.

"Well, one thing is you're going to keep well away from Sofia, Marco and their comrades and stay within the vicinity of Tulio and Linda's cottage garden," he said, "Our human friends are gonna provide you guys with some food, as stated by Zephyr and Venus…"

"What about visits to Tulio's Aviary?" asked Estelle as she flew with Sonia, Melody, Einstein, Miles (who had a partially made mobile in his talons and was scanning the environment for any petals or leaves to add to it), Bartholomew, Jason, Winona, Diego, Austin and Lilac surrounding her with Kayley and Xander.

"You're gonna have to come with us," said James, "Mom and Dad have ordered us to stay here and help look after you and the remaining kids until we deal with these big problems including finding out where Sandalwood and the others had been taken."

At this, sorrow came over the group, especially Sebastian and Anabelle.

"That's easier said than done," said Sebastian, a tear welling in one corner of his eye, "Those smugglers could have taken him, our daughter Acerola and the chicks anywhere."

"That's why Blu and the others have left to find the main base of those poachers," said Rusty, "That peregrine falcon said she has a hunch that those poachers might have a base somewhere knowing that her own group, as did those of Catina and Nigel, had one."

"But that base can't possibly be in Rio though, can't it?" asked Rhea. She flashed a glance at Violet, Peter, Poppy, Cressida, Perdita and Cecil as they gazed at a few passing butterflies, the sorrow of the nightmare briefly lifted by the flashing colours of the dancing winged insects before they disappeared into the green clutter of vegetation.

"Well if the poachers are on the outside of the Blu Bird Sanctuary's fence," said Collette, "Then their base must be somewhere outside the reserve and Rio as well."

"Sounds kind of logical," said Ebony as she walked alongside James.

"Your mother used to smuggle birds, didn't she?" said Rusty. Broccoli, Collette and Daisy all nodded.

"She used to be a smuggler's cat," said Broccoli, "which she told us a lot about when we were young kittens."

As he said this, Collette and Daisy, who had acute hearing like all cats, suddenly heard something through the vegetation. Broccoli, who also had acute hearing, however, was too engrossed in talking with the greyhounds, so Collette interrupted.

"Broccoli, quiet!" she hissed. At this, Broccoli, Rusty, Ebony, James and Avellana gazed at the caliby (calico/tabby mix). Sebastian, Anabelle, Alexandre, Phobos, Deimos and Estelle, Rhea, Iapetus and Ariel and Violet and the chicks also stopped and gazed at Broccoli's sisters.

"Something wrong?" asked Alexandre. However, he was cut off by a sharp 'Shh' from Daisy. The two sisters of Broccoli then went into stalk mode. Their fur puffed out and their eyes and ears became focussed on the group's surroundings, but their ears were cocked to the suspicious sounds. When they saw the change of behaviour in the two cats as they began to slink away in the sounds' source's direction, the greyhounds, macaws and two flying foxes exchanged glances. Oceano gazed curiously at the two sisters of Broccoli.

"Seems like they've heard something," he said in a low voice. At this, Katniss felt her skin prickle and her spine spark and she cowered near Estelle and Alexandre while Bambi, Olivia and Achilles ducked lower into the grass that grew in patches on the forest floor. The other kids also trembled somewhat, Ferdinand hugging against the fur of his mother's breast.

"Is… it… toucans?" Katniss murmured timidly. Aurora, at this, shuddered at the thought of her naughty cousins and same-age aunts and uncles watching the group.

"I hope not," hissed Phobos as he watched Daisy and Collette as they slinked cautiously away, Broccoli and the four greyhounds following. As the two cats left, James shot Ebony and Avellana a look.

"You two stay with the others and the young chicks and Ferdinand," He said, before his eyes turned to Rhea, Sebastian and Iapetus, "Can you three come with us please? We might need your help in this investigation."

Rhea, Iapetus and Sebastian, at this, exchanged glances and followed Rusty, James, Broccoli, Collette and Daisy, leaving Avellana and Ebony to look after the others.

"We'll be right back," said Sebastian, "We wanna investigate what those two city cats have heard."

"Okay, be careful," said Anabelle as she held the cringing Ferdinand. Then moments later, the two greyhounds, three cats, two blue-and-gold macaws and albino flying fox disappeared through the gap in the lower vegetation.

Collette and Daisy, and now Broccoli as well, continued to slink through the leaves and blades of ferns and other undergrowth, their ears cocked intently on the sounds, which they found out was talking, especially as they neared the source. Behind them, Rusty, James, Sebastian, Rhea and Iapetus crept alongside them, the two macaws and flying fox walking for their wing flaps could interfere with the three cats' tracking of the noises. As the group of eight neared the source, Collette stopped the group with a quick and abrupt vertical shooting of a front paw. Then her front paws went to a large fern frond and pushed it down.

"See something?" asked Iapetus in a low voice as the others peered over her shoulder. Collette's hazel gaze then scanned the scenery before the group until her eyes landed on something producing the sounds but when it did, her fur puffed out and her face twisted into a disgusted scowl. Daisy's face did the same. Rusty, Broccoli, James, Iapetus, Rhea and Sebastian followed the two cats' gaze and when they saw the something as well, they flinched with Rusty stifling a gasp, Rhea, Iapetus and Sebastian bristling their feathers and fur and Broccoli and James putting on shocked faces. Across the clearing were three humans and they appeared to be waiting for something. They were dressed in suits that had a mottled pattern of green, brown, khaki, beige and black patches like the suits Broccoli, Daisy, Collette, James and Rusty had seen army humans wear during missions in the forest on the front line, and the three humans were talking in a language at a volume too low for the animals to pick up and recognise despite being able to hear them through the bush. Sebastian then saw something held in the hands of one of the humans.

"Look," he hissed, a chalky membranous wing pointing to the object. The other six followed his gaze and when they saw the object, horror and revulsion tore through them, especially as recognition of the object took hold.

"That's a net gun," said Rhea, her feathers bristled and her skin feeling hot from fear. She then shot Iapetus, Broccoli, Daisy, Collette, Sebastian, Rusty and James a dreaded look as all eight minds honed in on the same possible conclusion, but none of them dare say it out loud. Suddenly, there was movement in the vegetation near the trio of humans. At this, the eight animals snapped out of their thoughts and shot the moving leaves a look as some forms darted out from a cluster of green fern fronds. As the forms stopped before the three humans, the latter knelt down to them and spoke in joyful voices as the creatures handed the humans with something, entangled in nets, in their mouths. Sebastian then climbed up a nearby tree trunk to get a better view of what was in those nets but when he saw the nets' contents, his heart dropped like a stone.

"Sebastian," said Rhea in a low voice, "What do you see?"

Iapetus, Broccoli, Daisy, Collette, Rusty and James also gazed at the flying fox as he dropped down from the tree trunk, a look of disgust and fear on his face, especially as he remembered how Sandalwood and the others were captured and who captured them.

"Poachers," he hissed, "And some of their dogs," he gazed at the trio of humans as they smiled triumphantly at the animals in the nets, "And it looks like they have captured a marmoset and a few parakeets in those net things…"

However, he trailed off as he realised something. As it dawned upon him, the albino flying fox shot the other seven a dreaded look. The land on which the eight were standing was that of the Blu Bird Sanctuary… and there were three poachers standing on the _same_ land. Then Broccoli broke the silence.

"We need to tell Blu and Jewel and the others about this right away," he hissed.

"They seemed to have finally found a way to get through the double fence with the barbed wire protecting the sanctuary," said Iapetus, his gaze on the trio of humans as they left with their catches into the vegetation with their dogs hopping excitedly after them, "We also should alert Tulio and Linda pronto."

"Let's get back to Ebony, Avellana and the others and return to Tulio and Linda's cottage," said Broccoli. But no sooner had these words escaped from his mouth when suddenly, a bloodcurdling screech, alongside some howls, exploded through the vegetation. As these screeches reached the eight's ears, their blood turned immediately into freezing cold meltwater.

"ANABELLE, FERDINAND, THE OTHERS!" cried Sebastian and in a white and chalky blur, he disappeared through the ferns, the other seven, worries especially for the chicks, propelling them like rocket fuel after Luna and Stella's older brother.

Back through the vegetation, Ebony and Avellana growled ferociously at a human dressed in a camouflage suit like the ones worn by the three humans seen by Broccoli's group as he approached them with a net gun. The two dogs' eyes were blazing grey and hazel firestorms, their teeth were bared, their back hackles were raised like an urchin's spines and their ears were pointed straight back. Aggressive growls vibrated from their throats as the two enraged greyhounds tried to threaten the human while protecting some individuals behind them. Behind the two female greyhounds, Anabelle, with a terrified Ferdinand clasped to her breast and wrapped in her wings, cowered with Phobos, Deimos, Alexandre and Estelle who had Kayley, Xander, Sonia, Melody, Einstein, Miles, Bartholomew, Jason, Winona, Diego, Austin, Lilac and Katniss cowering in their wings, terrified looks fixed on the human as he threatened to knock Ebony and Avellana down with his net gun. Curses and threats in Brazilian Portuguese exploded from the man's mouth as he swung his net gun at the greyhounds to get them to back off and expose the targets behind them but the two greyhounds stood their ground and continued to growl furiously. Nearby, a fifth human, another man had managed to catch Ariel, Peter, Poppy, Basil, Perdita, Olivia, Achilles and Bambi and had caged them while Violet had disappeared into the trees with Oceano, Cressida, Cecil and Aurora. The second man then gazed at the first man as he continued threatening Avellana and Ebony to get to the prizes behind them, especially the Spix macaws and gloated that he had caught some rare creatures. As he held the cage triumphantly in his hands, Phobos, Deimos, Anabelle, Alexandre and Estelle shot horrified looks at the contents consisting of Ariel and the others within her as they struggled in the cage, the kids wailing and weeping in terror. The first man rebuked his companion and continued trying to threaten Ebony and Avellana but the two greyhounds still refused to budge. However, the distressed wails of the group had managed to attract the companions who had accompanied them who had gone off to investigate some suspicious sounds through the bush.

As the first human continued swinging his net gun at Ebony and Avellana to get to Estelle, her mate and brothers-in-law and flying fox friend with the ten Spix macaw chicks with the remaining grand-pup of Augustus and Melissa and three red macaw chicks in their grasp, and the other was about to leave with the cage containing Ariel and seven of the kids, an explosive cat screech, accompanied by a greyhound howl, flying fox screech and macaw squawk, tore through the air, stopping the humans in their tracks. Broccoli, Collette and Daisy, who were the first to arrive back, charged through the vegetation and when their eyes found the human threatening Ebony and Avellana and those they were trying to protect as they exploded through the vegetation as well as the other human holding Ariel and the seven kids in a cage, the three felt the urge to save their friends explosively take control of their minds. With an extremely loud, enraged cat screech, Broccoli launched himself into the air like a pouncing lion and landed square on the back of the first human threatening Ebony and Avellana while Collette and Daisy made a beeline for the other human holding Ariel and the other seven. Then as soon as he landed on the first human's back, Broccoli, his eyes enormous brown firestorms of wrath, raised a front paw, flared its claws and without hesitation, scored them down the back of the human has hard as he could, tearing through the camouflage suit and penetrating the skin underneath. An extremely loud, piercing screech of agony exploded from the first human's mouth as searing pain shot through his back. Ebony and Avellana scurried back as the net gun fell out of the human's arms and clattered to the ground and shielded Phobos, Deimos, Alexandre, Estelle, Anabelle and the others as Broccoli began to unleash his fury full throttle on the human.

While Broccoli sought to the first human, Collette and Daisy began to harass the second human by screeching and lashing their claws at his legs to make him stumble and drop the caged Ariel and the seven kids. These eight clung for dear life onto the bars as they were swung around as the two sisters of Broccoli continued their assault on their would-be captor. While the captor continued dodging the swipes of the two cats, a dark aqua blue and pale yellow comet zoomed in and before the man knew it, he was slashed over the forehead by two sets of cat claw-like talons. Now it was his turn to scream in agony as Iapetus, the instinct to save Ariel and the seven kids, especially his nephew and niece volcanically erupting within him, had rocketed in and raked his barb-like claws right over his upper face. Blood drops flew from the man's forehead after him as he surged away, followed by the clasping of human hands over their owner's face and wails of agony exploded from his mouth. In the commotion, Ariel and the seven kids, screams of fright, clung ever more onto the cage bars as their cage was dropped and slammed into the ground. After recovering from the shock, the eight then watched through the bars as Iapetus, who had returned to the human, began his savage attack on the poacher, screeching like an enraged eagle and slashing and biting at him like a cat, his eyes ablaze with unspeakable brown firestorms of wrath like those of Broccoli, while Collette and Daisy continued lashing their claws at his legs. Violet, Cressida, Cecil, Oceano and Aurora also watched from above in a tree, terrified looks on their faces. Phobos, Deimos, Estelle, Alexandre and Anabelle who had Ferdinand clinging onto her breast, then rushed for the safety of the trees with Katniss, Xander, Kayley, Sonia, Melody, Bartholomew, Miles, Einstein, Jason, Winona, Diego, Austin and Lilac, terror saturating their faces, at Broccoli's command in the split-second he had to communicate with them while continued his assault on the human, Avellana and Ebony joining in. As this group rushed towards the tree with Violet waving to them with Cressida, Cecil, Oceano and Aurora flanking her, Sebastian joined them.

As he tried shaking off Iapetus and now Rhea, Rusty and James who had joined in the fray, the second man called to his comrade to seize Ariel and the other seven's cage. The first man, the suit on his back covered in tattered gashes and blood from Broccoli's savage attack then seized the tabby cat and tossed him into a patch of ferns, before turning to Avellana and kicking her in the face to knock her away and then drive away Ebony. After dealing the with three mammals, the man hastily surged for the cage containing Ariel, Peter, Poppy, Basil, Perdita, Olivia, Achilles and Bambi but before he could get his hands onto the bars, a black greyhound reappeared and jumped onto his back, her jaws clamping down onto his shoulder. The man cried as he flopped down under the weight of Ebony, who had turned round to resume her attack by jumping onto the man's back. Ebony then began to viciously attack the man with Broccoli and Avellana who had recovered from a kick to the face, jumping back into the inferno to help her. Ariel and the seven kids with her covered their head with their wings as some of the blood drops flew their way but then they found their cage move from the floor. At first they were alarmed but when they saw it were only Rusty, they breathed sighs of relief. Rusty dashed off into the trees with the cage in one front leg. With a bark, he signalled to Phobos, Deimos and the others to follow him, which they did. Broccoli, Daisy, Collette, Iapetus, Rhea, James, Ebony and Avellana also retreated after Rusty and the others but not before finishing their assault on the two poachers, now bloodied and battered and covered with numerous bleeding scratches and gash-holes in their suits, and driving them away. After receiving so many bites and scratch wounds, the two humans finally changed their minds and decided to retreat.

One of the men spoke in Brazilian Portuguese to his companion and asked him where the cage was while ducking an attack from Rhea and Iapetus. The other man shot glances this way and that to look for the cage containing the catch but when his ears rang with an extremely loud and enraged screech from Rhea, Iapetus, Broccoli, Daisy and Collette and seeing the fiery glares on the faces of the two macaws and three cats, he shouted to the first man to forget the cage and run for it, especially as Iapetus made one final mark by slashing his cheek with his claws while Avellana and Ebony, loud barks saturated with wrath escaping their mouths, lurched at them to help drive the man away. The two men then tore like frightened robbers caught red-handed into the vegetation. Iapetus and Rhea charged after them to ensure that the two men DID leave. Puffing and panting with their talons, paws, beaks and muzzles covered in human blood, and after checking the area for any chicks hiding in the ferns and in the trees above to see that all had been successfully taken to safety, Broccoli said to his sisters, Ebony, Avellana, James, Iapetus and Rhea, "Right, let's return to Tulio and Linda's cottage and report this."

With that, the three cats, two blue-and-gold macaws and the three greyhounds dashed off into the vegetation after Rusty and the others, heading for Tulio and Linda's cottage and garden.


	27. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26- problems and mysterious finds**

Ariel, together with Bambi, Peter, Poppy, Basil, Perdita, Olivia and Achilles, their eyes saturated with immense terror with some of them spilling tears, clung desperately onto the bars of the cage as Mars tried to pick the padlock with a screwdriver while at the same time trying to reassure them that he would have them out there as soon as possible. Collette and Daisy held the cage still with their forepaws to prevent it from moving while the green-winged macaw continued to work on the padlock. Nearby, Avellana was being treated for a bruise on her face where she had been kicked by the poacher during the skirmish to protect some of the macaws, Anabelle and Ferdinand in the jungle. Dash, Ginger, Esmeralda and Sapphire were applying an ice pack to Avellana's bruise to help soothe the dull ache emanating from it. Next to Avellana and the other four, Broccoli (whose forepaws were still dotted with dried blood from the skirmish with the poachers), Sebastian, Phobos and Deimos were frantically explaining to Zephyr, Venus, Mercury, Jupiter and Saturn about the ordeal while Estelle, Alexandre, and Iapetus, Rhea (who also still had dried blood stained on their talons also from their savage attack on one of the poachers) and Anabelle who had Ferdinand clasping to her breast fur, tried to calm the badly shaken Cressida, Oceano, Katniss, Xander, Kayley and Spix macaw chicks Sonia, Melody, Einstein, Miles, Bartholomew, Jason, Winona, Diego, Austin and Lilac and also Aurora with Azul, Fernanda, Diantha, Tom, Bia, Carla, Tiago, Justin, Matilda, Virgil, Kira, Jojo, Felix, Turquesa, Lavender, Garrett, Charlotte and Músculo who had converged on the kids the moment they saw the terrified looks on their faces. The chicks were instantly swept up in a group hug by their frantic parents the moment they saw the terrified and shaken looks on their faces. Carla and Justin hugged Sonia and Melody while Bia and Virgil hugged Miles and Einstein. Tiago and Matilda hugged Bartholomew while Charlotte and Músculo clasped Jason in their wings. Jojo and Kira, Garrett and Lavender and Felix and Turquesa also all hugged Winona, Diego, Austin and Lilac together. Fernanda and Azul also hugged Oceano while Aurora was hugged by Tom and Diantha. As for Violet who had also been severely shaken from the ordeal as well, she had been taken to Neptune and Ultramarine's birdhouse to be looked after until she calmed down. Estelle and Alexandre also stood nearby with Cressida, Katniss, Xander and Kayley in their wings.

Meanwhile, Spyro, Marella, Frodo, Ellie and Umbriel had hurried over to the caged Ariel and the other seven kids as Mars continued to pick at the lock. While the hugs and Mars's work on unlocking the padlock continued, Jupiter, together with Saturn, Mercury, Venus and Zephyr, all flinched in extreme disbelief after Broccoli, Sebastian, Phobos and Deimos had finished their explanation of the horrible ordeal with those poachers in the jungle.

"You saw five poachers… right here, on Blu Bird Sanctuary land!?" blurted out Jupiter incredulously. The other four exchanged worried glances.

"That's exactly right, Jupiter," said Broccoli.

"They seemed to have somehow found a way into the sanctuary or a way of getting through the double fence," said Phobos.

"They almost captured Ariel and seven of the kids," said Sebastian, a nod to the eight in the cage as Mars continued to frantically unlock the padlock, an infuriated scowl on his face. The albino flying fox's gaze then travelled specifically to Olivia, Achilles and Bambi, "Among them, three of which are part of three extremely rare species and also Spyro and Marella's daughter, and Frodo and Ellie's biological daughter and adopted Dominican green-and-yellow son and the last of their kids."

This comment made the skins of Jupiter, Venus, Zephyr, Saturn and Mercury crawl and feel hot and their nerves shudder. Altair, Spyro and Marella's son and Bambi's brother, had been taken in the previous poacher attack, along with Frodo and Ellie's biological son Sylvester and two of their adopted chicks Alegria (Achille's sister) and Pitaya the purple-and-pink macaw, and if anything were to happen to Bambi, Olivia and Achilles, Ellie, Frodo, Spyro and Marella would have lost all their chicks and would likely never forgive themselves and likely have another breakdown. Furthermore, Peter was the last remaining son of Dione and Porthos; Poppy the remaining chick of Titan and Brooke; Basil the remaining son of Ash and Titania and Perdita and Cecil the remaining chicks of Umbriel and her scarlet mate Benjamin, while the other kids were the remaining offspring of some of the other couples in the group including Carla, Bia, Tiago and their respective mates Justin, Virgil and Matilda. There was no way the couples and their parents including Blu, Jewel, Jupiter and the others could bear the loss of the remaining kids, least of all the ten remaining Spix chicks, Achilles, Olivia, Bambi and also Ferdinand, the only remaining grand-pup of Augustus and Melissa. If that happened, the devastation and heartbreak would be unbearable.

As these worrying thoughts continued to swarm like bees in the minds of Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury, Venus and Zephyr and also Broccoli, Sebastian, Phobos and Deimos, Mars managed to unlock the padlock with the screwdriver, the u-shaped locking mechanism popping out of the main body of the device. After this, Mars took the padlock and tossed it aside before opening the door. The moment the door opened; Ariel, Bambi, Peter, Poppy, Basil, Perdita, Olivia and Achilles all instantly leapt out. After this, Bambi leaped straight into the wings of Spyro while Perdita and Ash both jumped into Umbriel's wings, along with Cressida who flew from Estelle's wings to be with her brother and cousin. Olivia and Achilles also jumped into Ellie and Frodo's wings while Peter and Poppy made a beeline for Saturn and jumped into his wings, glad to be out of that horrible cage. Ariel was also hugged by her friends and also Uranus and Esmeralda who were crying and shaking with relief. Daisy and Collette then took hold of the cage and were about to take it away to dispose of it when Jupiter shouted, "Don't get rid of that, you two. We'll use that as evidence to our human friends that the fence of the Blu Bird Sanctuary has been breached."

At this, the two caliby sisters abandoned getting rid of the cage and placed it back onto the grass. As the two sisters of Broccoli placed the cage down onto the grass, Chiquitita, Ruby, Ebony, James and Rusty (with Cleo and Fido by his side), and Andromeda appeared with a bucket of water. The moment she saw her granddaughter out of the cage, Andromeda rushed over to Bambi, Spyro and Marella and swept them up in a hug, glad that her granddaughter and the others were safe while Chiquitita and Ruby and the greyhounds pushed the bucket of water over to Broccoli, Iapetus and Rhea.

"Here, you three," said Chiquitita, much to the trio's gladness, "Use this to wash off the blood from your paws and talons."

"Oh, thanks Aunt, Chiquitita," said Iapetus as relief in getting rid of the remaining traces of those horrible poachers swept over him. As he, Rhea and Broccoli went over to the bucket of water and began to clean their paws and talons of the blood, Ruby gazed at the trio in utter disbelief.

"I can't believe the courage those three had in attacking those horrid smugglers," she said, "They must have really and savagely went at them like nobody's business."

"You should have seen Iapetus when one of the poachers tried to run away with Ariel and the other seven kids moments after Collette and Daisy lunged at him to attack him from below," said Ebony as James and Rusty went over to Avellana to check on her kicked face, "He literally slashed that man right across the forehead with his talons."

"Good for him," growled Zephyr with smugness, "I'd have done the same thing had I been there."

"We're sorry the remaining kids were almost captured," said Broccoli apologetically as he continued to wash his paws in the bucket as well as his mouth had muzzle which had also become stained with human blood during his savage bite attacks he had inflicted on one of the poachers, "We didn't expect them to find and target Ariel and the others."

"We were too busy in examining the first three poachers," said Sebastian.

"Look, it's not your fault," said Jupiter firmly, "You did well to drive those pesky animal thieves away and protect the remaining kids."

As he said this, the flapping of two pairs of enormous navy blue wings reached the group's ears, accompanied by the flattening of grass from the draught generated by those wings, attracting the group's attention.

"How are Io and the others, Neptune and Ultramarine?" asked Zephyr.

"And Violet," said Venus. Jupiter, Saturn, Ruby, Chiquitita, Sebastian and some of the others including Mars also looked on hopefully. However, based on the sombre looks of the hyacinth macaw couple's faces, that hope faded away on the wellbeing of Io, Europa, Callisto and the other macaws.

"Not good, I'm afraid," said Neptune sadly, "They're still very heartbroken, and Io, Europa, Callisto and Mimas have entered a state of extreme depression and refusing to come out. Pluto, Lapis Lazuli, Cobalto and Ceres are comforting Athos, Byron and Sheldon…"

As he said this, two blue and yellow comets, along with two more comets, one coloured blue and the other coloured cerulean, rushed by and made a beeline for Fernanda, Azul and Oceano, Spyro, Marella, Bambi, Andromeda and the others with them including the Spix macaws.

"Estelle, Alexandre, Phobos, Deimos, kids," said Ceres with worry, "Are you lot okay?"

"We heard that you guys have had a close shave with some poachers," said Cobalto and with that, he began to fuss over Oceano much to his annoyance, and the other kids.

"Look, we're fine, Uncle Cobalto and Aunt Ceres, okay?" said Alexandre in annoyance, his wings wrapped around Katniss, Kayley and Xander.

"None of us have been caught and taken away and that's all you need to know," put in Ariel as she flinched as Ceres began to fuss over her. Bia and Virgil also scooped up Einstein and Miles and moved them away from the frantic pair of blue-throated macaws and also Roberto and Brisa as they began to fuss over the Spix macaw chicks as well, annoyed looks also lacing their faces.

"Can you give our kids some space please, Aunt Ceres and Uncle Cobalto?" muttered Virgil.

"They're still traumatised after that close shave," put in Bia. Carla and Justin who had Sonia and Melody; Charlotte and Músculo who had Jason and Tiago, Matilda who had Bartholomew in their wings, together with Jojo, Felix, Lavender, Kira, Turquesa and Garrett whose wings were wrapped around Winona, Diego, Austin and Lilac. Roberto then shot Bia a distressed and flustered look, his crest feathers spiked out all over the place.

"But, Bia, Virgil," he said, his wings on Bia's sides and shaking her before his gaze flashed to Virgil, "Your kids were ALMOST taken by those rotten poachers!"

"Don't you realise what DEVASTATION it could have caused you guys!?" shouted Brisa. Her gaze then moved over to Virgil, then to Carla and Justin, Tiago and Matilda, Charlotte and Músculo and especially to Jojo and his two siblings, mate and two siblings-in-law, their chicks in their wings. Zephyr and Venus then hurried over to calm the two Spix macaws and also Cobalto and Ceres down.

"Look, you four…" began Zephyr and with that, he and Venus began to engage Cobalto and Ceres, Roberto and Brisa in a conversation, allowing Bia and the others to slip away and take the Spix chicks to a quiet spot. While Zephyr and Venus sought to the quartet, Jupiter and the others with him turned back to Neptune and Ultramarine who resumed the report on Io and the others' state of mind.

"As we were saying," said Ultramarine, "Io, Europa, Callisto and Mimas have entered a state of severe depression, both from the grief of the loss of so many of the kids yesterday, especially Io, Callisto and Mimas who have lost their entire broods, and also from the beyond-shocking and scathing remark made by Sofia based on what Athos told us…"

"They're refusing to come out of their birdhouses," said Neptune. A look of outrage then took over his face. "Honestly, what that horrible toucan has said was utterly insensitive to say the least…"

"Insensitive?" snapped Ruby, her amber gaze saturated with pure outrage as well, "'Insensitive' is not a suitable or good enough word I would use to describe what that wretched brat of a toucan had said to our three daughters, three sons-in-law and also blue-and-gold daughter-in-law."

"Especially when they're still grieving the loss of their kids," put in Jupiter, his temper threatening to explode. He practically wanted to go over to Sofia and her comrades and give her a piece of his mind for saying such a beyond-despicable remark that poured such corrosive acid into the wounds of grief of his three daughters, their mates and also Mimas, but Jupiter knew that it would not be a good idea. Sofia and her comrades were part of Rafael and Eva's family after all and Rafael wouldn't appreciate him savagely attacking his daughter and other children and children-in-law including Marco and his mate Anastasia. As these thoughts boiled in Jupiter's mind, a black and white brown-eyed toucan with an orange black-tipped beak appeared with a group of cockatoos and a pair of peregrine falcons. Rafael, together with Eustace, Milo, Rosa, Clemont, Serena, Velocity and Merlin, touched down. Zelda, Yolanda, Oscar, Peach and Bruno had been put under the care of Triton and Iris who were at Luiz's garage with Nico, Pedro, Rose, Sparkle, Kipo and Orton and also Orion, Hermione, Lightning and Spike so that they were out of the way of the escalating problems, including the ever growing toucan problem in the jungle, leaving Eustace and company, together with Velocity an Merlin who had offered to help, to help Rafael deal speak with Marco, Sofia and the others about their constant breeding and producing more and more chicks.

As the mixed group of five cockatoos, two peregrine falcons and the toco toucan walked over to the macaws, Neptune shot Rafael a stern look. However, he and the others saw that the faces of Rafael and his seven companions were laced with disappointment.

"Did you manage to show Marco, Sofia and the rest of your countless offspring and their mates who are breeding like rabbits and open their eyes to the impact it's having on the sanctuary, as well as the other residents, including the bad behaviour of their kids and the amount of food they require diminishing the food supply of the sanctuary?" he asked firmly. Rafael, at this, gazed at the male hyacinth macaw with a very disappointed look and didn't answer so Eustace hopped forward with Serena, looks of immense disgust on their faces. As the pair approached, Carla, Bia, Tiago, Jojo, Felix, Lavender, Charlotte and their mates, together with Roberto, Brisa, Zephyr and Venus, walked over to them to hear the report, along with Broccoli, Rhea and Iapetus (who had managed to completely wash off the dried blood from their beaks, muzzle, paws and talons with the bucket of water), and Estelle, Phobos, Deimos and Alexandre and the rest.

"We did speak to Marco, Anastasia and also Sofia, her mate Marcel and many of the other toucans about those problems they are causing," said Eustace, disgust lacing his voice, "But…"

He trailed off, reluctance blocking his courage to say the result.

"But what?" demanded Ultramarine impatiently. Serena then stepped forward, a look of thunder on her face and her pure yellow crest flared to show her outrage.

"They laughed it off as complete nonsense and stupid stuff," she said, much to the shock of the listeners.

"They spoke with a saturation of arrogance in their voices," put in Velocity, disgust also flaring up in her bulbous eyes, "They told us to back off and not interfere with their family lives and choices…"

"They also said that they show no intention of stopping having kids," said Merlin, "And would like to have as many kids as possible without any interference from us or anyone."

"Regardless of the consequences it is having on the ecosystems of the Blu Bird Sanctuary," said Milo.

"They also denied their kids as being naughty and undisciplined," said Rosa, "And told us not to call their kids badly behaved and accuse them as being bad and irresponsible parents, calling us those instead."

Clemont also came forward, his face especially saturated with pure outrage.

"And to top it all off," he said, "Many of them, especially Marco, his mate Anastasia and Sofia and her mate Marcel told us that we shouldn't have had kids in the first place."

"And they also laughed at Eustace for his missing leg," said Serena, a nod to her sulfur-crested/Major Mitchell's hybrid mate who nodded in agreement, a look of offense lacing his face, "And called him a one-legged pirate parrot who would be shunned by our kids."

At this, Zephyr and Venus shot Ruby and Jupiter a look.

"That's reminiscent of what Sofia had said to Io, Europa, Callisto, Mimas, Athos, Byron and Sheldon a while ago, leading to their depressed state," said Zephyr. Jupiter didn't say anything and resumed listening to Rafael's group's report.

"That was the final leaf, alongside the fierce telling from those toucans to back off," said Velocity, "And when they viciously lashed at us to drive us away, we had no choice but to retreat," the peregrine falcon's disgusted gaze then moved to Rafael like a spotlight, "They also showed no respect to their father and drove him away as well, telling him that since he and their mother or mother-in-law are having so many kids, then why shouldn't they (his older offspring) have a LOT of kids too?"

Rafael, at this only flashed a deeply ashamed gaze. Then after the brains of the listeners had registered the information, Mars shot the others a worried look.

"Looks like the problem's even bigger than we first thought, guys," he said.

"Well, if those stubborn offspring of that toco and his keel-billed mate are refusing to listen," said Jupiter angrily, "Then that means the consequences are hanging over those toucans like a thundercloud."

"Tulio and his team have already been alerted to the toucan overpopulation anyway," said Broccoli firmly, "And they will stop at nothing to have that population reduced for the sake of the other species on the Blu Bird Sanctuary."

"Thanks for the report, you seven," said Jupiter to which Eustace, Milo, Rosa, Serena, Clemont, Velocity and Merlin nodded in approval. Then Zephyr's disgusted gaze travelled to the utterly ashamed Rafael.

"And I hope that toco toucan and his mate could do with a VERY important lesson to learn from this mess as well," he said in a tone of voice that made Rafael flinch as it stung him like static electricity."

"Well, my toco toucan friend," said Jupiter, his yellow and turquoise wings on his hips and brown gaze boring into the ashamed toucan, "Looks like you and your keel-billed mate have definitely set yourself up an enormous boulder in the hollow of a problem to deal with."

"Yes," said Broccoli, "After all, you and Eva were the ones who made the decision to have so many chicks in the first place and it looks like you're gonna have to be ready and thoroughly prepared to take full responsibility of the consequences of that decision."

"Not to mention the lack of discipline you've bestowed on your older offspring while they were still chicks," put in Neptune. The others, including Carla, Bia, Tiago and the other Spix macaws, nodded in agreement. Rafael, at this, could only gaze at the group with an ashamed look. He knew that he had no excuse anymore and that he and Eva were responsible, overall, for this whole toucan mess. To add, this was the final leaf in him and Eva in having any more broods. As guilt began to take hold within the toco toucan, he began to vow to never have any more chicks again, and will be telling that to Eva when she came out of Tulio's Aviary after recovering from her injuries.

 **At this moment**

"That must be their base alright, or perhaps one of them," whispered Cometa as she, Travis, Sunset, Blu and Jewel hid in a large cluster of leaves in a tree. The five were well and truly outside the safety of the Blu Bird Sanctuary and had traced the poachers' base via following a group of three of them as they returned here. On the way, the five had coated themselves in mud to better camouflage their brightly coloured plumages for a pair of blue and cerulean macaws, a greying white cockatoo with a sulfur yellow crest, a pale pink cockatoo with a vivid red and yellow banded crest and splashes of sunset peach on her wings and tail, and a slate grey and ivory peregrine falcon would easily stick out against the drabber green, brown and black background of vegetation and dirt like a pure white mushroom against a background of dark brown or black soil, especially when around a bunch of rare animal-obsessed money grabbers like this group, and Blu and Jewel were part of a very rare species of macaw and did not want to make their presence known.

Set up before the five camouflaged birds was some sort of massive tent-like construction, a wide sheet of fabric with a mottled pattern of green, beige, black and brown spread out above an area, its corners and sides tied to the surround trees' trunks and branches and more vertical sheets, also mottle coloured like the above sheet, erected along the edges to create the shelter, apart from the front which served as an entrance. Inside the sheet, Cometa, Travis, Sunset, Blu and Jewel saw a group of humans coming in and out of the construction as well as some more at work or talking in the shelter. The five birds then saw a few flashes of silver in the hands of two of the humans as they carried something into the shelter. Blu recognised the metallic surfaces to which the flashes belonged to.

"Those must be cages," he whispered, before he frowned. "That's definitely a poacher base alright."

Jewel also creased her face into a frown. 'What if those poachers that took Sandalwood and the other kids might be part of that group?' she thought. She then glared at some forms accompanying the legs of some of the humans and recognised them as four-footed mammals no different from Dash, Ginger, Luiz, Avellana, James, Ebony and Rusty.

"We need to get Tulio and Linda to see this," said Travis in a low voice. At this, the other four shot him a 'What!?' look.

"What are you talking about Travis?" hissed Sunset, "This place is quite far from the Blu Bird Sanctuary's outskirts in a rather inaccessible part of the forest."

"Our human friends could easily get lost if they tried to follow those pesky poachers," put in Cometa. Her gaze then travelled to the skies above. The sky's blue colour was getting darker, a sign that sunset and subsequently night were approaching. "Not to mention the fact that it'll be dark soon," she whispered. Blu, Jewel, Travis and Sunset couldn't help but agree with the falcon. They will have to head back to Tulio and Linda's cottage soon. However, they wanted to get the obvious question out of the way: was this where Sandalwood and the others could have been taken? That's what these five wanted to find out but with night coming in, finding the answers will have to wait until morning. After another hour of observing the apparent poacher base, Blu, Jewel, Cometa, Travis and Sunset departed for the Blu Bird Sanctuary as night eventually enveloped the jungle but they made note of where the poachers' base was and also to report to the others their finds back at Tulio and Linda's Aviary.

 **Back at the Sanctuario del Parad** **íso**

Night had fallen also in Iquitos City where the massive Sanctuario del Paradíso conservation complex was situated. In one compartment, where Dundee the emu's multi-species clan lived, the animals were turning in for the night while the night time animals were preparing for their activities. Sandalwood and Acerola, along with Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Petunia, Vega, Deneb and Polaris the Spix macaws, Adenine, Thymine, Guanine and Cytosine the Catalina macaws, Betelgeuse, Rigel, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka and Canopus the red macaws, Procyon, Castor and Pollux the blue-and-gold macaws, Mira the Caloshua or hyacinth/blue-and-gold hybrid macaw, Fomalhaut the blue-and-gold/great green hybrid macaw, Antares the military/great green hybrid macaw, Aldebaran the scarlet/great green hybrid or Verde macaw, Gertie the hyacinth macaw, Saiph, Denebola and Regulus the glaucous macaws, Arcturus the Lear's macaws, Carmen the blue-throated macaw and Oceano's sister, Sylvester the Cuban red macaw, Alegria the Dominican green-and-yellow macaw, Pitaya the purple-and-pink macaw, Altair the archaeobird, and Gladion and Lillie the toucans and Aurora's siblings, all got prepared for bed. Tonight was to be their first night away from their parents and none of them were looking forward to it at all.

After their tour of the area with Kiara the echidna, Reepicheep the platypus, Harakeke and Flax the kiwis and Sparky, Cody and Lilo the cockatiels, Sandalwood and the others had been returned to the little group of exotic birds and large bats, mostly flying foxes, led by Greg the scarlet macaw and his mate Sardonyx and Shade the grey-headed flying fox and his mate Sadie where they were properly introduced to the clan members including the kids and the pups, among them a young female galah named Sugilite who had an unusual purple tint to her pink head feathers; a young female rainbow lorikeet named Opal, Sadie and Shade's daughter named Connie and a young male scarlet macaw named Steven who was the son of Greg and Sardonyx. These four had taken a liking to Sandalwood and the others but the majority of Sandalwood's group had responded very shyly, the thoughts of their parents and relatives back in Brazil still swamping them. The little mixed clan had just finished their afternoon dinner and now the adults were getting ready for bed. While Sardonyx and the other mothers were ordering their chicks back to the hollows in the trees, Betelgeuse and Rigel sat miserably on the window ledge, their sorrow-saturated gazes drifting through the transparent slab of glass and into the night-time cityscape of Iquitos. The two daughters of Io and Sheldon, along with the rest of the group, had never seen a human city at night before but their parents had told them that at night, cities like Rio sometimes appear like a sea of stars (from the artificial lights from the houses and streetlights) on the land which can at times be a mesmerising sight to gaze at. However, the sisters were not at all in the mood to admire the specks and clusters of artificial light from the houses and streets. All they thought about were their parents and their relatives and friends back in Brazil.

While Betelgeuse and Rigel continued gazing out into the night-time cityscape, a small male scarlet macaw appeared and touched down beside them.

"It's a great scene to look at out there, eh?" said the chick whose name was Steven. He shared Sardonyx's red-orange plumage but his feathers were darker, more like his father Greg's plumage. He had his father's green eyes and stocky build and like both his parents, he did not have much of a crest, only a feather flick on his head. Steven had two brothers, an older, adolescent brother named Lars from a separate, older clutch and a fellow clutch-mate named Kevin. As Steven's enthusiasm-laced voice about the view of Iquitos at night reached the ears of Betelgeuse and Rigel, the two ¾ scarlet/ ¼ green-winged chicks slowly raised their heads and gazed at Steven miserably. At this, Steven's face fell when he saw the sad looks. "You miss your family, don't you?"

"Yeah," murmured Betelgeuse miserably, her gaze slowly returning to the Iquitos cityscape, "We just want to be back by their sides."

"If only they know where we have ended up," murmured Rigel. Steven gazed at the pair.

"Well, Mom and Pops did say that you are too young to venture out into the city by yourselves," he said, before his gaze became parallel with the two sisters'. "Though Iquitos is beautiful to look at, especially at night, it can also be dangerous, especially to a chick or a bat pup, or any other young animal that lives here for that matter," the little scarlet macaw chick then sighed, "it is like what Pops and Mr Dundee the emu said: here is safe; out there is not."

Betelgeuse and Rigel flashed Steven a surprised gaze. That was exactly what their parents, Io and Sheldon, along with their two aunts Callisto and Europa, uncle Ganymede and their mates Athos, Byron and Mimas and the other adults had told them and the other kids about cities and their dangers, especially when it was dark. While the trio continued gazing through the window at the dark city of Iquitos, Sardonyx's voice reached their ears.

"Come on, Steven," called the unusually orange-coloured scarlet macaw, "Ri-gelle, Bee-tull-jooz, it's time for bed," mispronouncing Betelgeuse and Rigel's names in the process. Betelgeuse and Rigel shot the older scarlet macaw an annoyed look.

"It's pronounced 'beetle-joose," muttered Betelgeuse disgruntledly, "not 'Bee-tull- _jooze'"_.

"Your parents certainly have given you some unusual names," said Steven as the three chicks left their perch on the window ledge.

"We were named after stars," said Rigel, "In our case, two of the brightest stars in a constellation called Orion."

"What's a 'constell-thingie-dummy?" asked Steven confused. Rigel was about to answer when the group heard protests from a group of three flying foxes nearby, along with a familiar groan and moan of timidity from a pup. At this, the trio of red macaw chicks turned and saw, especially to Betelgeuse and Rigel's dislike, Sandalwood as he cringed at the sight of the tree where the group of flying foxes slept, and Connie and Sadie were trying to get him to take off and fly to the branches, something Sandalwood cannot stand. And based on the look of the older female grey-headed bat's face, it was clear that she was not messing about.

"Come on, young man," said Sadie impatiently, "It's bed time. Climb up to the roost."

"Yes," said Connie, "Please do as Mommy here says."

However, Sandalwood shuddered, his green eyes laced with immense fear at the height of the branches where the flying foxes were converging and clinging by their feet to prepare to go to sleep and backed away. His breathing then began to spiral out of control and his head began to spin. Sadie then hardened her gaze.

"Look, it's just a tree," she said, gesturing to the plant, "There's nothing to be afraid of."

"B-b-b-but could I s-s-s-sleep on the g-g-g-g-ground?" begged Sandalwood timidly. At this, Sadie rolled her eyes as Shade flew in and touched down.

"Look, flying foxes don't sleep on the floor," he said, "We sleep in the trees, now come along and stop being silly."

However, Sandalwood continued to shake like jelly and back away, obviously refusing to comply with the adult bats' orders. From the flying fox branches, some of the young pups, including an adolescent, gazed at Sandalwood and smiled in amusement at his timidity, before talking amongst themselves while some of the other young pups gazed at Sandalwood with confused looks, wondering why the flying fox pup was refusing to join them in the roost. Betelgeuse and Rigel, together with Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Lillie and Gladion, and also Acerola who prepared to settle onto a branch of the flying fox tree, gazed at Sandalwood with worried eyes.

"I knew this was going to happen," murmured Sirius to the others.

"Mr Shade and Mrs Sadie don't understand that Sandalwood is afraid of heights," said Spica.

"Someone must do something," said Gladion firmly. That answer came when he heard the sounds of wing-flaps from nearby. At this, he turned and saw a pair of green macaws descend down to Shade and Sadie as they continued to press Sandalwood to join the other flying foxes in the roost.

"Achernar, Capella!" cried Lillie but Gladion stuck a wing out to stop her flying after the great green chicks.

"Look, I hate to break it to you, Sandalwood but," said Shade impatiently and irritably, "Flying foxes do _not_ sleep on the ground. We roost in the trees."

"Sleeping on the ground renders us bats very vulnerable to forest floor predators," said Sadie, "And although there aren't any here, out in the natural environment we'd be more vulnerable to a big cat or snake or something…"

Sandalwood continued to shake until finally, two green feathered forms with yellow undersides, red foreheads, blue wings and blue and red tails appeared.

"Sandalwood doesn't like heights," said Achernar firmly, his wing gesturing to the timid Sandalwood who nodded.

"Please, let him sleep on the ground," begged Capella, "You're stirring up his fear of heights and flight."

At this, Shade and Sadie flashed each other a seriously confused look while Connie gazed at Sandalwood in utter shock.

"A flying fox that is afraid of _heights and flight!?"_ said Sadie in utter disbelief.

"How can this be?" asked Shade.

"I-it's a long story," said Achernar in a gentler voice, "We'll tell you in the morning."

"Please, let Sandalwood sleep on the ground," said Capella again. Then Mira, Gertie and Acerola appeared, agreeing looks on their faces. These three were willing to look after Sandalwood for the nights until he learned to overcome his fear of heights. There was a moment of silence hanging over the group until finally, Shade broke it.

"Okay," he said in a low voice, "But I want you guys to know, this is not natural for a flying fox. Get ready for bed, kids. I'll let Flax and Harakeke know that you want to sleep on the ground."

And with that, the male grey-headed bat left the group to search for the kiwis. Sandalwood then gazed at Capella, Achernar, Mira, Gertie and Acerola with tears welling in his eyes.

"Can any of you tell me why he is afraid of heights?" asked Sadie. Gertie shot the adult grey-headed bat a look.

"Mommy asked you a question, guys," said Connie.

"Look, we'll explain tomorrow morning," said Achernar with a stern face, "It's a bit late…"

As he said this, a purple-tinted pink and grey cockatoo chick approached him from behind and firmly placed a wing on his shoulder, making Achernar jump and shoot her a stunned gaze.

"I think it's best if you give an explanation as to why this flying fox friend of yours is refusing to fly," said the galah named Sugilite who had heard and seen the whole scene. Achernar then turned to Sadie and Connie whose faces were laced with the same demanding looks and then nodded to Sandalwood for his permission. The amber pup nodded so Achernar launched into an explanation.

"Before we were kidnapped by those poachers, then rescued and brought to here, Sandalwood suffered a serious accident at the wings of some very mean birds," he said, "Those birds bound his wings and…"

"Where's the Dominican green-and-yellow macaw chick?" came Greg's voice, interrupting Achernar's explanation. At this, Sadie, Connie and Sugilite turned and saw a scarlet macaw touch down. Greg wore a stern look on his face. "She should be joining the other chicks for bed by now."

None of Sadie's group gave an answer for they did not know where Alegria was. At this moment, Alegria was walking through the dark, artificial jungle. She had wandered away from the group to have some lone time. As the little green-and-yellow macaw scanned the dark artificial area, she was filled with immense surprise. It appeared quite creepy and yet it was so peaceful. There were the sounds of cricket chirps dancing in the air as well, adding to the illusion that the jungle was a paradise land. 'This place is indeed like a real jungle at night,' thought the Dominican macaw chick, 'It's almost like an untouched paradise land…' disgust then flashed through her, 'But still, this wretched place is totally unnatural and I don't like it one bit!' her gaze then travelled to the floor and her talons as a tear welled in her eye as sadness replaced disgust. 'If only Mom, Dad and the others are here. Oh, how I wish we were back by their sides. I miss them so much…' a sob then escaped Alegria's throat and she crumpled to her front. However, as she was about to launch into a silent sobbing fit, she thought she heard a singing voice echo through the dark air of the artificial jungle. That noise was loud enough to overshadow the chirping cricket noises. At this, Alegria stiffened and began to listen to the noise, believing it to be from her own mind. However, it was definitely real. Compelled by curiously, Alegria stood up and began to trace the sound to its source.

Alegria remembered some of her adopted Cuban macaw parents Frodo and Ellie's friends being excellent singers, among them Carla, Justin, Jojo, Lavender and Felix and of course Roberto, and some of their descendants, among them Vega, Deneb and Polaris, had inherited their vocal talents. Then there was Eva who was on the direct opposite end of the branch in terms of singing talents. While the aforementioned birds had singing voices that could be described as being like a sea of stars or the glistening surface of a lake, Eva's voice was like a rough sea or a stormy sky. Alegria could not believe that Rafael could describe a singing voice like that as being like Roberto and his offspring's as she once heard from Frodo and Ellie. Pushing these thoughts aside, Alegria continued tracing the singing to its source. As she neared that source and the musical voice was loud enough for Alegria to decipher meaningful words, she noticed that the singing voice was saturated with wailing and mourning, as though the singer was grieving the loss of someone and was heartbroken. The words in the singing voice also seemed to confirm it.

" _So lost… I'm fay-ded…"_

Alegria's head popped up with intrigue. 'So lost… I'm faded', thought the macaw chick, 'That's exactly how we feel without our parents, friends and relatives in Brazil…'

Alegria then began to try and find the source, following the singing voice. Within moments, the Dominican green-and-yellow macaw found herself near the penguin play area and the fountain. The play area was deserted for all the penguins had gone to sleep but then Alegria noticed a lone form as it danced and sang the song.

"Where are you now…?"

As Alegria got closer, she realised that it was a penguin chick. The penguin chick's head was black with white patches around the eyes divided by a streak of black between them. Most of its body was covered in downy grey feathers and its feet were black. This chick's face was streaming with tears, its eyes closed and its beak was emitting the mournful words. These words obviously came from the heart as the penguin chick was genuinely heartbroken. The chick then launched into a dance, immense words filled with sadness and mourning erupting into the air as it danced.

"Where are you now… under the sea…. under the sea-hea…?"

The words were sung in such a way that Alegria felt her emotions waver to the mood contained in them and she actually felt her eyes weep tears. The penguin chick continued singing its heart out and dancing, sending more mournful words coursing through the air and Alegria who looked on, transfixed, mesmerised at the elegance and talent of the penguin chick. 'Since when did penguins learn to sing and dance?' she thought to herself. Then after a few more minutes of singing, the penguin chick sank against a rock and began to weep much to Alegria's sympathy.

"Oh, Mom, Dad, my friends, Uncle Mumble... if only you were here," squeaked the chick, "I miss you soooooo much…"

And with that, it entered an episode of sobbing. Alegria looked on with immense sympathy and began to weep more as well. However, she was so engrossed in watching the penguin chick that she did not see a shadowy form crawl towards her. The little Dominican green-and-yellow macaw chick happened to turn her head in the form's direction but the moment her eyes landed on it, which appeared to be a small four-legged reptile, presumably a lizard harmless to birds and flying foxes for there were plenty of them in the artificial jungle, a short, piercing screech of fright erupted from Alegria's beak. The little lizard, startled by the screech, darted off into the darkness but Alegria's screech had also reached the ears of the penguin chick. The chick shot startled gazes this way and that until it found a bright green and yellow form with red around her eyes and by her beak staring at it. At this, the penguin chick erupted into a rage.

"Hey, what are you doing listening in on my private moment of grief, you nosy parrot!?" shouted the chick. Alegria, startled by the penguin chick's sudden change in mood, whipped round and scrabbled into flight as the penguin chick continued screeching at her.

"You know how much I LOATHE anyone intruding in on my private lone time," shouted the penguin chick, dashing after Alegria as she disappeared into the darkness in the direction of Greg, Sardonyx, Shade and Sadie's area to drive her away only to stop once she's gone, "Go on, SCRAM!"

The penguin chick then returned to its spot to return to grieving. Alegria, meanwhile, continued rocketing through the dark jungle in the direction of the exotic bird and flying fox area until she was spotted by a hyacinth macaw who then alerted Greg and Sardonyx. After this, Alegria was ordered to bed with the other chicks but as she went to one of the nests, she began to wonder about the penguin chick as a sentence it said repeated in her mind.

'Oh, Mom, Dad, my friends, Uncle Mumble... if only you were here. I miss you soooooo much…'

However, that will have to wait until tomorrow morning as tiredness came over Alegria and pulled her into slumber land.


	28. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27- a sprouting problem for Sandalwood's group, escalating problems for Blu's group**

 **Morning**

The light of the morning streamed into the indoor conservation areas like silvery liquid. In Dundee's compartment, Greg and Shade's little clan of birds and flying foxes were waking up to a new morning. On the floor under a cluster of ferns, Sandalwood emerged with Acerola, Mira and some of the other chicks including Saiph, Arcturus, Denebola and Regulus who had opted to stay with Sandalwood until morning. However, the group had had an uneasy night's sleep last night and were thus groggy.

"What a glo-o-o-orious morning," Sandalwood and Acerola heard Sardonyx coo. At this, the two flying fox pups turned and saw the unusually orange scarlet macaw gaze with a bright face out of the window at the equally bright sky hanging above Iquitos. After admiring the morning, Sardonyx departed the window and made a beeline for her hollow to call out to Steven and some of the other chicks before leaving to forage in the artificial jungle. As Steven, along with Lars and Kevin, awoke to the sounds of the morning in the indoor artificial jungle, two of them yawning and the other stretching, Betelgeuse, Rigel, Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka, Canopus, Sylvester, Alegria, Gladion, Lillie, Altair and Pitaya who had stayed in the hollow with Greg and his family in separate nests, also woke up, stretched themselves awake and rubbed their eyes. After shaking herself awake, Alegria began to explain to her roommates about her observations last night. She would have explained them before bedtime but it had been very late.

"While I was having time to myself, I came across that grey penguin chick with the white and black head whom we met during the tour by the penguins' play area," she told the others, "And he was dancing and singing in a very mournful voice."

"Was he?" asked Lillie with a raised eyebrow.

"A singing and dancing penguin chick?" asked Gladion.

"What song was he singing?" asked Betelgeuse as she and Rigel finished shaking themselves awake from an uneasy night's sleep. Rigel managed to stifle a yawn.

"I don't know," replied Alegria with a shrug of her shoulders, "But I heard him sing, 'So lost, I'm faded' and 'Where are you now', and he honestly sounded so sombre…"

"Was he crying?" asked Alnitak as he, Alnilam and Mintaka also yawned. Alegria gazed at the triplets.

"Yes, he was," she replied, "It's clear that he is a very unhappy penguin chick…"

"Oi, Alegria, what have I just said about Atreyu and interfering with his business?" said a voice behind the Dominican green-and-yellow macaw chick. At this, Alegria turned round and found herself gazing into the authoritative glare of Greg. Standing next to him, Lars wore and agreeing look. Alegria sighed.

"He is to be left alone," she murmured.

"That's right," said Greg firmly, "He's still trying to deal with the trauma from his near-fatal accident with that fishing net."

"But he looks so alone…" began Alegria but Greg cut her off.

"Look, let's just get ready for some breakfast," said the adult scarlet macaw firmly. His gaze then travelled over Betelgeuse, Rigel, Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka, Canopus, Sylvester, Gladion, Lillie, Altair and Pitaya, "The same applies to you lot as well. Come, Sardonyx and some of the other grownups will be bringing back some fruit and food for you kids."

The group of thirteen just exchanged glances and obediently followed Greg, Steven, Lars and Kevin to the hollow entrance and out of the tree. As Alegria's group fluttered onto the floor, they were greeted by the Spix macaw chicks. Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Petunia, Vega, Deneb and Polaris, who had spent the night in one of the hyacinth macaw family's hollow with Adenine, Cytosine, Guanine and Thymine the Catalina macaws and some of the others. As the two groups met, Canopus asked, "Morning, Spix buddies, had a good night's sleep?"

At this, Sirius rubbed his face with his wings.

"Not really," he replied groggily. Bellatrix then let loose a wide yawn.

"Some of us were late off to sleep while some of us had been having strange dreams," she said. Petunia's face then fell as a tear welled in the corner of one of her eyes.

"I dreamt about Mom, Dad and Jason last night," she murmured in a strangled voice, her emotions threatening to overflow, "I was flying with them through some paradise sky but then that sky became nightmarish and I began to lose my parents and brother," the others listened, "and before I knew it," said Petunia, shivers beginning to quake her body, "I was left alone and that's when I woke up…" her eyes continued to well tears as she prepared to enter a sobbing fit.

"Where are our parents?" murmured Spica mournfully as thoughts of Carla, Justin, Sonia and Melody passed through her head. The other Spix macaw chicks also sat down and began to weep. Betelgeuse, Rigel, Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka, Canopus, Sylvester, Gladion, Lillie, Altair and Pitaya went over to their blue friends and comforted them while Alegria entered into thought. ''Where are you now?', 'So lost, I'm faded…'' played in her mind, 'Looks like that penguin chick's words describe exactly how WE feel… lost and alone in a strange place without our parents and relatives…'

"Hey, Alegria," came Steven's voice, pulling Alegria from her thoughts and snapping her back to reality, "Are you ready for breakfast?"

Alegria, at this, looked this way and that. "Um, yes I am," she said, "When is it served?"

"Come and join the rest of us," said Steven with a wide and excited smile. Alegria, at this, followed the scarlet macaw chick with Sirius, Betelgeuse, Rigel and company toward a gathering of other chicks of various species and flying fox pups. Among the gathering were the rest of the chicks in Sandalwood's group, some kiwi chicks, presumably from Flax and Harakeke's little group, a few echidna and platypus babies (called 'puggles') and other kids of other species of bird, mammal and some reptiles, many of which were very rare and critically endangered. As Deneb, Polaris and Vega, along with Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix and Petunia, sat down next to Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine and Guanine, Carmen, Arcturus, Saiph, Denebola and Regulus, and Acerola, Deneb asked, "Where's Sandalwood?"

"He's having a talk with Mrs Sadie over there," replied Carmen and with that, the blue-throated macaw chick nodded in a certain direction. Deneb, Polaris and Vega and the others followed her gaze and saw Sandalwood standing with Sadie and Connie accompanied by Shade, Greg and a green-winged macaw the group couldn't recognise, talking about something.

"They're discussing on how they're going to help Sandalwood overcome his fear of heights and flight," explained Saiph.

"Achernar and Capella told Mr Shade and his family what happened to Sandy at the wings of some mean chicks," said Arcturus, "And how the trauma from the incident had rendered him too afraid to fly and climb even the smallest of elevations."

"Excuse me?" came a voice. At this, Deneb, Polaris, Vega, Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Petunia, Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine and Guanine, Carmen, Arcturus, Saiph, Denebola, Regulus and Acerola all turned and faced the speaker which was Steven accompanied by Sugilite the galah, his brothers Lars and Kevin and Opal the rainbow lorikeet.

"If you don't mind us asking," said Steven curiously, "What exactly happened to your bat friend over there and how did he end up afraid of heights?"

Deneb and company exchanged glances and gazed back at the scarlet macaw chick.

"You really want to know?" asked Acerola, "We'll tell you. My cousin… Sandalwood and I are cousins, was tied up by some mean toucan chicks with his wings bound to his sides and then knocked off the end of a high branch."

At this, shock tore through Steven, Kevin, Lars, Sugilite and Opal and they jerked their heads up.

"No," blurted out Lars in disbelief.

"What a HORRIBLE thing to do," said Sugilite.

"Especially with his wings tied to his sides," put in Steven, a disgusted look on his face.

"It was actually an accident," said Bellatrix, before her wings flew into the air in tearful frustration. "I don't know what was going in the minds of those awful chicks but… that accident has left that poor flying fox pup badly traumatised."

"Well, accident or not," said Opal disgustedly, "It's still a horrible thing to do."

"Yeah, he could have fatally hit the earth or something," said Sugilite, her crest which was coloured almost white, flared. Like all cockatoos, galahs had a crest that stood erect whenever they were threatened, angry, excited or startled. Bellatrix's eyes then began to ooze tears.

"It's all my fault, actually," she said in a strangled voice, much to the surprise of the others.

"No, it isn't," said Adenine trying to comfort her but Bellatrix refused it and continued to weep.

"If only I hadn't arrived at the wrong time, those careless toucan chicks wouldn't have sent Sandalwood careening off the end of that branch and getting traumatised…" she wailed and with that, the Spix macaw chick began to break down, her face buried in her blue wings and tears flying from her eyes.

"But they had that poor flying fox pup tied up and put on the end of that branch in the first place," protested Sirius.

"You hadn't been the one to set the whole thing up," added Spica. However, Bellatrix continued to break down and fell further onto the floor, sobbing and crying. Adenine put a comforting wing on her back.

"If only our parents were here," he murmured. Then the sourness of being confined to the artificial jungle returned to Pitaya, Altair, Alegria and Sylvester from across the gathering once again. Steven, Kevin, Lars, Sugilite and Opal could only look on in sympathy at the group as Bellatrix continued sobbing, and Sirius, Deneb, Polaris, Vega, Sirius, Spica, Petunia, Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine and Guanine, Carmen, Arcturus, Saiph, Denebola, Regulus and Acerola to lower their heads, Acerola's ears drooping, in utter sadness. Then Opal tried to cheer things up.

"But at least you hadn't been smuggled out of South America to places unknown," she chirped, hoping to raise the group's spirits, "You're in a safe place now and you lot will surely be looked after."

She turned to Steven, Lars, Kevin and Sugilite for confirmation and agreement, who granted it with a nod and smiles on their beaks. However, to the rainbow lorikeet chick's dismay, her encouraging remark didn't budge the emotional thundercloud enveloping Sirius and company. Bellatrix continued to sob; Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine and Guanine just breathed sad sighs, Saiph, Denebola, Arcturus and Regulus began to complain of homesickness, and Sirius, Spica, Petunia, Carmen and Acerola just remained woe-be-gone.

"This place may be called 'Paradise Sanctuary'," murmured Acerola miserably, "But it's nothing at all like our homes in Brazil," her gaze then turned to Greg and Sardonyx as they discussed with Kiara the echidna and Reepicheep the platypus and their fellow echidnas and platypuses about something while Shade and Sadie got prepared to do some foraging, commanding Sandalwood and Connie to join the other youngsters.

"And as for Mr Shade, Mr Greg, Mrs Sardonyx and Mrs Sadie and the other grownup flying foxes and birds here," added Acerola in a sad voice, "They're nothing at all like our parents."

"Yes," said Petunia, "We don't really see them as our mothers and fathers at all."

"You'll get used to it," said Steven, trying his luck in cheering up the saddened macaws and Acerola.

"After all, you're still new here," added Lars, "You've only arrived yesterday."

"With last night being your first night here," said Sugilite. Opal and Kevin nodded in agreement. Just then, a shout caught the attention of the young animals.

"Oh, here comes Mr Dundee," said Kevin. At this, Bellatrix (who had managed to gain control of her sobbing after the dam of emotions had finally been eased for a time), Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine, Guanine, Saiph, Denebola, Arcturus, Sirius, Spica, Petunia, Carmen and Acerola all turned and saw a large almost wingless bird with fur-like feathers, a long neck and long legs approach the gathering of youngsters. His light grey eyes which were like the pale grey of the morning sky outside, were glittering with friendliness and his beak was widened into a smile. Behind him, his inner circle animals including the smaller emu Sirius and company had learned was Dundee's younger brother named Nick, stood around a metre away, their faces all sparkling with friendliness as they gazed at the baby animal group consisting of chicks of various bird species, flying fox pups and a variety of other mammal and reptile babies, among them echidna and platypus puggles and monkey babies.

"Morning, my little 'uns," the head emu said in his Australian accent, "I hope you all have had a good night's sleep last night like always…" at this, Sandalwood came in, a curious frown on his face.

"Does Mr Dundee always greet us every morning?" he asked in a low voice.

"Yes he does usually," said Steven with a smile. Around the gathering of the baby animals, a large crowd of adult animals, most of them the parents of the babies in the centre, stood, their proud gazes on their babies. Dundee continued, the smile glowing on his bluish face.

"I hope you lot are hungry by now," he said, "Our foragers will be back with the food shortly and our human carers will be coming by any minute as well to provide us with our breakfast. After that, it'll be time to start the daily routine but in the meantime, let's enjoy the designated breakfast period…"

Across the gathering of baby animals as they waited for their breakfast, Alegria, Pitaya, Sylvester and Altair sat with Connie, Fomalhaut, Achernar, Capella and Antares when movement out of the corner of Alegria's eye caught her attention. At this, the Dominican macaw chick turned and saw a group of penguin chicks walk in to join the group, their parents close behind. Amongst the group of young penguins, Alegria picked out the chick that had the black and white head; grey downy feather covered body and black feet, as well as the familiar sombre-looking face on the white part of the chick's head. Alegria widened her eyes as recognition of this chick took hold. 'It's that chick that was singing and dancing mournfully last night,' she thought. As she continued gazing at the emperor penguin chick whom Greg had noted to her was called Atreyu, the penguin chick slowly gazed back in the Dominican green-and-yellow macaw chick's direction. Before the chick's gaze could make contact, Alegria broke away at the last minute and refocused on Dundee as he continued greeting the babies and pretended that she hadn't noticed for fear that the chick could have another outburst against her again. The emperor penguin chick then focussed miserably on Dundee who began to go over the activities planned for today.

"Then after breakfast, we're gonna have our lessons, but today it will be a little different," said Dundee, "We've got some newcomers whom you would like to meet and introduce yourselves to…"

At this, Pitaya, Altair, Sylvester and Alegria felt discomfort course through them, as did Fomalhaut, Achernar, Capella and Antares who were wary of the former four who were uncomfortable at the idea of revealing to the other kids in the compartment of their species. However, Connie began to reassure them.

"Don't worry," she said in a low voice, "Just tell us exactly what your species is."

"But some of the kids here will think we're strange," whispered Altair, before he gazed at his feathered legs and prehensile tail, "My species resembles some fossilised bird creature called _Microraptor_ which is thought to have died out with those giant lizards… um… what were they called again?" he asked Fomalhaut, Achernar, Capella and Antares.

"Dinosaurs," said Antares.

"That's it," said Altair, before his attention turned to Pitaya, Sylvester and Alegria, "And those three macaws are part of a species that are supposed to be non-existent these days with the Cuban macaw and Dominican macaw being extinct and the purple-and-pink macaw being an unheard of species."

"We'd look like freaks," said Pitaya.

"What if some of the other kids treat us as such?" added Sylvester.

"Don't worry," said Connie, "If any of the other kids decide to cause you trouble, we'll let Mr Dundee know. But for now, let's listen to his plans for today…"

And with that, the female grey-headed flying fox pup returned her attention to Dundee. Pitaya, Altair, Sylvester, Alegria, Fomalhaut, Achernar, Capella and Antares just exchanged glances and also resumed their attention to Dundee. However, speaking of the first four as being viewed as freaks, somewhere in the crowd of kids, a small group of flying fox pups, a proboscis monkey infant and some chicks of several rare birds had already noticed that Pitaya, Altair, Sylvester and Alegria were the only ones of each of their species in the whole artificial jungle and had begun to talk about them…

 **Rio**

Out in part of the jungle where Broccoli and the others with him had encountered the poachers who had almost captured Ariel and seven of the kids including Bambi, Olivia and Achilles, Iapetus and Rhea led Saturn, Uranus and Neptune to the exact spot where the skirmish took place. After Blu and Jewel had explained to the other older adult birds, Augustus and Melissa about their finds regarding the poachers' base, Jupiter had organised some of the members in groups to check the Blu Bird Sanctuary fence for any breaches such as any cuts made in the double fence. Of the members Jupiter had selected Mars, Chiquitita, himself, Ruby, Saturn, Orquidea, Uranus, Esmeralda, Neptune, Ultramarine, Travis, Sunset, Milo, Ariel, Iapetus, Rhea, Phobos and Deimos and also Lightning and Cometa to carry out the job, but he did not choose Mercury, Venus, Pluto, Sapphire, Zephyr, Lapis Lazuli, Brisa, Roberto, Ceres, Cobalto, Blu and Jewel for their safety due to their species' rarity for one and Carla, Bia, Tiago and the others including the 24 remaining kids needed their care for another.

Though some of the individuals such as Blu and Jewel had readily accepted Jupiter's decision for them to stay with Carla and the others, Mercury and Sapphire, along with Phoebe and Squaw'tagnan (who had been wallowing in their grief over the loss of Arcturus), and Neytiri, Charon, Blueberry and Aiden (who had also been wallowing in the deep pit of grief over the loss of Saiph, Regulus and Denebola, their chicks) had protested against Jupiter's decision and wanted to come and help but Jupiter, not wanting to risk these individuals due to them being glaucous and Lear's macaws (both very rare and critically endangered species of macaws) or take any other chances, had sternly ordered these macaws to stay in the safety of Tulio and Linda's cottage's vicinity and with the other still-grieving parents, especially Io, Europa, Callisto and Mimas, the venom from Sofia's scathing remarks about their decision to become parents still lingering in their emotions even since yesterday. Mercury, Sapphire, Phoebe, Squaw'tagnan, Neytiri, Charon, Blueberry and Aiden had reluctantly accepted Jupiter's command to stay put while Andromeda, Augustus and Melissa had readily opted against joining the search parties for they also wanted to be there for Spyro, Marella and Bambi and the bat-birds including Rouge; and Sebastian, Anabelle, Ferdinand, Stella and Soren (who were still upset over Acerola and Sandalwood's disappearance) for one thing and they wanted to avoid coming across any poachers for another. And so the decisions had been settled.

During the organisation of the search parties, Broccoli, Daisy and Collette the cats and Ebony, James, Dash, Ginger, Rusty and Avellana the greyhounds had opted to do some ground search for the poachers in order to keep an eye on them, which Jupiter had accepted. Jupiter had also enlisted the help of Nico, Pedro, Rose, Sparkle, Orton and Kipo (who had come to the cottage with Triton and Iris) and Rafael to take part in the checking of the fences and search for where the majority of the Blu Bird Sanctuary residents had moved to and protect them from the poachers' activities. Blu had also opted to fly out and check on Tulio to see how he was doing with the plans in dealing with the toucan overpopulation as well as check on the casualties at Tulio's Aviary such as Luna, Ganymede and Eragon, Diantha, Carla, Bia and Tiago, along with Porthos and Aramis, wanting to come for they wanted a change of scenery. Jupiter, after some thought, reluctantly granted these macaws permission before turning to finish off the organisations. Then as soon as these were complete, the selected macaws and other birds, along with the ground cats and dogs, left Tulio and Linda's cottage area and entered the jungle, diverging away from each other along the way to check a wider range of the fence, while Blu's group departed for Tulio's Aviary.

As Iapetus and Rhea led Saturn, Uranus and Neptune to the spot where the former two along with some of the others had had that narrow escape from the poachers, Iapetus said, "This is where Ariel and seven of the kids were almost captured by two of the poachers."

Saturn, Uranus and Neptune then began to examine the area and could see the evidence left behind by the skirmish. Feathers of various colours lay scattered about the area where the macaws involved had shed them and Iapetus and Rhea had managed to find some aqua blue and yellow feathers which they assumed they had shed when they violently went for the poachers with Broccoli, Collette and Daisy and also Ebony and Avellana; dried blood drops dotted the grass and other small forest floor plants as well as the barks of the trunks of some nearby trees, especially where Iapetus had surged away from one of the poachers after slashing him over the forehead with his talons to make him drop Ariel and the seven captured kids in their cage and Rhea thought she saw a few slivers of colour, perhaps hairs shed by the cats and the greyhounds, littering the floor as well.

"So this is where you found that group of five poachers?" asked Saturn firmly.

"Yes, with three through there," said Rhea with a nod to the patch of ferns, "And the other two here."

"The first three poachers we saw appeared to have had dogs with them," added Iapetus. At this, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune exchanged glances.

"That definitely sounds like some of those poachers have found a way into this protected reserve alright," said Uranus with a suspicious and realisation frown, "But the question is… how did they manage to get through that double and barbed wired fence?"

"Maybe they could have used some sort of cutting tools like shears to cut through the meshes?" probed Neptune, having heard of tall wire fences being broken with such tools by intruders wanting to gain unauthorised access before. Then his face changed to a look of determination. "There's only one way to find that out."

With that, the five macaws darted off into the trees in the direction of the double fence. Uranus looked troubled as thoughts about the sanctuary residents and their moving out of their homes on the protected reserve ran through his mind.

"Something wrong, Uranus?" asked Saturn with concern.

"I'm worried for the residents who we saw were moving out of their trees during our first foraging trip the other day because of those pesky troublemaking toucan gangs and also the competition for food with those ever-expanding toucan families," replied Uranus, his green eyes flooded with worry, "I have a bad feeling that they may be moving to trees outside the fence."

"Then that would mean that they'd be more vulnerable to getting captured by those poachers," said Neptune worriedly, "Especially when they go out to forage or on simple outings."

"I hope Tulio and his team will have figured out a way to deal with the toucan overpopulation by now," said Saturn firmly. The other four nodded in agreement. Soon, the quintet finally arrived at the outskirts of the Blu Bird Sanctuary, the double fence with the barbed wire coiled along the top separating Blu Bird Sanctuary land from the outside, melting into view. However, as the five macaws approached the double fence, Rhea spotted something horrifying.

"Guys, LOOK," she called. At this, Saturn, Iapetus, Uranus and Neptune flew in and followed her gaze. When they saw something not right about the fence, the five macaws descended towards the spot to examine it closer. The five then touched down and began to survey the area but to their surprise, it was not what they, especially Neptune, had expected at all.

"How can this be!?" shouted Uranus in disbelief. The other four gazed at the spot speechless, the sheer disbelief blocking their choice of words. The spot of the double fence the quintet gazed at indicated that the meshes had been tampered with but the five macaws saw no signs of breakage in the steel mesh themselves as one would expect from the use of cutting tools for unauthorised access. However, the bottom of the meshes, where the tampering had taken place, were mangled and bent and as Neptune examined it up close, he saw some sort of trench running under the mangled area. As Neptune tested the firmness of the foundations of the fence with a talon by tugging on the inner mesh, he saw that the meshes had been firmly rooted into the ground by concrete, used by the builders who had constructed this fence but then he noticed that these concrete patches had been placed at intervals with gaps between each patch. And the trench ran through between one of those gaps between two of the concrete patches where the mesh had been distorted and twisted. Uranus tested its size by crawling through the trench.

"This tunnel is big enough for us to fit though," he said, returning into the Blu Bird Sanctuary land after examining it. But then puzzlement came over him: how on earth did those poachers fit through such a small hole? As Uranus mulled this over, Iapetus and Rhea felt realisation enter their heads: back during the first poachers' attack leading to Sandalwood and the other 39 kids' capture when Broccoli and Daisy had dug under the double fence to come and help save as many of the birds and flying foxes as possible.

"I think that hole may have been the work of the poachers' dogs," said Rhea.

"They might have dug the hole," added Iapetus. At this, Uranus, Neptune and Saturn shot the pair a confused look.

"What makes you two say that?" asked Saturn.

"When Broccoli and Daisy came to help us while we were dealing with that group of poachers the first time outside the fence," explained Rhea, "They dug their way under the double fence to gain access to us and help us."

"It seems that the poachers have discovered that the design of the fence's foundations anchoring the rest of the construction into the ground had gaps between them," said Iapetus, nodding to the patches, "And have had their dogs dig a hole through one of those gaps, creating a tunnel of access for their owners to squeeze through and enter the sanctuary."

Uranus shot Neptune and Saturn a realisation look.

"A clever tactic in leaving behind as little evidence of their presence as possible so that the workers on the sanctuary will be less wary that intruders have managed to access this land," he said, "Whereas the use of cutting tools will leave a more obvious gaping hole and thus greater evidence in the meshes."

"Not to mention avoiding those injurious spiky coils constructed along the top," said Neptune, a nod to the barbed wires coiled along the top of the double fence. Saturn then shot his son and daughter a stern look.

"We have to report this right away," he said, "Tulio and his team need to see this," he then turned to Iapetus and Rhea, "Well spotted, you two."

"And excellent formulation of that theory as well," put in Neptune. Iapetus and Rhea smiled in approval of the praise. Then moments later, the quintet had taken off and was on its way back to Tulio and Linda's cottage to deliver this vital new find and information.

While Iapetus, Rhea, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune hurried back to Linda and Tulio's cottage to report their findings about the double fence, Blu, Diantha, Carla, Bia, Tiago, Porthos and Aramis were on their way to Tulio's Aviary. Carla, Bia and Tiago had recovered enough to join their father on the trip to the place though the grief over the loss of Sirius, Spica and Bellatrix and the other chicks, and Sandalwood and Acerola, still burdened their hearts. Diantha, Porthos and Aramis were also still grieving the loss of Gladion, Lillie, Procyon, Achernar and Capella as well.

"I can't believe that those hoodlum toucan offspring have developed disrespect toward their own father regarding the problems they are causing in producing so many offspring," murmured Aramis, "It's a disgrace, really."

"Marco, Sofia and the others have DEFINITELY developed a massive thorn-bush of arrogance," growled Bia, "If I were to survey such a thorn-bush, it would probably be covering 90 percent of the land of the Blu Bird Sanctuary like how their offspring is doing."

"A thorn-bush that's overgrown into an invasive weed engulfing an entire garden," said Porthos angrily, "Alongside a bunch of problem-causing toucans whose population has overgrown into an invasive species slowly engulfing the land of the Blu Bird Sanctuary."

"Quite an interesting way to put it, Bia and Porthos," said Diantha, a small sliver of admiration forming like a crack in her wall of despair and grief.

"Correct, Porthos," said Blu who understood what his second oldest daughter and the burly mate of Dione meant, "Hopefully, Tulio and company will have come up with the solution to the problem by now."

"When they have," said Carla, before nervousness shook her voice slightly, "Will they be applying whatever they have planned, whether Sofia, Marco and the others like it or not?"

Diantha and Tiago also shuddered. Obviously they, especially Diantha, know what Sofia, Marco, their mates Marcel and Anastasia and many of their siblings and siblings-in-laws were like with their kids. Blu, at this, shot his older daughter a frown.

"Yes," he said, "It could possibly even mean doing something to some of those toucan chicks Tulio hates most of all."

Carla, Bia, Tiago, Aramis, Diantha and Porthos gazed at the Spix macaw with worried gazes. This method obviously would be a last resort for Tulio and his team but if the worst comes to the worst regarding the toucan overpopulation, then it will have to be so.

"Hopefully, it won't come to that," murmured Diantha worriedly. However, she knew that if this last resort was to be used by Tulio and his group to reduce the toucan overpopulation, there was nothing she could do to change that.

As the six macaws and Diantha continued to fly on to Tulio's Aviary through the trees, Blu and the other six happened to stumble across some black and white birds with either white or red-tinted cream bellies, orange beaks with black tips or lime green beaks with black tips, some of which were adults and many of which were chicks, much to their surprise and 'Uh-oh' looks. These toucans, who were some of Diantha's many, many siblings, siblings-in-law, nephews and nieces, turned and faced the group of four Spix macaws, their sister/aunt/sister-in-law, burly blue-and-gold macaw and slender great green macaw with equally surprised gazes. However, those gazes of surprise immediately flashed to scornful and malicious glares and within moments, a barrage of fruit, fruit shells, seeds and twigs began to fly from their talons straight at Blu and the other six with him. The six macaws and Diantha then quickly covered their heads with their talons as the variety of bullets and ammo either splattered and exploded messily against their faces and bodies or bounced off them (in the case of the twigs). Diantha yelped as a berry struck her in the eye while Carla's forehead was hit with a flying piece of fruit shell, making her jerk her head back. Bia, Tiago, Aramis and Porthos also shielded their faces from the flying barrage from the toucan group while Blu, fruit exploding in his face and torso and the hard bullets ricocheting off of him barked orders at the other six to fly for it. Along with the barrage of fruit, fruit shell pieces, twigs and seeds, a barrage of acidic insults, scornful remarks, and mocking laughter also fired from the toucans' beaks at the group. Then one of the adult toucans, Anastasia, surged forward and rammed into Aramis's back while he was caught off guard by the flying fruit and other projectiles, knocking him forward and sending him into a brief flutter. Anastasia then spat a toxic insult at Aramis as he struggled to regain control of his flight. Some of the other adult toucans then rushed in at Blu, Cara, Bia and Tiago, continuously hurling fruit and other projectiles at them and spat not only insults at the four Spix macaws but also globs of saliva, while Porthos had his tail grabbed by one of the young toucans and some feathers torn out and Diantha was tackled by another adult toucan, Marco.

"Get out, you bunch of psycho-parents with psycho-chicks," shouted Marco scornfully and with that, he lashed at Tiago and kicked him square in the face while Anastasia spat more saliva globs at Bia, Carla and also Blu, Porthos, Aramis and Diantha. Aramis then shot the toucans a fiery look, using his agility to dodge the flying projectiles.

"You won't get away with this, you…" but before he could finish, a massive watermelon piece flew in and exploded right in his face, much to the massive roar of laughter from the toucans, especially Anastasia and Marco. Aramis shook his head, sending bits of red fruit flesh and black seeds flying everywhere until a pair of dark grey talons hooked onto his shoulders and pulled him away.

"Come on, Aramis, let's beat a retreat!" shouted Blu, his eyes screwed shut to avoid the flying seeds, fruit and twigs from hitting them. Ahead of these two, Carla, Bia, Diantha and Tiago who carried Porthos who held his tattered tail, his face twisted in pain.

Marco, Anastasia and company continued their vicious assault on Blu's group until they were out of sight. Marco then spat onto a branch after Blu and the other six as they left, a seriously acidic scornful and mocking glare on his face as he watched the group leave in the direction of Tulio's Aviary, before returning to his own group, and whatever activity they were up to before Blu and his group's appearance.


	29. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28- preparations for plan implantations and tearful newcomer introductions**

A while after escaping the assault from Marco and Anastasia's group, Blu, Carla, Bia, Tiago, Aramis, Diantha and Porthos, all covered with bits of fruit flesh with Porthos still holding his tattered tail which was crying in pain from where tail feathers had been ripped out, finally arrived at Tulio's Aviary. As the group of seven touched down onto the ledge of an open window to the main medical room, Ganymede, his still-healing broken wing in a cast, was talking to Luna and Eragon. Vincent and Eva were resting somewhere else in the room and the other birds, many with bandages or other medical dressing, were also chatting either on the desktops or in their cages while Tulio and company went about their usual business, but with Tulio and some of his team discussing some sort of plan.

Ganymede was still deeply devastated over the loss of his two sons Adenine and Cytosine and daughters Guanine and Thymine and missed them dearly, much like his blue-and-gold mate Mimas, his sisters Io, Europa and Callisto and brothers-in-law Athos, Byron and Sheldon and the rest of the group who had lost part, (such as one chick, as in the case of Carla, Bia, Tiago and their respective mates Justin, Virgil and Matilda), or all of their broods, such as Aramis and Miranda, or their only chick or pup such as Stella and Soren with Sandalwood and Phoebe and Squaw'tagnan with Arcturus. Because the devastation was still like a freshly open wound, Ganymede had been utterly burdened to the point of not sleeping well and refusing to eat. His rich red plumage was messy, with his feather ruffle untidy and out of place for he hadn't been preening since the poacher incident yesterday and his brown eyes, which were normally sparkly with his joyful personality, had lost their lustre. They were instead bloodshot, saturated with grief and stress, and Ganymede hadn't had any breakfast despite the gentle persuasion from bird doctors to get him to eat. Plus, the fact that he was to remain grounded until his broken wing, an incident inflicted on him during the poacher skirmish leading to Sandalwood and the others including all four of his and Mimas's chicks getting captured yesterday did not help either. Furthermore, Ganymede was not only plagued with worry for his four missing kids and the others that had been taken by the poachers; he was plagued by worry for his family as well, especially his blue-and-gold mate Mimas. Seeing her in such devastation over losing their entire brood to those poachers had really torn her heart in two, which also had an echoing effect on Ganymede as well. The grief was further intensified at the sight of all three of Ganymede's sisters Io, Europa and Callisto and their respective mates Sheldon, Athos and Byron in utter devastation over the loss of their chicks (both Betelgeuse and Rigel for Io and Sheldon, Canopus for Callisto and Athos and Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka for Europa and Byron). That painful and deep wound was still present on Ganymede's torn emotions.

"This has honestly been a nightmare," groaned Ganymede wearily. His bloodshot, lacklustre brown gaze then travelled to his broken wing and he breathed a sigh as the site of his injured wing added to his grief. Luna and Eragon, the former who had managed to recover from the aftereffects of the venom from the snake in her system after an antidote had been administered, and the latter who still had his damaged shoulder and wing in a cast like Ganymede, just gazed at the burly scarlet macaw with sympathetic eyes. Luna's albino-based reddish eyed gaze then travelled to Tulio as he continued discussing with some of the other ornithologists who specialise in catching birds. Net guns and cages were held in their hands or placed on the floor by their feet or on the tables. Luna then could see the seriousness in Tulio's eyes.

"I can see your human friend over there and his group are not taking this toucan problem lightly, Ganymede," she murmured.

"I've heard from that man that a colony of small bats that live in a cave somewhere on the sanctuary," Eragon said, before pausing, "What species are those bats again?"

"Linda's golden orange bats, or _Aurantiaco vespitilinda_ which is their scientific name," said Ganymede, "Since their discovery, Tulio has named their species after his wife Linda and that colony lives in the Pedra de Gavea cave. One of them is called Basil," then confusion hit him, so he gazed at the male archaeobird, "Wait, why are you bringing in Basil's colony into this?"

"Your human friend's adopted son and some other young bird studiers have discovered that a group of some of those troublesome toucans had settled right outside those bats' cave entrance," said Luna, "And based on that young human whose name begins with 'F'…"

"Fernando," said Ganymede.

"That's it," said Luna, "Based on his night-time observations of those bats' behaviour with two or three other humans, for those bats are night-time animals that usually come out at night, those toucans were interfering with those bats' nightly activities such as foraging."

At this, shock tore through Ganymede. Before he could retort in disbelief, Eragon saw some flashes of colour out the corner of his eye. At this he turned and said, "Looks like Blu has come to visit us with his three first-brood daughters and son and three other friends."

Luna and Ganymede turned and saw four Spix macaws, a burly blue-and-gold macaw, a slender great green macaw and a black toucan with a complete combination of Rafael and Eva's traits, especially the combo of lime green, black, and orange in her beak, appear. However, these seven looked bedraggled with bits of fruit flesh and seeds hanging from various parts of their body, especially Aramis who had a lot of red fruit pieces and black seeds dotting his head and upper chest. When Ganymede examined the pieces of fruit closer, he realised that they were from a watermelon and deduced that Aramis must have had a piece of that fruit thrown at his face. And Porthos was limping, a wing grasping his tattered tail and his face twisted in pain. The toucan, Diantha, also had a wing over her eye where a berry had made contact, and that eye was streaming with tears as the berry juice irritated her eyeball, the tears oozing through the feathers and down her cheek. When Ganymede, Eragon and Luna saw the state of Blu, Carla, Bia, Tiago, Diantha, Aramis and Porthos, horror and shock tore through them.

"Good grief, Uncle Blu, Carla, guys," shouted Ganymede, his immense grief over the recent events overshadowed by the shock, "What happened to you guys?"

"What do YOU think!?" snapped Aramis, a wing wiping his face and coming away with some watermelon flesh and juice marking the yellow underside of his wing. Eragon, however, had a suspicious look come over his face for he had already deduced the answer. "Let me guess," said the male archaeobird and Andromeda's mate, "Toucan attack again?"

"Yes," snapped Blu as he seized a piece of soft material humans called a tissue, angrily tore it from its roll and began to wipe his face and body of the fruit flesh and seeds. Carla, Bia, Tiago, Diantha, Aramis and Porthos also took a piece each and did the same, wiping their head sand upper bodies of the fruit flesh. Diantha also wiped her streaming eye of excess tears but more tears continued to pour out. Ganymede, Luna and Eragon exchanged glances. Then Ganymede stepped forward as Blu's group tossed away the tissue pieces into a bin (called a trash can as it is known in the Americas) directly below the worktop on which the group sat.

"How are Io, Europa, Callisto, Athos, Mimas, Byron and Sheldon?" asked Ganymede, hoping that these seven were alright, "And Katniss who was with them when they came to visit us?"

At this, Blu, Carla, Bia, Tiago, Diantha, Aramis and Porthos exchanged worried glances. They obviously didn't want to worsen Ganymede's already-enormous emotional load by telling him what happened to those macaws, especially after what Sofia had said to them about their decision to have kids.

"They're… um… fine," said Blu, trying to cover up the incident, "Still very upset over the loss of Sandalwood and the other kids. Orion and Hermione are also fine but they are still grieving over the loss of Hunter."

"The others back at Tulio and Linda's cottage are doing fine as well, aside from the same grief caused by what Dad said," said Carla. Ganymede, at this, breathed a slight sigh of relief.

"They're going to stay within the vicinity of the cottage and the birdhouses," added Porthos, before disgust came over his face, "Due to those wretched toucans roaming the jungle."

"So, what are you guys doing here?" asked Luna.

"Partly to visit you folks," said Blu, "But mainly to see and how Tulio and his team are getting on with the solution to the toucan overpopulation."

As he said this, Diantha went to get another sheet of tissue as her eye continued to weep. Ganymede went to help.

"Oh, my eye feels like it's on fire from the juice," murmured the toucan as she, with Ganymede's help, tore another tissue sheet away from the roll. Diantha then held the tissue over her eye.

"Diantha got hit directly in the eye with a berry from that group of pesky menaces," muttered Porthos.

"Do you think we should take her to be examined?" asked Luna, a sympathetic gaze on the toucan as her eye continued to pour with tears.

"I think that's a good idea," said Blu. At this, Carla and Tiago went over to Diantha and began to walk her over to the nearest bird doctor, Diantha clasping the tissue over her eye. As the three left, Eragon walked in and began to explain Tulio's meeting with some of his group members.

"You see your human friend over there," he said, nodding to Tulio and company. Blu, Bia, Aramis and Porthos followed the archaeobird's nod and nodded in agreement as they saw Tulio talk with some of the workers, especially when they saw the net guns and the cages in many of the humans' arms and by their feet on the floor, ready to be packed.

"They're going to capture as many of those toucans they can find and bring them back here," added Ganymede, "Where their fate will be decided."

"Whether they'll be relocated to other sanctuaries," said Blu, "Or…" he paused as reluctance came over him, "The last resort plan applied."

"Yes," added Ganymede, "Also, Tulio has organised another group to see to those poachers and check the double fence and barbed wire for any evidence of damage."

"Jupiter already has that covered," said Bia, "He has sent some of the others to examine the fence to see how that group of poachers have managed to enter the sanctuary as observed by Broccoli's group."

"Well, that's good news," said Luna firmly, "Based on what you guys have told us about how serious these humans," she nodded to the workers in the medical room, "take protecting rare species seriously, then obviously animal thief intrusions with intent on poaching animals from a protected reserve is not something to be taken lightly."

"When I, Jewel, Cometa, Travis and Sunset went out to investigate where the poachers' base was," explained Blu, "We found what we believed was their hideout but it is well outside the Blu Bird Sanctuary's fence."

"Did you see any caged animals held captive there?" asked Eragon.

"We did but only vaguely," said Blu, "We daren't risk approaching that base we saw last night and getting spotted and caught by those poachers, especially me and Jewel for we are extremely rare Spix macaws. However, we thought there could be more than one bases set up outside the sanctuary."

"According to Dad here," said Bia, "Those poachers were accompanied by dogs just like the poachers we encountered those previous times."

"Well, I hope Tulio and his group will trace those poachers to their hideouts and expose them," said Ganymede firmly, his gaze on Tulio and his team as they continued to discuss their plans. Blu, Bia, Porthos, Aramis, Eragon and Luna nodded in agreement and Luna began to hope that Acerola, Sandalwood and the other kidnapped kids were alright. Eragon was also troubled over the loss of Altair. Just then, an orange-yellow crested parrot with a wing in a cast like Ganymede appeared, a surprised green-eyed look fixed on Blu and company.

"Hey, Blu, Bia, Aramis, Porthos, what are you doing here?" asked the cockatoo.

"We've come to visit, Vincent," said Blu.

"Yes, to provide updates on how the others are doing for one," said Porthos, "And to see how Tulio and his team are doing with their plans in dealing with the toucan overpopulation and the poachers for another."

Vincent, at this, breathed a disgusted sigh and gazed at his broken wing, before his green gaze turned to the bits of fruit dotting Blu, Bia, Porthos and Aramis's plumages. "I hope those toucans are sorted out as soon as possible," he growled, his yellow-orange crest raised somewhat, "I can see you guys, along with Carla, Tiago and Diantha, have received another battering from one of those horrible gangs, I believe."

"Porthos also had part of his tail torn out while Diantha got struck in the eye with a berry," said Aramis. Vincent turned and saw a familiar black toucan with a reddish belly and face mask and orange, lime green and black beak receiving treatment for her irritated eye, Carla and Tiago standing by. Vincent could see that Diantha's eye was red as though bloodshot, obviously a result of exposure to the juice from the berry. Then something else entered Vincent's head.

"Oh, guys, we have some surprising news," he said. Blu, Bia, Porthos, Aramis, Ganymede, Eragon and Luna gazed at him.

"What's that?" asked Blu.

"New species discovery?" asked Bia, the frustration and hurt from the toucan encounter faded and forgotten somewhat. Vincent then nodded in the direction of the breeding chamber.

"In that breeding chamber where you met Jewel, Blu and where Venus, Mercury and Pluto met Zephyr, Brisa, Sapphire and Lapis Lazuli," said the cockatoo, "There is a couple of extremely rare and recently discovered hawks that had just been captured and imported into there in the hopes that they will breed."

At this, fascination came upon Blu's group, and also Carla, Diantha and Tiago from across the desktop.

"What sort of hawks are they?" asked Bia excitedly.

"They have golden feathers with yellow heads," said Vincent, "But that's not the only unusual feature about them. Although they are classed as birds of prey, they only eat fruit and seeds. Apparently, they don't eat mice or any smaller birds at all."

"So they are herbivores?" asked Blu with surprise. Then a sceptical frown came upon his face, "Wait a minute: fruit-eating hawks? All hawks are carnivorous, aren't they?"

"Not those two hawks in the chamber," said Vincent with a smile, the first one he had managed since his injury during Sandalwood's fall the other day, "They are strict herbivores. Their species has been called 'golden fruithawks'."

"Golden fruithawks?" repeated Bia in awe.

"Herbivorous hawks, eh," said Ganymede, "Sounds a lot like a return to the Garden of Eden days when all animals, including those we now know to be meat-eaters including cats and hawks and also some of the dinosaurs like T-rex, were herbivorous before Adam sinned against God."

"Do those two fruithawks in the breeding chamber have names?" asked Blu.

"Yes, they are a male and a female," said Vincent, "The male is called Aurum and the female is called Gylfie. The male had been discovered somewhere in Chile and the female in Guyana and both have been brought here for breeding purposes," Vincent then sighed, "They've not had any chicks yet and it's definitely confirmed that they are the very last pair of their species in the entire world."

"Then that makes them extremely invaluable," said Blu. He shuddered as he remembered being the last known male of the Spix macaw species along with Jewel who was the last known female before the couple paired up and had Carla, Bia and Tiago and before Zephyr and Brisa and then Venus were discovered. Then Blu felt it was time to leave.

"Well, we'd better return to Tulio and Linda's cottage and the others anyway to report Tulio's progress on the toucan overpopulation solution plans," he said, "So I'll see you lot later."

"Get well soon," said Bia and with that, she carefully hugged Ganymede and Vincent and then Eragon and Luna. Porthos, Aramis and then Carla, Tiago and Diantha, as soon as her eye was better, also gave the four birds a hug or did a wing fist-bump, especially Tiago, Porthos and Aramis with Ganymede and Vincent while Blu simply wished them well. And as soon as Blu's group was ready, they took off for the window through which they came.

"Tell Mimas and the others we send our love," said Ganymede as the group of seven left. Blu flashed him a smile and a nod and within moments he, Carla, Bia, Tiago, Diantha, Porthos and Aramis were gone, Porthos's tail for he was the last to leave, disappearing out of the window. Despite the pain after having some of his tail feathers torn out, Porthos was still able to fly but he had only one or two feathers left.

As Blu and the other six left Tulio's Aviary, they heard the sounds of shouting and screeching. At this, the seven slowed to a hover. As the group listened, they found that the screeches were saturated with anger and outrage.

"That doesn't sound good," said Diantha to the other six.

"Sounds like an argument raging," said Porthos.

"I hope it's not Triton and Iris," murmured Aramis worriedly, knowing that the two had just entered a rocky patch. At this, Diantha cocked an ear to the shouts as they became louder. As recognition of the voices' owners came into her head, she shook her head.

"They're definitely not Triton and Iris," she said, but then a look of surprise took over her face.

"Diantha," said Aramis, "Do you know those voices?"

Diantha did not answer. Instead, the toco/keel-billed hybrid toucan darted off to trace the voices to their owners. Blu, Carla, Bia, Tiago, Aramis and Porthos followed.

"Diantha!" cried Blu. Diantha continued flying on with the six macaws close behind her. As the seven flew along, the shouters' voices increased in loudness until finally, the shouters came into view. The moment Diantha's gaze, including her reddened eye where a berry had struck, landed on the shouters; she abruptly braked into a hover. The six macaws also slowed to a hover and followed Diantha's gaze.

"Look, I've told you before! We're NOT having another brood. Don't you think we've got enough chicks and offspring as it is already?"

"But Rita, I WANT to have another brood with you. You told me you loved having kids, so why don't we just add another brood to our offspring?!"

"Rita and her mate," murmured Diantha. Blu, Porthos, Aramis, Carla, Bia and Tiago exchanged glances. However, they already knew what the two shouters, Rita and her mate, were arguing about. As a Rafael lookalike but with a reddish front and face like Diantha came closer to the group, a male toco toucan (not Rafael) following her, the group of seven could see the firestorms raging in their eyes as they continued to exchange an explosive series of words at each other.

"Our family is getting TOO BIG!" bellowed Rita loudly, her furious brown glare piercing her mate's stubborn one and even from a distance, Diantha and the six macaws could see exhaustion boiling with the anger in Rita's eyes as well. "One, they're placing HUGE DEMANDS on both of us in terms of control and food and other factors in raising them and two, far too many of them are causing the other residents TROUBLE! We've had WELL over forty kids already!"

Porthos and Aramis mouthed the number in astonishment.

"No wonder she looks so stressed," said Bia. Blu, Carla, Diantha and Tiago, however, wore unsurprised faces. Then the seven heard Rita's mate stubbornly retort right into her face.

"Do you think I'm UNWORTHY to be your mate!?" he bellowed.

"It's not LIKE THAT!" retorted Rita loudly, "We're having far TOO MANY KIDS!"

Then as the fire of the argument began to rage higher, Blu decided that it was wise to back away until that fire calmed down. With his talons on Carla and Bia's shoulders, he gently tugged them away and ushered the other four into following. Tiago, Porthos, Aramis and Diantha obediently followed and retreated into a nearby cluster of leaves as Rita and her mate flew into the vicinity of where they had been, explosive words continuously flying from their beaks at each other.

"Dione and I may have had the odd argument here and there," said Porthos, "Sometimes heated, especially when she was moody before Procyon's egg appeared in our nest, complete with a constant craving for food, but we've never had an argument THIS heated."

He nodded to Rita and her mate as they continued battering each other with fiery words.

"Miranda and I would certainly never argue over having as many kids as possible," said Aramis in slight shock, "It would be too demanding for both of us, anyway."

"I agree," said Diantha with a stern frown, "That's why I'm so disgusted with many of my siblings and also my Mom and Dad to a degree."

"Three is enough for you and Tom anyway," said Tiago. He breathed a sad sigh over Gladion and Lillie's absence.

"Out of all of Uncle Rafael and Aunt Eva's offspring," added Carla, "You're honestly the wisest in how many kids you have."

"As well as the adequate discipline you apply to them, especially when they misbehave," put in Bia. Diantha gazed at the three Spix macaws.

"Gladion, Lillie and Aurora did sometimes have their mischievous moments as chicks," she said, "They once graffiti'd all over the walls of their hollow room with berry juice when they were young chicks and we had to scold them and command them to wash off the mess," she stifled a giggle remembering that moment. Blu, Carla, Bia, Tiago, Porthos and Aramis flashed their toucan friend an amused smile each but those smiles were instantly wiped away when the seven heard Rita and her mate reach the peak of their argument.

"GET OUTA MY FACE, RIGHT NOW, YOU TAPIR!" bellowed Rita's sister and to the startled flinch of Blu's group, she lurched at her mate and tackle him away before slapping him hard across the face, "AND DON'T EVER COME BACK!"

Blu and the other six watched as Rita's mate flopped onto a branch and glared at Rita as she hovered in the air, a wing on his face where he had been slapped. Then what he said next finally severed his bond with Rita.

"I think I'm better off with another toucan girl, (bleep)," he hissed, sending hurt coursing through Rita but not budging her rage. Then with that, the male toucan opened his wings and rocketed away, Rita glaring after him. Moments later, Blu, Diantha, Porthos, Aramis, Carla, Bia and Tiago emerged from their hiding place and flew over to her.

"That was some dramatic ending to that fallout," commented Carla.

"You've ended your time as his mate?" asked Bia. Rita, at this, shot the two sisters and the other five with them a glare, tears beginning to well in her eyes.

"Yes," she snapped in a broken voice, "It's the end of us two. Carlos has also broken up with his mate as well when she kept pestering him into having another brood with her."

"Looks like your now ex-mate's going to have a real hard time in dealing with all those chicks you and him have had," said Aramis. Rita just sighed regretfully.

"I've only begun to realise what problems our kids we're causing the other residents and how many we had been having," she murmured. Then she gazed at the seven and said, "Can you seven leave me alone please? I want some time to myself."

Her voice cracked as she said this as a few sobs escaped her throat and more tears began to well in her eyes. Diantha, at this, went to protest but Blu, respectful of Rita's request, gently placed a talon onto her shoulder and ushered her away. Diantha reluctantly obeyed and followed him, Carla, Bia, Tiago, Aramis and Porthos, but not before shooting her sister as sympathetic gaze as she retreated to a nearby branch to cry her eyes out. As the seven went on their way back to Linda and Tulio's cottage, Diantha flashed a glance behind her at Rita as she began to sob loudly and said, "I hope Mom and Dad find out what has happened to Rita and comfort her."

"If I were to answer that, Diantha, I'd say yes," said Blu with a frown, "But she must also suffer the consequences of having so many kids as well and adding to the problems of the toucan overpopulation."

Diantha nodded and with that, the toucan and the six macaws disappeared through the trees, leaving Rita to continue sobbing loudly, the regret of having so many kids and the heartbreak of her mate leaving her boiling within her. However, it was clear that she was not going to pair up with another mate any time soon.

 **The Sanctuario del Parad** **í** **so**

Sandalwood, Acerola, Sirius, Bellatrix, Spica, Adenine, Betelgeuse and Rigel and the others with them sat with a crowd of various other animals as they listened to Dundee and his assistants as they talked about countries outside South America. This lesson revolved around the country of Australia and the map of this country was pinned onto the wall before the gathering of young animals. While the class was underway, several human carers were checking the artificial jungle and clearing any old and dirty material away, as well as check the fruit trees and the food and water pots and artificial lakes including the penguins' play area. Sirius, Bellatrix and Spica flashed a glance at the human workers and continued to listen to Dundee.

Sandalwood and Acerola sat with Alegria, Sylvester, Altair and Pitaya while Lillie, Gladion sat with Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Petunia, Vega, Deneb and Polaris the Spix macaws, Adenine, Cytosine, Guanine and Thymine the Catalina macaws, Betelgeuse, Rigel, Canopus, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka the red macaws, Procyon, Castor and Pollux the blue-and-gold macaws, Mira the blue-and-gold/hyacinth hybrid macaw, Fomalhaut the blue-and-gold/great green hybrid macaw, Capella, Antares and Achernar the green macaws, Aldebaran the scarlet/great green hybrid macaw, Gertie the hyacinth macaw, Arcturus the Lear's macaw, Saiph, Regulus and Denebola the glaucous macaws, and Carmen the blue-throated macaw. The toucans and these macaws sat in their own group with Steven, Lars and Kevin while Sandalwood's group sat with Connie and some of the young bats. This group, along with the other chicks, bat pups and other young animals, continued to listen to Dundee as he talked about his species, the emu. With him stood Flax and Harakeke the kiwis (who were assisting), Sparky, Cody and Lilo the cockatiels and Reepicheep the platypus and Kiara the echidna and several other animals, many of which were also from Australia. Among them were a few kangaroos and a Tasmanian devil as they prepared to discuss their species. Amongst the crowd, Alegria, the Dominican macaw chick, continued to flash glances at the group of penguin chicks, especially at Arteyu the emperor penguin who clearly didn't find the lesson interesting. It was obvious that he was staring into space, and Alegria could see the grief in his eyes and deduced that he must be missing his family like usual.

As the Dominican macaw chick gazed at the penguins, Denebola gazed at the platypus and the echidna as they smiled at Dundee as he continued to talk about his species, awe at their unusual traits still gripping her.

"I can't believe that those two mammal species lay eggs rather than bear live young," she whispered in a low voice, "I always thought that ALL mammals gave birth to live young."

"Not to mention a bird with feathers resembling a mammal's fur," said Saiph, his eyes on the kiwis. Suddenly, the two glaucous macaws flinched at a scolding 'Shh!'. At this, the two, along with Regulus, shot a stunned glance at Sardonyx, who had delivered the quiet order, as she shot them each slight firm glances.

"Keep quiet," she said in a low voice, "You'll distract the other chicks and young animals."

The three glaucous macaw chicks just shrugged and resumed listening to Dundee. Dundee then stepped aside to allow another flightless, near-wingless bird take over. Sandalwood and the others gazed at threw bird as it began to speak. Like an emu, this bird had a long neck and lanky legs, and also fur-like feathers covering its body. However, unlike the emu, this bird's feathers were jet black. Its featherless head and neck were a vivid blue colour, similar to the feathers of the Spix macaws but not as bright as Sirius's white-tinted electric blue feathers, but then Sirius noticed a fleshy appendage, coloured pink-red, dangling from the base of the creature's neck. Another patch of pink-red decorated the back of the creature's neck where it joined the body. A large pale brown shell-like wedge rose from the creature's head and its eyes were a piercing red glare and based on the sound of its voice as it talked, it appeared to be female.

"What is that?" asked Carmen in shock.

"That's an Australian cassowary," said Bellatrix, "Southern species. You can tell by the red wattles and nape on its neck."

As she said this, Greg stepped in.

"That cassowary is named Olympia," he explained to Sirius, Bellatrix and the others with them, "She is one of Dundee's assistants and protector of the cassowary group. She helps to keep other animals away from the cassowary family due to the dangerous instincts the fathers bear with young chicks."

"What do you mean?" asked Sandalwood nervously. Greg hardened his gaze.

"Cassowaries have a dagger-like claw on the middle toe of each foot," he said in a low voice, "Which protective cassowaries will not hesitate to use when threatened."

"They can easily and fatally slit a human with those claws," said Spica. At this, Sandalwood and Acerola shuddered and gazed nervously at the cassowary, Olympia, as she explained her species and pointed out the area where her species, the Southern cassowary originated. As the cassowary hen lifted a foot to point to the map of the Australian contentment for she almost had no wings, Sandalwood and Acerola got a glimpse of the large big toe ending in a sharp claw. They shuddered again and daren't imagine being on the receiving end of that lethal blade.

The class continued with each of the Australian animals explaining their biology and distribution in their place of origin: Sparky, Cody and Lilo the cockatiels talked about their species and this was followed by Kiara who discussed the echidna. The kangaroos, the Tasmanian devil and a koala also talked about their biology and their distribution in Australian. This continued until finally ended with Reepicheep, who was last in the line, explaining his species, the platypus, and a brief discussion of its biology. After he had finished his talk, applause filled the air. Dundee stepped forward as the other animals behind him smiling as they accepted the praise from the applauders and as soon as he was at the front, Dundee said, "Thank you, everyone. We really do appreciate your applause. Tomorrow's lesson will be on New Zealand, the country off the coast of Australia," he then nodded to Flax and Harakeke and added, "And that lesson will largely be hosted by these two kiwis."

"Their lesson should be interesting," said Betelgeuse in fascination, the grief of missing her parents and relatives briefly forgotten.

"I've read in a book that New Zealand is home to a parrot that cannot fly at all," said Spica, "It's known as a kakapo."

"Yes, and there is a family of them living here next to the kiwis," said Steven with a smile.

"You'll see them tomorrow when Mr Flax and Mr Harakeke discuss New Zealand," said Lars with an excited smile. Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Sandalwood and Acerola managed a brief smile but those smiles were interrupted as Dundee's voice rang out. At this, the five's attention was pulled back to the emu.

"Right, now that we've finished the class on Australia," Dundee said, "We've got some newcomers whom I would like to introduce."

The moment those words left his beak, Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Sandalwood and Acerola felt wings, both feathered and membranous, nudge them.

"Come on, you lot," said the owner of one pair of wings, Shade, as he gently nudged Sandalwood and Acerola, "It's time to go to the front of everyone and introduce yourselves."

At this, the five reluctantly obeyed and stood up. The others in Sandalwood's group, including Alegria, Pitaya, Altair and Sylvester, also stood up at the nudging of some of the other adult birds and flying foxes and were escorted to the front of the crowd. As they approached Dundee and the other Australian animals and Flax and Harakeke, nerves began to boil within some of them, especially Sandalwood, Alegria and Sylvester, for they had never stood before an audience before but these three had heard of birds or flying foxes embarrassing themselves during their first impression and they feared that the same thing might happen to them, especially since some of them were very shy.

As soon as the 40 kids were at the front of the crowd with some of the adult birds and flying foxes, among them Sardonyx, Greg, Shade and Sadie, accompanying them, Dundee began to open up the introduction of the group.

"Now as you folks will remember yesterday," he said, "We've had some new animals brought into our artificial jungle home yesterday…" the crowd gazed at Sandalwood's group as they nervously stood by the emu's legs. As some shuddered, Flax, Harakeke, Cody, Sparky, Lilo, Kiara and Reepicheep, along with Greg, Sardonyx, Shade and Sadie, tried to keep them calm. Dundee then gazed down at the 40 kids and smiled. "And here they are," he continued, "Now some of these newcomers may be of species that you'll have never heard of, and they all come from Brazil," Sandalwood gazed up at the massive flightless bird and then eyed the audience, nervousness dancing in his eyes.

"Some of these newcomers are part of some extremely rare species of macaws," continued Dundee, his glowing gaze beaming down at Sandalwood and the others like a spotlight, "While some are also crosses of some macaw species…" as he said this, Adenine, Cytosine, Guanine and Thymine, together with Canopus, Aldebaran, Antares, Mira and Fomalhaut and also Betelgeuse, Rigel, Gladion and Lillie nodded in agreement.

"At least you're not classing us as some 'new species'," said Fomalhaut under his breath.

"Since we're not 'pure' species," said Gladion in agreement. Then Dundee faced the crowd again and continued, "Right, now without further ado, let's get this on the run…" he then turned back down at Sandalwood and company and said, "Right, which of you lot would like to go first?"

At this question, all but Sandalwood dashed away and hid behind Kiara, Reepicheep, Flax and Harakeke and also Sardonyx, Greg, Shade and Sadie, much to their surprise. Sandalwood stood there alone, stunned at the others as they hid behind the eight adults. Then Acerola nervously emerged from behind Flax, extended a membranous wing and gently prodded Sandalwood in the back to get him to start the introduction. Flashing nervous glance at his cousin and the birds and seeing that none of the others were willing to go first in his place, Sandalwood reluctantly approached the front of the crowd. As he did so, the amber flying fox pup gazed nervously at Dundee and the others behind him.

"Don't worry, we're right behind you," said Dundee. Sandalwood then breathed a sigh and took his stand before the crowd of young animals. From the crowd, Connie the grey-headed flying fox, along with Steven, Lars and Kevin and also Sugilite the galah and Opal the rainbow lorikeet, gazed at each other, worry for Sandalwood glazing their eyes. Some of the other kids, however, let loose titters at Sandalwood's nervousness but they were silenced by the adult animals. Then as soon as he felt prepared, Sandalwood nervously launched into his introduction.

"H-h-hello, everyone," he timidly opened up, "M-m-my name is S-S-Sandalwood, I-I-I'm a Brazilian flying fox…"

As he opened up his intro, Sandalwood felt his nerves shake his muscles and generate heat under his skin. Behind him and the two kiwis, Acerola clutched onto Sirius's wings as she nervously watched her cousin introduce himself. She shuddered as she feared the worst and began to regret prodding him into going first.

"Can you tell us a bit about your species and where you're from?" asked Dundee gently. Sandalwood, at this, flashed a look at the emu. As he did that, Acerola stifled a timid gasp while Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Petunia, Vega, Deneb and Polaris shuddered.

"I hope that incident with those horrible siblings and cousins of ours involving them tying him up and shoving him off the end of that branch hasn't affected his fear of standing before a crowd," whispered Gladion worriedly. Lillie also gazed at Sandalwood, fearing for his confidence. Altair and the macaw chicks also gazed at their friend fearfully as he began to tell the crowd of young animals about his species.

"O-O-Our species is from B-B-Brazil," stuttered Sandalwood as the pincer of nerves gripped him, "W-w-we come from Rio de Janeiro, a B-B-Brazilian city…"

Murmurs rolled through the crowd as Sandalwood continued to talk. Sandalwood then moved on.

"Some of my friends there," he nodded to the other 39 kids behind him, "Are part of s-s-some extremely rare species… among them the S-S-Spix macaw…" at this, Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Petunia, Vega, Deneb and Polaris exchanged glances and continued to watch the young flying fox as he continued to speak.

"What is Rio de Janeiro like?" asked one of the baby monkeys. At this, Sandalwood was taken by surprise.

"Well, um," he said and paused to form the next sentence. "It's… it's a human city. It-it-it has a grey human statue called the, um…" at this, the flying fox pup froze as his tongue stuck in his mouth as he forgot the name of the statue. Seeing this, Gertie stepped forward from behind Sardonyx and whispered, "Christ the Redeemer statue."

"That's it, the Christ the Redeemer statue, overlooking the place," continued Sandalwood. Behind him, the other 39 kids emerged from behind Sardonyx, Greg and the others and gathered behind him. Acerola then stood up beside Sandalwood and began to help him to make up for her brief cowardice.

"It's rather busy," she said, "Oh, I'm Acerola by the way; I'm Sandalwood's cousin."

Sandalwood, at this, shot his cousin a relieved look as she began to introduce herself and help him explain about Rio. Behind the two bats, the birds held back, wanting to do their introductions separately.

"There's a nature reserve set up to protect the animals living in the jungle outside that city," said Acerola, "and it is named after a certain Spix macaw…"

As she said this, Sirius, Spica and Bellatrix felt something prick at them as Acerola referred to their grandfather Blu. Acerola, along with Sandalwood and the others, also felt sadness begin to prick at them as Acerola continued to talk about Rio. As the emotion began to boil within Acerola as thoughts about her brother Ferdinand and parents Sebastian and Anabelle, along with the others including her aunts Stella and Luna and uncle Soren and the bird friends including Blu and Jewel flooded her mind, her voice began to splinter and her eyes began to ooze tears. Sandalwood also felt the same, his tears beginning to weep tears as well. The kids at the front watched as the two flying foxes' eyes began to send tears running down their cheeks, a wave of sympathy washing over them. Steven, Kevin, Lars, Connie, Opal and Sugilite were especially sympathetic. Also, Atreyu amongst the penguin chick group gazed at the two flying foxes in curiosity.

"But… it-it-it… is where we were… taken…" murmured Acerola as the emotion of sadness continued to boil and then finally overflow. Sandalwood, his emotions and grief over being torn from his family and friends also gripping him, nodded in agreement. Dundee and the others with him also gazed sympathetically at the pair as they began to weep and sob. Seeing that the two flying foxes had had enough, the emu nodded to Flax and Harakeke. At this, the two kiwis went over to the flying foxes and began to gently lead them away to a quiet place. Sirius and the other chicks also requested that they go with the two flying fox pups as well for they felt like crying, which Sardonyx, Shade, Greg and Sadie granted.

"I know how traumatising it has been for you both and your chick friends to suddenly arrive here," said Dundee gently, "But I think you could do with a break for now," Sandalwood and Acerola who were both crying now, their emotions beginning to overflow once again, nodded as they left with the kiwis. Dundee then turned to the other young animals and said, "Looks like our newcomers' intro is going to be put on hold, kids. They're still not used to our home yet."

At this, the young animals all breathed sad sighs. Dundee then said, "Class time over. You lot may return to your activities."

With that, the kid crowd began to disperse as the young animals returned to their parents. Steven, Lars, Kevin, Connie, Opal and Sugilite darted off after Greg, Sardonyx, Sadie and Shade as they helped to lead Sirius's group away for the chicks were also very upset. As the crowd dispersed, Olympia the cassowary came up to Dundee, a sympathetic look on her face.

"It's obviously clear that those newcomers miss their families dearly, Dundee," she said, "Based on what I've heard, they have definitely been torn from their families similar to how Atreyu was torn from his flock-mates during a fishing trip when he ended up getting caught in that fishing net. Do you think we could devise a way to send those kids back to Brazil?"

At this, Dundee flashed the cassowary a 'What!?' look.

"But what can we do?" he protested, "One, they're too young to go by themselves out into a city they don't know and two, Rio is a LONG, LONG way from here. And thirdly, our human carers wouldn't want them to leave here anyway, especially the Cuban macaw, the Dominican macaw, that strange dinosaur-like bird and the purple and pink macaw since they're either unheard of or thought extinct and the last thing our human carers want is losing the only individuals of those species they had managed to rescue…"

Suddenly, he heard someone shout his name. Dundee turned his attention to the caller which was a younger emu.

"Yes, Nick?" he said.

"The Tasmanian devil group would like your assistance," said the smaller emu named Nick. At this, Dundee gazed at Olympia and said, "Oh aye, I'm needed. Sorry Olympia. Could you help Reepicheep, Kiara, Flax, Harakeke and the cockatiels comfort the newcomers please? I'll be back once I've finished assisting the Tasmanian devils over something."

With that, the emu left with Nick while Olympia left to help Reepicheep, Kiara, Flax, Harakeke and the others with them comfort Sandalwood and the others.


	30. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29- solving the problems begins**

 **Back in Rio**

Blu, Diantha, Porthos, Aramis, Carla, Bia and Tiago were back at Tulio and Linda's cottage with the others in their group including Jewel, Augustus, Melissa, Stella and Soren.

"Tulio and his team are going to implement their toucan overpopulation solution plans and also sort out the poachers," said Blu.

"Oh, that's brilliant," said Jupiter with a stern frown as he stood with the still-upset Io, Europa, Callisto, Athos, Byron and Sheldon.

"At least your human friends aren't leaving this problem to spiral any further out of control," said Frodo as he stood with Ellie, Olivia and Achilles. Since their close shave with the poachers, these two chicks had been forbidden from leaving the Cuban macaw couple's side or the vicinity of Tulio and Linda's cottage for their safety and that rule had also been applied to the other remaining kids to prevent any more risks of them getting caught by the poachers. Then Blu's gaze travelled to Uranus, Neptune, Saturn, Iapetus and Rhea who sat with Mars, Chiquitita, Ruby, Orquidea, Esmeralda, Ultramarine, Travis, Sunset, Milo, Ariel, Iapetus, Rhea, Phobos, Deimos and Lightning and Cometa and also Nico, Pedro, Rose, Sparkle, Orton and Kipo, Triton, Iris and Rafael. Jupiter, Mars, Chiquitita, Ruby, Phobos and Deimos were in another group, Orquidea, Esmeralda, Ultramarine and Travis were in a third group while Sunset, Milo, Ariel, Lightning and Cometa formed a fourth group and Nico, Pedro, Rose, Sparkle, Orton and Kipo, Triton, Iris and Rafael were in a fifth group for they had been allocated into groups by Jupiter before dispersing to investigate the fence. Saturn's subgroup wore serious looks on their faces.

"And I believe you five have something to report, don't you?" asked Blu.

"Yes we do," said Saturn firmly, "We have already told the others while you were at Tulio's Aviary with Carla, Bia, Tiago, Aramis, Porthos and Diantha."

"They have managed to find a breach in the double fence enclosing the sanctuary from the rest of the land," said Jewel. She then nodded to Uranus to explain the findings further to Blu so the great green macaw came forward.

"The poachers had apparently used their dogs to dig a hole under the fence to gain access," he said, "Based on the distortion in the two meshes, it is clear that the poachers had squeezed through that passage made by their dogs."

"Rather than use a cutting tool to break directly through the double meshes," said Rhea.

"Which would leave behind more evidence than squeezing under the fence," said Iapetus.

"Right, we'd better report that to Tulio and his team and have them look at the fence as well when they take a break from dealing with the toucan overpopulation," said Blu. His gaze then turned to the others that had examined the fence, starting with Jupiter's group.

"Do any of the rest of you have anything to report as well?" he asked. At this, Jupiter stepped forward, a look of seriousness on his face.

"Yes," he said, "While we were examining the fence further down from where Saturn's group found the breach, we saw several poachers prowling around several metres from the fence."

Mars then came in, a look of worry on his face.

"We found many of the residents who had moved out of the Blu Bird Sanctuary because of the toucans settling down in the same area as the poachers as well," he said, much to the worry of Blu. His gaze then turned to Chiquitita, "A family of golden conures were almost spotted by one of those pesky poachers until Chiquitita distracted them by leading them away by flying past them while cloaked in mud."

"It was a risky business," said Chiquitita, "But we didn't want those poachers finding those avian residents' hiding place."

As she said this, Nico came in. "This is honestly bad news, man," he said in his gangster voice laced with seriousness.

"Exactly," said Pedro in agreement, "If we don't do anything to help those residents…"

"Got that, Nico and Pedro," said Blu who already understood what the samba canary/cardinal duo was talking about. His gaze then turned to Jupiter and the others, "Coming back to the toucan problem, Tulio and his team might need our help in catching them."

"That's exactly right," said Rafael with a stern look on his face, "Since most of our grownup children have become extremely stubborn, they might try to protect their kids from our human friends' attempts to catch them."

As he said this, Diantha came forward. "Oh, Dad, as we were leaving Tulio's Aviary after visiting Ganymede, Luna, Vincent and Eragon (who send their love by the way), we came across Rita who had just broken up with her mate over a vicious argument in having another brood. She might need your comfort."

At this, Rafael shot his daughter a surprised look. "Really? Lead me to her right away."

Diantha nodded and with that, she took off, Rafael following. After the two toucans left, Jupiter smiled at Blu and his group. "Well, it's good news to hear that Tulio and his team are about to deal with the toucan problem and the poacher situation, folks and I'm also glad that Ganymede and the others are doing fine at the hospital as well," Blu smiled and with that, he, Porthos, Aramis, Bia, Carla and Tiago returned to the group as Jupiter turned to face the others, "Now all we have to do is wait for Broccoli's group to return with their report on their ground search and then we'll devise our own plans in helping Tulio and his team in catching some of those countless toucans…"

"Um, Uncle Jupiter," said Carla as something sprang into her head.

"Yes, Carla?" asked Jupiter.

"Basil's colony, according to Luna, Ganymede and Eragon, are struggling to cope with a gang of toucans who had moved to the trees outside their cave entrance. They might need our help as well," said Carla. At this, disbelief tore through the group. Then Zephyr came forward.

"What? Now Basil's colony is facing serious trouble from those pesky toucans?" he demanded. Jewel and Venus also gazed at each other in disbelief.

"That's right, Zephyr," said Blu, "Apparently, those toucans are interfering with the daily, or should I say nightly, lives of those Linda's golden orange bats that reside in the Pedra de Gavea cave. Fernando and several other bird studiers have been down there to examine the bats' activities and have found this problem."

At this, glance exchanging rolled through the group.

"Then that means Basil's colony must be included in the list of residents that might need our help," said Mars worriedly. Jupiter frowned.

"We'll keep this in mind when we organise ourselves into groups," he said, before a familiar human voice reached the group's ears. At this, Jupiter a glance at the garden or yard of Tulio and Linda's cottage and saw Linda calling to the birds that it was time for them to eat.

"Looks like your human friend has got you some food," said Nico.

"Yeah, it's lunchtime already," said Pedro and with that, the chubby cardinal gazed at his stomach which released a growl. Rose and Sparkle then flew in.

"We'll help your group get their chicks ready for the meal," said Rose and with that, she and Sparkle darted off to round up the chicks and Ferdinand. The adults also prepared to fly down to Linda. As they did that, Jewel gazed at Blu with a frown.

"You know how much I hate relying on humans for food, Blu," she muttered, "But in times like these, this will have to be an exception."

Blu just shrugged and followed her to the lawn. Nearby, Carla, Bia and Tiago joined up with Justin, Virgil and Matilda with Sonia, Melody, Einstein, Miles and Bartholomew and also Músculo, Charlotte, Jason, Jojo, Kira and Winona, Felix, Turquesa, Diego and Austin, Lavender, Garrett and Lilac and also Roberto and Brisa while Porthos and Aramis returned to Athos who was accompanied by Io, Europa, Callisto, Byron, Sheldon and Katniss and also Alexandre, Estelle, Phobos, Deimos, Kayley and Xander as they fluttered down to the lawn as well. After them came Iapetus and Rhea with Titan and Brooke with Poppy, Mimas, Enceladus and his hyacinth mate Trixie, Dione with Peter and Tethys, Oberon and their remaining chick Cressida. Next came Miranda, Aramis, Ariel, Umbriel and Benjamin with Perdita and Cecil, and Titania, Ash and Basil, Ellie, Frodo, Olivia and Achilles and then finally, Azul, Fernanda, Oceano, Sapphire, Squaw'tagnan, Phoebe, Charon, Neytiri, Blueberry, Aiden and Triton and Iris.

Close behind the group came Tom and Aurora the toucans and Stella, Soren, Sebastian, Anabelle and Ferdinand the flying foxes and Spyro and Marella the archaeobirds with Bambi with their bat-birds. Travis, Sunset, Milo, Clemont, Serena, Eustace and Rosa also touched down onto the grass with Peach, Yolanda and Oscar. As the group converged on Linda who then set out some freshly brought fruit and nuts for the group, Blu, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune began to take them and distribute them among the group. Augustus and Melissa also took to eating the food as well. However, they, along with some of the others, had noticed someone missing.

"Wait, where are Andromeda and Broccoli and the other cats and dogs?" asked Cobalto as he helped Azul and Fernanda settle Oceano down for lunch.

"Broccoli, Daisy, Collette and the greyhounds are still out in the jungle gathering information about the poachers while Andromeda's gone out on a little outing with her bat-bird Rouge," said Roberto as he and Brisa helped Jojo, Kira, Lavender, Garrett, Turquesa and Felix settle down their chicks.

"What!?" retorted Augustus in disbelief.

"By herself?" shouted Eustace as he and Serena settled Yolanda and Oscar down.

"B-b-but she's a rare archaeobird! She could be caught by some rare species-obsessed human!" shouted Melissa. At this, Tom came in.

"She'll be alright," he said, "She's just gone for a little flight out with her bat-bird Rouge and will be back in a while."

"Well, as long as she is careful then that's fine with us," said Jewel firmly. Then she turned to Sonia, Melody, Einstein, Miles and Bartholomew and commanded them to sit down as Travis, Sunset and Neptune helped to distribute the fruit and nuts amongst the group. Tom just shrugged and sat with Aurora before gazing in the direction in which his mate and father-in-law, Diantha and Rafael respectively, had left.

"I hope Rita's alright," he murmured, "Based on what happened, it doesn't sound good."

Then shrugging off the subject as unimportant, Tom prepared himself and his remaining daughter for lunch.

 **At this moment**

Andromeda continued to fly on her bat-bird Rouge over one part of the city of Rio, not too far away from Linda and Tulio's cottage. She wore a leaf cloak to conceal herself from the view of humans while she was out with her bat-bird. As she and her mount flew over the ever-changing crowd of humans as they went about their usual business, Andromeda gazed down at their activities. Andromeda had never seen a human city her entire life, much less been IN one, but she was absolutely amazed by the number of people present, as well as their inventions, such as the four-wheeled things Blu had noted to her were called cars which drove along the grey strips called roads. While the cars continued to stream down the roads, the sides, called sidewalks as Blu had told Andromeda, were flooded with people as they went to or from various destinations. Young kids played in certain areas while fruit stands were in operation in the marketplaces. Andromeda smiled in fascination at the humans but she was not very keen on the acrid smell of smoke produced by the cars or other human activity and that hovered over the city, a trait that most cities had called 'city air'. Andromeda had spent all her life living in areas with clean, fresh air with no polluting smells whatsoever, except the occasional burning smell of wood each time her clan had a fire such as for their clan dance or as a torch. It truly was a mindboggling subject to comprehend, human cities and human activities. As Andromeda continued examining the human activity from above, her blue gaze landed on a certain gathering of humans. At this, curiosity took hold and Andromeda commanded her bat-bird Rouge to carefully approach that specific crowd for she had spotted something interesting in the humans' hands. As Andromeda got closer, she realised that the interesting objects were strange double disc-like objects attached to a string. The group of humans were performing a variety of moves with these stringed discs much to the amazement of the crowd.

Intrigue taking hold, Andromeda landed her bat-bird in a safe spot and dismounted to have a closer look at these things. After gently commanding Rouge to stay put and not wander off, Andromeda crept towards the humans when she saw a collection of more objects, like the ones in the humans' hands, lying on the floor by their feet. At this, Andromeda carefully approached the performing humans and crept right up to the pile of the double-discs on strings. Then she picked one up in her wing claws and began to examine it. The object clearly resembled two discs fused together and in the gap formed between the two discs, a string was wound around the part that joined the two discs together. Andromeda then examined the string by running it through her wing claws in intrigue. Then she turned her gaze in the direction of the humans using more of these double discs with strings as one of them sent one of the double-discs, the string wrapped around her finger in a loop, spinning towards some sort of pole. The double-disc's string then caught hold of the pole and the disc swing round, winding its string around the pole. The human then pulled on the string and the disc spun the other way around the pole and unwound its string before the human flicked the string and caught it to the applause of the audience. As Andromeda watched the action, an idea entered her head and her muzzle-like beak creased into a smile as she entered inspiration mode.

 **Meanwhile**

Sandalwood and the others with him emerged from Dundee and his inner circle's meeting tent, their eyes bloodshot from crying so much. They had been escorted to Dundee's tent by Greg, Sardonyx, Sadie and Shade and also Kiara the echidna, Flax and Harakeke the kiwis and Reepicheep the platypus where Sandalwood, Acerola and the chicks all let the pressure of emotions over the trauma of their capture by the poachers yesterday loose in the form of loud sobbing and crying. A massive heap of moss had been used as tissues to soak the floods of tears shed by the 40 kids and as soon as the pressure had been released, Sandalwood and the others with him were free to return to the area where Dundee had set up the lesson about Australia.

As Sandalwood and Acerola, along with Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Petunia, Vega, Deneb and Polaris the Spix macaws; Adenine, Thymine, Guanine and Cytosine the Catalina macaws; Betelgeuse, Rigel, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka and Canopus the red macaws; Procyon, Castor and Pollux the blue-and-gold macaws; Mira the blue-and-gold/hyacinth hybrid macaw; Fomalhaut the blue-and-gold/great green hybrid macaw; Capella, Achernar and Antares the green macaws; Aldebaran the scarlet/great green hybrid macaw; Gertie the hyacinth macaw; Arcturus the Lear's macaw; Saiph, Regulus and Denebola the glaucous macaws; Carmen the blue-throated macaw; Sylvester the Cuban red macaw, Alegria the Dominican green-and-yellow macaw, Pitaya the purple-and-pink macaw, Altair the archaeobird and Gladion and Lillie the toucans behind them as they emerged in groups, trudged along the artificial grass, Sugilite the galah, Opal the rainbow lorikeet and Steven, Lars and Kevin the scarlet macaws and Connie the grey-headed flying fox all gazed at Sandalwood's group with sympathetic gazes from a branch of a nearby tree.

"Their state reminds me of that of Atreyu the emperor penguin chick when he first arrived here," whispered Steven sadly, "He wouldn't even stop crying for the first two days. In fact he's still depressed even now."

"Those two Brazilian flying fox pups and their chick friends sure seem to miss their families," murmured Lars.

"Not to mention the trauma of getting caught by those poachers and then subsequently rescued and brought here," said Connie as she watched Sandalwood's group trudge along the grass while hanging upside-down from the branch while the birds were perched on either side of where her feet grasped the arm of wood.

"Some of them look so young as well," said Opal as she gazed at Sandalwood, "That Brazilian flying fox with the amber fur doesn't look adolescent at all."

"The same seems to apply to the chicks," said Sugilite as she gazed at Sirius and the other macaws, Altair and Lillie and Gladion. The others nodded in agreement. As Sandalwood's group continued to walk along, their eyes bloodshot and tear-stained, Sardonyx gazed at them with a sombre look on her face.

"They clearly want to be back with their families, Greg, Shade and Sadie," she told the other scarlet macaw and the two grey-headed flying foxes, "They're clearly homesick."

"But haven't you heard Dundee when he discussed this with Olympia while we left?" asked Greg. At this, Sardonyx shot her mate a look. "Rio is hundreds, perhaps a few thousands, of kilometres away from here."

"Yes, it's right on the eastern coast of Brazil," added Shade.

"WAY too far for a group of such young birds and flying fox pups to fly by themselves," said Sadie. As these words reached Carmen, Arcturus, Saiph, Regulus and Denebola who were at the very back of Sandalwood's group, they flashed a very depressed glance at the quartet and continued to walk on, despair boiling within them. However, they were too tired to cry any more after that heavy episode of weeping a few minutes ago.

"And besides that," continued Greg, a glance flashed at some of the macaw chicks and also at Altair the archaeobird, "some of those youngsters are part of some critically endangered species," he flashed a glance at Alegria, Sylvester and Pitaya and nodded to them, "Particularly the Cuban macaw, the Dominican macaw and the purple-and-pink macaw since those three macaw species are highly invaluable with the former two thought to have been extinct for more than a century and the latter, a newly discovered species. Our human carers wouldn't want them to go missing."

At this, Sardonyx gazed at Sandalwood's group and sighed, clearly stuck as to what to do about the massive problem. She had to agree that this statement was true. Sympathy lacing her gaze as it remained fixed on Sandalwood's group as they trudged along, the scarlet macaw and the other three behind her continued to follow, moments before Reepicheep, Kiara, Flax and Harakeke emerged after talking with two of Dundee's inner circle monkeys about something. Like Greg, Sardonyx, Shade and Sadie, these four also wore sympathetic looks on their faces as they gazed at Sandalwood and his group as they trudged along. Sighing, the quartet followed the scarlet macaws and grey-headed flying foxes.

As Sandalwood and company walked back to the area where the class gathering area where the Australia lesson had been carried out, Sandalwood, Acerola, Sirius, Bellatrix and Spica heard commotion emanating from a nearby tree. At this, the five snapped out of their depressed state and turned their gazes towards a tree. The others behind them did the same. Behind them, Reepicheep, Kiara, Flax, Harakeke, Greg, Sardonyx, Shade and Sadie, along with Steven, Lars, Kevin, Connie, Opal and Sugilite also directed their gazes at the commotion.

"Now what's going on?" muttered Kiara indignantly.

"Sounds like some of those mischievous lizards are up to mischief again," muttered Greg. At this, Sandalwood and the others with him flashed the group a gaze and turned their attention back to the specific tree. To their surprise, they saw a strange group of black or brown mammals shouting and yelling at some reptiles in a tree.

"Will you give back our food this MINUTE, you scaly MENACES!" barked one of the adult mammals, a female Tasmanian devil, her gaze ablaze with anger and annoyance, "I've got the mouths of four hungry cubs to feed!"

Sandalwood then turned and saw four younger Tasmanian devils not too far away from the adult female, who Sandalwood and the others presumed was their mother, glare fiercely at the lizards while their mother continued shouting angry demands at the lizards. Near the mother, several other Tasmanian devils stood; angry shouts and demands also rocketing out of their mouths at the lizards. As these angry words exploded from the strange mammals' mouths at the reptiles, the group of lizards only smirked and taunted the mammals. Three of them held a large lump of pinkish-red material which Sandalwood recognised was a large piece of meat. And that trio that had their fore-claws on it weren't letting go of it.

"I'm afraid it ain't gonna happen, fur-faces," sneered one of the lizards. Then another blew a raspberry at the wolf-like creatures, its forked tongue flicking in and out. At this, the first Tasmanian devil, the mother of the four cubs, lost her temper and screeched an insult at the lizards, accompanied with a threat.

"Look, if you DON'T GIVE ME BACK THAT LUMP OF MEAT THIS MINUTE," she bellowed, her fur bristled with rage, "I'm GONNA CLIMB UP THERE AND TURN EACH AND EVERYONE OF YOU INTO A MEAL IN ITS PLACE! Our human carers have GIVEN THAT MEAT SPECIFICALLY TO US and not YOU!"

This was met by mocking laughter from the lizards and one of them childishly repeated the female devil's words, much to the outrage of the devils standing at the foot of the tree. Then Greg stood forward, a look of outrage on his face.

"Time to bring in Dundee, I think," he muttered.

"We'll see to that," said Kiara and with that, the echidna trotted off, Flax and Harakeke in tow. As the three left to fetch the emu leader, Betelgeuse and Rigel were about to spread their wings and fly to the lizards but Sardonyx stepped in front of them.

"Leave this to us, please," she said gently. At this, Betelgeuse and her sister retracted their wings and stood back as Sardonyx and Greg opened theirs and lofted into flight. Shade and Sadie also took off from an elevated rock to help. As the four left, Carmen gazed at Reepicheep.

"Has Mrs Sardonyx had a skirmish with one of them leading her to having that patch of non-uniform feathers?" asked the blue-throated macaw chick. Reepicheep, at this, shook his head.

"No, the lizard in which Sardonyx got into a tussle with is not of that troublesome group," he said. At this, Carmen gazed at the platypus with surprise when an argument outburst suddenly made her jump and pull her attention back to the lizards' tree.

"Look, Ronno, that lump of meat belongs to Mina and her cubs, GIVE IT BACK!" bellowed Sardonyx's voice.

"Yes, it's NOT YOURS!" added Shade's voice. Carmen, along with the others especially Steven, Lars, Connie and Kevin, flinched as they watched Sardonyx, Greg, Shade and Sadie begin to wrestle with the largest male lizard who Carmen assumed was called Ronno, for the lump of meat. Then as the tussle escalated into a full-blown skirmish, more birds and flying foxes, along with the mammals that could climb trees, such as monkeys, rushed in to help. Reepicheep also darted off to see what he could do from the ground.

"Stay there, kids," he commanded as he left. Opal and Sugilite came in.

"That clan of rare lizards are often a menace to the rest of us," Opal told Sandalwood and the others with him, "They are highly mischievous and at times like to cause the rest of us trouble like steal our food."

"Do they also play pranks?" asked Gladion.

"Yes but that is quite rare," said Sugilite. The unusually purple galah's face then turned dark, "But when they do, it usually involves traps such as a vine tied into a loop and placed in such a way that when those lizards' target walks by and puts their foot into the loop, that loop is tied and the target is trapped, ensnared by the foot."

Sandalwood and the others, especially Gladion and Lillie, flinched in revulsion. This style of pranking reminded them of Lillie and Gladion's countless cousins' borderline-malicious pranks.

"They'll usually go for anyone who has food on them to steal it," said Connie, her face twisted into disgust, "Mom had fallen into one of those pesky lizards' traps before while she was carrying some fruit while she was pregnant with me and she flew right into a web built by those lizards and they took her food from her."

"No way," retorted Bellatrix in disbelief. Connie, however, nodded to conform that she was not making it up. Suddenly, the group's attention was pulled back to the skirmish.

"Where did those lizards with that lump of meat go!?"

"Do you know where they have gone, Sardonyx?"

"No, Shade, I can't see those lizards with the meat lump anywhere… OOW!"

At this, Sandalwood and the others flinched as they picked out Sardonyx as one of the lizards, its face creased into near-malicious mischief, clamped its jaws onto the feathers of the unusually orange scarlet macaw's left wing and began to pull, sending shooting pain through Sardonyx's wing. Sardonyx, screeched of rage and pain exploding from her beak then retaliated by applying her claws at her attacker to get it to release her wing. A monkey then came in and wrapped its arms around the lizard in an attempt to yank the lizard away from Sardonyx as she clawed at it. While the skirmish cloud continued to writhe and rage in the tree, the lizards holding the lump of meat belonging to Mina and her cubs sneaked away along another branch and leaped into a leaf cluster on the end of a branch of an adjacent tree to hide. Sandalwood saw them sneak into hiding.

"Oh, no, you don't," he said in a low voice and hurried off towards the tree in which the lizards had gone into hiding.

"Sandalwood," called Sirius and with that he, Acerola, Bellatrix, Steven and Connie followed while the others including Betelgeuse and Rigel, not wanting to get involved, stayed behind. At the foot of the tree where the skirmish continued to rage, Reepicheep called to the tree animals while Mina and the other Tasmanian devils including Mina's four cubs, continued to glare impatiently as they waited for their meat lump, and their meal.

"Have you found that meat lump yet?" he shouted. No answer, for the animals were too busy fighting the lizards. Losing patience, a young Tasmanian devil came in and shoved the platypus aside.

"Let me deal with this," he said and with that, he began to scale the tree despite Mina's protests.

"Hey, get back here," said Mina feistily and with that, she latched onto the young devil's tail with her mouth but the tail slipped out of her teeth and the young devil continued to climb the trunk towards the skirmish. A huff of frustration escaping her mouth and unable to follow the youngster due to her size for adult Tasmanian devils found tree climbing difficult, Mina sat back down.

While the skirmish continued to rage with angry words, squawks, screeches and hisses exploding from the storm cloud, the three lizards holding the lump of meat continued to hide in the leaf cluster of the adjacent tree, looks of sheer amusement lacing their faces as they continued to watch the animals searching for Mina's meat search their little group of lizards in vain. However, they were about to face their own opponents. Below the trio, Sandalwood, Sirius, Acerola, Bellatrix, Steven and Connie arrived directly below the branch.

"There they are," said Acerola. Steven then gazed at the skirmishers.

"None of those grownup monkeys, birds or flying foxes has noticed those three with the meat yet," he said. Then Sirius, a look of determination on his face, opened his wings and took off.

"Where are you going?" asked Bellatrix.

"To reason with those lizards and get them to give up the meat," said Sirius and with that, the blue-white Spix macaw ascended towards the branch. Back in the leaf cluster, the trio of lizards continued to watch the skirmish, the lump of meat that was large enough to feed a clutch of four Tasmanian devil cubs, clutched in their claws, continued to titter at the storm cloud of various animals, among them their clan of lizards.

"None of those birdies or furred hairballs has seen us yet," tittered one of them to his two companions, a male and another female, in amusement. The other two smiled widely and nodded. However, that cloud of amusement was broken by a young but stern macaw voice.

"Guess again, you three scaly meat thieves!" at this, the trio of lizards, their amused looks replaced instantly by surprise, turned and saw a bright white-tinted electric blue macaw with a slender build, spec-like facial markings around his eyes like his father Virgil and a sheet of feathers behind his head like his mother Bia, glare at them with a fiery brown gaze. The three lizards' eyes ballooned with fear as Sirius raised a talon and flared the claws.

"Stick 'em up," he barked, aiming his claws at the three reptiles, making them flinch, "And drop that lump of meat!"

He then shoved the claw-flared talon at the ringleader's face, making him quiver, "You're enraging an Australian mother marsupial of four hungry cubs," Sirius growled. At this, the three lizards exchanged confused glances as a scarlet macaw and a grey-headed flying fox appeared. Connie then shot Sirius a look.

"Mar-soop-i-al?" she said, struggling with the term. Sirius gazed at her and said, "Mammals with a pouch for their young such as kangaroos."

As he said this, the mischievous looks returned to the lizards' faces and they defiantly hid the lump of meat behind them.

"I'm afraid this meat is ours, you three sky pests," crooned the ringleader. The other two lizards hissed with laughter as Steven and Connie's eyes flashed with revulsion at the taunt while Sirius glared at the reptilian trio. Below the group, Acerola, Bellatrix and Sandalwood, together with Betelgeuse, Rigel, Sugilite, Opal and the other kids with them, gazed at the confrontation.

"Sirius, Steven and Connie's confronting of those three isn't going anywhere, folks," said Gladion worriedly. Then Altair the archaeobird saw movement out the corner of his eye. However, before he could turn his gaze at the movement, he heard and explosive "HEY!" that made him and the others jump. The other kids flashed their gaze from Sirius, Steven and Connie and the three lizards to the shouter and when they saw what it was, shudders rolled through them.

"One of the adult lizards," cried Sugilite in horror. Then moments later, the group of kids found themselves confronted by several more adult lizards who drove them back with fierce hisses and jaw snaps.

"Leave those three kids and the meat up there alone, you bunch of young interfering nuisances," growled one of them, "Or face the consequences."

"What consequences!?" retorted Aldebaran rhetorically. At this, Betelgeuse and Rigel flashed the great green/scarlet hybrid macaw a glare.

"Manners, cousin," said Rigel under her breath. Sandalwood also stepped to the front and made a defiant facial look.

"Look, that piece of meat belongs to those Tasmanian devils over there," he shouted, "It's not yours."

"NOSES AND BEAKS OUT!" bellowed another of the adult lizards and with that, it lunged forward and released a massive hiss at the kids; making screams of fright erupt from most of them. From the skirmish in the tree, Sardonyx flashed a glance from the cloud upon hearing those screams.

"SANDALWOOD, KIDS!" she barked. Sirius, Steven and Connie also shot glares at Sandalwood and the others when they heard them scream as well but the moment they dropped their attention, one of the lizards, the female lunged at Sirius, spun round and swiped him across the face with her tail, hard. Steven and Connie released horrified shrieks as Sirius tumbled from the tree towards the ground. Upon seeing him fall, Gertie the hyacinth macaw opened her wings and rocketed towards the falling Spix macaw, snatching him up in her talons a split-second before he hit the floor. Then the three lizards holding the piece of meat turned their attention to Steven and Connie and began to attack them, forcing the young scarlet macaw and grey-headed fox into defending themselves. Sandalwood saw the duo enter their own skirmish while Acerola, Bellatrix and the others with them including Sugilite, Opal, Lars and Kevin began to combat the adult lizards as they continued to threaten them. With both groups distracted and Sardonyx, Shade, Greg and Sadie's group still dealing with the other lizards in the tree, the young flying fox's gaze flashed this way and that until it landed on the tree trunk. Sandalwood's gaze then travelled up the trunk and when it saw that the branch on which the three lizards with the meat, Steven and Connie were on was attached to it, the flying fox pup felt the instinct to help his new friends explosively take control within him. However, that instinct had blinded him to his fear of heights and Sandalwood rushed straight towards the tree trunk with no thought to his fear, especially as he saw the three lizards begin to overpower Steven and Connie.

Latching his wing thumbs and then his foot claws onto the bark, Sandalwood proceeded to hastily climb the tree trunk like a desperate squirrel. From not too far away, Bellatrix, who had managed to tackle one of the adult lizards in the face to distract it from hissing and frightening the other kids, saw an amber furred flying fox pup quickly scale up the tree trunk towards the branch here Steven, Connie and the three lizards with the lump of meat were brawling.

"Guys, LOOK!" she called. However, the others were too involved in dealing with the adult lizards to even notice, so Bellatrix was left to watch the action by herself. Nearby, Mina and two other Tasmanian devils rushed in just in time to see Sandalwood make it to the node of the branch where it joined the tree trunk when their eyes found a flash of pink-red amongst the brawling mini-cloud of black and grey fur and membranous wings, red, blue and yellow feathers and vivid green scales. The three lizards continued brawling Steven and Connie, their claws grasping the lump of meat fiercely as the scarlet macaw chick and grey-headed pup tried to get them to release it only to be struck in the face by thrashing tails, or kicks or smacks from lizard claws and feet. However, the three reptiles were so engrossed in fighting Steven and Connie that they didn't notice that someone else was sneaking upon them from behind. As the ringleader managed to overpower Steven's defences and whack him hard with his tail, knocking him down, a flying fox screech erupted, but it wasn't from Connie who was in front of them. That flying fox cry came from behind the three lizards. The three lizards paused but before they could turn and face the screech's owner, they were set upon by an amber furred flying fox. Sandalwood jumped onto the backs of one of the lizards and wrapped his wings around his neck while Connie lunged at the other two to subdue them. Taken by surprise, the three young lizards lost their grip on the lump of meat. The large lump plummeted towards the floor only to land in the jaws of three Tasmanian devils, among them Mina. As soon as the three had caught the meat, Mina and her companions dashed away in the direction of the other devils, including Mina's four cubs as they eagerly waited for their meal.

The skirmish between the lizards and the other animals continued until finally, a cassowary and some large monkeys dashed in and began to break things up. The monkeys made a beeline for the brawlers in the main tree while Olympia rushed at the adult lizards threatening Acerola, Sugilite, Opal and the others with them and began to drive them away. Sandalwood and Connie also drove away the three lizards that had pinched the meat, making them retreat to the rest of their comrades. Then a loud bark shook the air.

"BRIGHT GREEN LIZARDS, WILL YOU LOT COME HERE RIGHT NOW!"

The lizards, upon hearing this, flinched before the large monkeys and Olympia proceeded to drive them towards Dundee who had screeched the order. As this happened, things soon calmed down and Sardonyx, Greg, Shade and Sadie, a few bruises marking them, touched down beside Sirius, Bellatrix, Gertie, Steven, Acerola and the other kids, puffs and pants escaping their beaks and mouths.

"I think that's quite enough mischief from those bright green lizards," muttered Greg disgustedly as the clan of lizards gathered around Dundee to receive a good scolding, "The last thing we want is any of them causing trouble."

"Definitely," said Reepicheep as he came in with Kiara, Flax and Harakeke. Then the adults turned their attention to the kids.

"Is everyone alright?" asked Sardonyx. Betelgeuse was about to answer when suddenly, a petrified scream erupted from a nearby tree. At this, all gazes turned to said tree and when they saw the screamer, astounded gasps entered the beaks of Sirius and company, and Acerola's mouth. Sandalwood, who had climbed onto the branch to help Steven and Connie deal with the three lizards holding the lump of meat belonging to the Tasmanian devils, had only just realised that he had climbed a branch and was thus above the ground. The fear of heights had been overshadowed by Sandalwood's determination to help Steven and Connie deal with the lizards but now that he had noticed where he was, that fear had resurfaced… violently. Screams escaping his mouth and ignoring Connie's protests to hang on, Sandalwood lost his balance and began to plummet. As he did that, Saiph, Regulus and Denebola the glaucous macaws dashed off towards him and before Sandalwood could hit the ground, he was caught by the wings and head hair in three pairs of talons. At this, Sandalwood looked up and saw Saiph, Regulus and Denebola hovering above him, holding him by the wings and hair. Then as soon as they had caught him, the three glaucous macaws gently dropped Sandalwood onto the ground just as the others turned up and Connie touched down nearby.

Sandalwood continued to shake violently from the shock as he was swallowed up by a multi-coloured blanket of wings from his relieved friends and cousin Acerola. As the group pulled away, Sirius gazed at the amber flying fox pup with a gleaming smile, the first one he had formed since Sandalwood's incident back in Rio a few days ago.

"Did you know what you've just done, Sandy?" he asked.

"What?" asked Sandalwood.

"You've just climbed a tree despite your fear of heights," cried Bellatrix in joy.

"And you've managed to save that lump of meat belonging to Mina and her cubs," said Sardonyx with a smile, "I've seen Mina and two of the other devils catch that meat as it fell."

"And you also helped us deal with those lizards in the process," said Steven joyfully. Connie nodded in agreement. Sandalwood swayed, disbelief clouding his listening. Had he really climbed that tree trunk despite his immense height fear? As this thought swirled in his mind, Acerola, along with Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Petunia, Vega, Deneb and Polaris; and Adenine, Thymine, Guanine and Cytosine; Betelgeuse, Rigel, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka and Canopus; Procyon, Castor and Pollux; Mira, Fomalhaut, Capella, Achernar and Antares, Aldebaran, Gertie the hyacinth macaw, Arcturus,

Saiph, Regulus and Denebola, Carmen, Sylvester, Alegria, Pitaya, Altair the archaeobird and Gladion and Lillie all came around Sandalwood and began to praise him.

"You've taken your first step in overcoming your fear of heights!" cried Pitaya.

"Let's give three cheers for Sandalwood," cried Spica. At this, Sardonyx, Greg, Steven, Lars and Kevin, Connie, Sadie, Shade, Opal and Sugilite exchanged smiles as Sandalwood's friends and Acerola shouted, "Hip, hip, horaaay!" three times. Sandalwood smiled as his friends cheered, pride glowing within him for the first time since his incident at the clutches of Isabella and her comrades back in Rio. He felt that he had finally achieved something.


	31. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30- confrontations and another problem**

 **Later**

"I can't believe you just scurried up that tree trunk to help Connie deal with those pesky bright green lizards that had the Tasmanian devils' meat, Sandalwood," said Bellatrix with a wide smile as she and Sandalwood walked along through a clearing in the artificial jungle bordered by flower bushes and burrows. Accompanying them were Acerola, Altair, Pitaya, Sylvester, Alegria, Gladion and Lillie, Sirius, Spica, and Procyon, Castor and Pollux, Arcturus, Saiph, Regulus, Denebola and Aldebaran. The rest of the group including Betelgeuse and Rigel were back at Greg and Shade's little bird and flying fox clan helping to treat some of the minor injuries some of the bats, birds and also monkeys had sustained during the skirmish with Ronno's lizard group for the meat for the Tasmanian devils, among them Sardonyx who had sustained a minor wing injury when one of the lizards had latched onto the feathers of her wing and had pulled on them. Sandalwood and the others currently with them had decided to go for a walk to take a break after helping in the skirmish and wanted to focus on other things.

Sandalwood sighed as Bellatrix, Sirius, Spica and the others with them continued to smile proudly at him for climbing up the branch despite his fear of heights. Despite the wave of pride he had felt after that achievement, Sandalwood still felt uncertainty gnaw at him greatly. The fear of heights was still rooted within him and he had freaked out after he had realised he had climbed up an elevated branch, and he was uncertain as to whether he'd be able to overcome that immense fear and fly again, as well as sleep upside down from branches with his family in addition. Sandalwood sighed again as the thoughts of his mother Stella's loving embrace by her wings and breast fur while he and his mother hung upside down churned in his mind. As these thoughts boiled in the little amber flying fox's mind, Procyon wore a frown on his face as his gaze scanned the jungle.

"It certainly is quite an advanced construct," he said as he examined the trees and bushes as well as a small stream nearby, "It honestly resembles a real habitat."

"Yeah, but don't forget that it's not real," growled Alegria, disgust at the rather advanced construction of the artificial jungle still lacing her mind, "Although the trees and the other plants are natural, this so-called 'habitat', nothing at ALL like the natural environment."

"Quite right," said Aldebaran the Verde macaw in agreement, "It's more like a zoo than a conservation area," the colourful chick's gaze then flashed to a path on the other side of a steel mesh dotted by some humans as they walked past, "Especially with those path things running by. Humans could easily gaze at us like they would at those zoo areas."

"I sometimes feel like we're part of some sort of collection of rare animals," said Spica with a frown, "But what surprises me most is that many of the animals here are so happy and contented."

"I think it's probably because they're well-fed and cared for?" asked Regulus as he walked with Denebola and Saiph, "And as far as this feeling of being part of a collection is concerned, I don't think those humans are collecting us. I believe they're trying to help in the conservation of rare animals."

"What, by ripping us away from our home and then stuffing us in here?" snapped Sylvester angrily, making Regulus, Saiph and Denebola flinch as his angry glare pierced them, "I think not."

"Well, the majority of the animals ARE rescued from poachers after all," retorted Saiph in protest, "Such as us."

"Yeah, but we still wanna be back with our families," murmured Denebola sadly as thoughts about Neytiri and Charon, her and Regulus's parents and also Saiph's parents, Aiden and Blueberry, flashed in her mind. Saiph and Regulus's faces also fell as did those of Arcturus, Acerola, Altair, Pitaya, Sylvester, Alegria, Gladion and Lillie, Sirius, Spica, and Procyon, Castor and Pollux, and Aldebaran.

"Yeah, and on top of that, none of the animals here know how they are gonna get us back to Rio as well," said Gladion before his gaze turned to the rare macaws and Altair, "Especially since those humans aren't going to allow you rare individuals out of here."

Some of them, such as Alegria, just huffed at this in anger and continued walking.

"But there HAS to be a way out of here and back to Rio, surely," muttered Sandalwood. This, however, was met by disagreeing faces.

"There isn't, Sandy," said Sirius, "We're stuck here."

"That's right," put in Altair, "Those humans who look after this place, like Gladion said, wouldn't want us to go missing anyway."

Sandalwood, at this, gazed at Sirius and the archaeobird chick in disappointment and had to agree. All possible options seemed to meet a dead end and despair hung over Sandalwood and the others like a black cloud. Will they ever see their families again? As the group continued to walk along, nearby in some trees, a group of frogs of a rare species based on their golden orange skins hopped from one branch to another close to the floor when movement made some of the leaves shudder. One of the orange frogs, at this, flashed a startled glance at the movement, which was a shadowy figure, as it passed by a bush. The shadowy figure was shaped like a lizard but it had a strange pair of sticks on its head. The strange lizard then glared up at the frog with menacing eyes that glowed like a cat's eyes in the dark. Frightened, the frog croaked and hopped away as the lizard with the pair of sticks on its head continued slinking through the shadow of the bush towards the clearing, that same clearing through which Sandalwood and the others with him were walking.

As Sandalwood, Acerola, Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix and the rest continued walking along, Acerola's ears flicked to alert mode as they picked up some sounds. At this, the auburn flying fox stiffened and her blue eyes widened. The others stopped when they saw Acerola enter alert mode.

"What is it, Acerola?" asked Lillie as she and Gladion looked on in wonder at their bat friend's change of behaviour. Acerola didn't verbally reply but instead raised a membranous wing to tell the toucan to be quiet. Then Procyon, Castor, Pollux and Aldebaran came by and began to scan the environment while Acerola remained alert. When they saw nothing, Castor said, "Honestly, Acerola, there's nothing around here that could be dangerous."

"But I heard some leaves rustle," said Acerola.

"Oh, it's probably some harmless animal picking some fruit or leaves from a bush to eat or something," said Pollux.

"Yeah, this place is perfectly safe," added Procyon, "There aren't any bird easting animals around here."

"And besides that," added Gladion, "All the animals that live here who eat meat, such as the Tasmanian devil group, only eat the meat provided to them by the human carers anyway."

As he spoke, Aldebaran's gaze happened to turn in a certain direction until his eyes landed on something rather strange as it emerged from one of the bushes. At this, the half great green, half scarlet macaw let loose a short and frightened squawk, making all gazes turn in his direction.

"Arrgh, it's an ALIEN!" he screeched. Sandalwood, Acerola, Sirius, Bellatrix, Spica and the others, their surprised gazes on Aldebaran as he shuddered with his emerald green eyes inflated by fear and his lime green, azure blue, red and yellow plumage showing the combination of traits from his scarlet father Benjamin and great green mother Umbriel bush out like a frightened cat's fur. Then Sandalwood and the others' gazes followed Aldebaran's gaze until it landed on what was striking fear into him. Slinking out of the bushes before the two bats, 14 macaw chicks, archaeobird and two toucan chicks was a lizard but then Sirius noticed something odd about the shape of the creature's head, front feet and eyes. The two eyes seemed to be on some sort of turrets and were moving independently of each other. The front feet resembled flattened hands while lobes emanated from the sides of the creature's head. On top of the head of the creature was a dome with two stubby antennae sticking up. The group felt shivers course through their skins and nerves, raise their feathers and fur and inflate their eyes and they began to emit nervous groans as the creature approached them. This continued until Arcturus noticed something not as frightening about the creature as it slinked out of the shadows and into the light. At this, she stopped shivering.

"Wait a minute, folks," said the Lear's macaw with a perplexed look, "That's no _alien_."

The others stopped shivering and gazed harder at the lizard before them as it stopped. Most of its body was covered with green scales and its eyes appeared to be on a pair of short turrets and those turrets were pointed at Sandalwood and his group as the creature glared at them. Flat lobes fanned out from either side of the creatures head and its front hands had a pair of flat pads oriented opposite to each other. The same was true for the back feet and its tail was curled into a spiral. Atop the creature's head was a silvery cap and jutting from that cap was a pair of short, stubby antennae but then Sandalwood noticed another stick protruding directly out of the front of the creature's cap. This stick was longer and it ended in some sort of ball with a blue glow at the end. Sirius then identified the creature's species.

"It's a _chameleon,"_ he said in shock. The others also gazed at the lizard as it continued to glare back at them, unmoving and looking rather suspicious. There was a moment of silence hanging over the group until finally, Denebola broke it.

"I believe he looks rather curious," she said as she gazed at the chameleon's suspicious look.

"I think it looks rather alert of our presence, rather than curious," said Bellatrix as she examined the chameleon's glare.

"Maybe it's never seen Spix, Lear's, glaucous, Cuban red, Dominican green-and-yellow, and purple-and-pink macaws and archaeobirds before?" asked Acerola. She then gazed at where the chameleon's glare was aiming, "It's definitely looking at Sirius, Bellatrix, Spica, Arcturus, Saiph, Regulus, Denebola, Sylvester, Alegria and Pitaya."

As she said this, Procyon began to cautiously approach the chameleon.

"Procyon!" shouted Sirius, making the blue-and-gold chick shoot him a startled gaze, "Be careful. That reptile might be a little unfriendly since it has not seen us before."

Procyon nodded and began to take a few slow steps towards the chameleon. As he cautiously approached the cap-wearing lizard as it continued boring into him with its suspicious glare, Procyon stopped and began to open up to the creature.

"Hi, whatever you are," he said, trying to supress the nervousness within him, "I'm Procyon, and I'm a blue-and-gold macaw chick," he stepped aside to reveal the others with him, gesturing to them with his wing, "And these are my friends, among them two of my cousins, Castor and Pollux," Procyon then retracted his wing and made a friendly smile, "What's your name?"

The chameleon, however, did not answer but only hardened its gaze on Procyon. Behind the chick, Sirius and the others gazed at the chameleon warily, especially as the creature slowly lowered its head. Procyon shrugged and continued, "Oh, I see, you must be shy. Well, that's understandable…"

The chameleon still didn't reply and continued to pierce Procyon with its rather suspicious glare. Its turret-like eyes narrowed and it began to let loose a small hiss.

"Uh, Procyon," said Pitaya, "I don't think that chameleon likes you standing too close to it."

Procyon, upon seeing the chameleon's eyes become narrower, indicating anger rising, as well as hearing the hiss emanate through its mouth, felt nerves within him fire up all the more, before he began to think about backing away from the seemingly-irate creature but before he could bolt and return to Sandalwood's group, Gladion and Lillie heard footsteps behind them.

"Oh, someone's coming," the two toucans called. At this, the macaws, Sandalwood, Acerola and Altair flashed a glance behind them and when they saw that someone approach them, the group darted off towards the bushes and hid in them, Procyon not too far behind. Moments later, the group parted the leaves of the bush and peered out and soon enough, they saw a penguin chick walk in. Alegria immediately recognised the chick based on its grey downy feathers and black and white head.

"Oh, it's that emperor penguin chick Atreyu," she said in a low voice.

"He looks awfully miserable," said Pitaya as she examined the look on the chick's face. Indeed he was. Atreyu was as miserable and as depressed as before. His eyes were weeping tears and his head was bowed. In his sadness he failed to notice the chameleon with the strange cap watching him nearby. As the penguin chick then sat down, three more young penguins appeared. Two of them were grey entirely but their fronts were a paler shade while the other was patchily grey, black and white and had a cluster of thin yellow feathers emanating from above his eyes. Spica immediately recognised these two penguin species.

"A pair of young chinstrap penguins and a macaroni adolescent," she said in a low voice.

"They must be some of Atreyu's friends," said Acerola. Sandalwood and the others watched as the three penguins began to try to talk to Atreyu. However, they were speaking in such low voices that their words were too difficult to decipher. Sandalwood and company watched as the emperor penguin chick snapped his gaze away from the trio, obviously not wanting to take in their comfort.

"Leave me alone, Tiana, Jacques and Finnick!" snapped Atreyu's voice suddenly, making the trio of penguins flinch and Sandalwood's group jump, "You don't understand how MUCH I miss my family and clan!"

Sandalwood and the others exchanged glances.

"He obviously doesn't want their company," murmured Alegria warily, "It seems to be a very sensitive subject for him."

"Is that why he yelled at you to scram the other night when you were watching him sing that sad song about how he misses his family?" asked Sylvester. Alegria was about to reply when Sirius said, "Look, the chameleon."

At this, Alegria and Sylvester's gaze returned to the cap-wearing chameleon as it began to slowly slink away when suddenly, it stopped. It was then that Sandalwood and company heard the sounds of voices fly in from behind the three penguins as they continued to console Atreyu. However, those voices were laced with a familiar, negative mood, like the voices of Isabella and her comrades when they taunted Sandalwood back in Rio. Sandalwood saw the heads of the two chinstrap penguin chicks and macaroni adolescent snap up in the direction of the speakers which were later revealed to be a group of young flying foxes, lizards and some monkeys, but the looks on these youngsters' faces sent shivers down Sandalwood's spine, especially as they approached the four penguins.

"Uh, oh, I sense trouble brewing," he said. with that, the flying fox pup began to prepare to emerge from the hiding place with Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Acerola and the others also preparing as a confrontation between the four penguin chicks and the group of bats, monkeys and lizards began to unfold.

Back in the clearing, Atreyu, along with Jacques and Tiana the chinstrap penguins and Finnick the macaroni penguin, glared at the group of flying foxes, monkeys and lizards as they stopped before the quartet. All the bats, lizards and monkeys wore scornful and mean looks on their faces. A large female flying fox who had jet black fur with flecks of gold dotting the fur of her lower body then stepped forward. She was a rare and endangered Livingstone's fruit bat, a flying fox species that comes from the African island of Madagascar. As her eyes, which were coloured brown and laced with unfriendliness and scorn, pierced the four penguins, she said, "Well, what do we have here? That miserable wailing emperor penguin who keeps weeping and sobbing about his family and land, eh?"

Her comrades burst into laughing as she said this. At this, Atreyu's three friends shot the fruit bat at the front stepped forward.

"Look, Lusamine," snapped the macaroni penguin, his voice silky and as attractive and handsome as his looks, "When are you gonna stop picking on poor Atreyu about that subject?"

Nearby, Sirius, Bellatrix and Spica's eyes widened. The macaroni penguin's voice reminded them of Roberto back in Rio, and the young adolescent penguin also had a very attractive look about him as well, but his golden eyes were laced with outrage as they bore into the lead fruit bat. Then one of the monkeys, a male brown spider monkey, let loose a snicker.

"Oh, my, my, testy, ain't we," he crooned, "Quite a sour attitude you've got for such a handsome young penguin with a sweet, sweet, soothing voice, eh, Finnick?"

The macaroni penguin named Finnick flinched in disgust as Lusamine's group released another roll of laughter.

"Good one, Guzma," said one of the other brown spider monkeys, a female, in the group to the first male, who smiled. Then one of the young chinstrap penguins stepped in.

"This isn't a joke, you know," she said, "Let me tell ya something, you mockers, some of us have been torn from our families and homes and Atreyu here is just one of them."

"Maybe he should have drowned in that fishing net instead," said one of the lizards, a very rare Warren's galliwasp (coloured dark brown with a lighter rusty brown underside) insensitively, "At least that would have put him out of his misery instead of being brought here where he would drive everyone else around the tree with his wailing."

"He sounds like a banshee at night," said another lizard, a rare iguana and with that, more laughs escaped Lusamine's group. That struck a nerve, and it made Atreyu jump to his feet as though the ground had suddenly heated up. Storming over to the galliwasp, the emperor penguin sized the reptile by the neck and yanked him up close to his beak.

"What did you just say, CATO!?" snarled the emperor penguin fiercely. The galliwasp, named Cato, then began to struggle and writhe with his front hands on the emperor penguin chick's flipper wing as it almost cut off his breathing since it was grasping his neck so tightly. Then a bundle of black and tawny speckled fur lunged in and tackled Atreyu in the side, making him drop the lizard who then crashed to the ground and began to fill his lungs with air and choke.

"You release Cato this minute, you RUNT!" snarled Lusamine as she bowled Atreyu over. Laughter escaped her comrades' mouths as Atreyu fell on his back and glared at the Livingstone's fruit bat bitterly. Then Tiana, Jacques and Finnick stepped in only to be knocked down by the spider monkey named Guzma, again to the laughter of the group of bullies.

"You know you penguin chicks are outright useless," said Lusamine scornfully and nastily, making the four penguins wince, especially Atreyu who felt the hurt from that remark sting him like a jellyfish and bring tears to his eyes. Then Lusamine nodded to Guzma the spider monkey. The brown monkey nodded in return and advanced towards Atreyu and, with a long arm, seized the emperor penguin chick by the back feathers and lifted him off the ground to the alarm of the two chinstrap penguin chicks and macaroni adolescent.

"Put him down!" shouted Finnick but all he got was no answer.

"I'm sorry, worm-head," said Lusamine nastily as Guzma walked away with Atreyu in his grasp, "We've gotta do something to him first."

She then nodded to some of her flying fox comrades and they gathered around Finnick and the chinstrap chicks to prevent them from rescuing Atreyu, much to their alarm and horror, especially as they watched the spider monkey walk away with Atreyu helplessly dangling in his grasp.

"Let's throw him into a tree or sommat," said one of the other rare monkeys, "Maybe it'll give him sad and depressing to sing about rather than his miserable family…"

Atreyu continued writhing and protesting to release himself but Guzma's grip on his nape feathers remained iron. Nearby, the chameleon with the cap watched the drama between the bullies and Atreyu with a blank expression. As the spider monkey positioned himself in front of a tree and prepared to toss the emperor penguin chick at the branches when, "Stop right there and PUT THATR EMPEROR PENGUIN CHICK DOWN at ONCE!" and "Yeah, or we'll bring Dundee here!"

At this, Lusamine and her gang froze and then turned to see two young flying foxes, one with amber fur and the other with auburn fur, three cerulean or blue macaw chicks, three blue and yellow chicks, one multi-coloured macaw chick, three turequoise or blue macaw chicks with grey heads and necks, one darker blue macaw with teal markings on her face, a scarlet-like macaw, a bright green and yellow macaw with red around her eyes and on her wings and tail, and a purple and pink macaw, a pair of toucans and a strange four-winged bird with a prehensile tail like a lizard storm in with angry expressions on their faces. At first, there was a moment of stunned silence hanging over Lusamine's gang and Atreyu, who hung in Guzma's grasp, was gazing in surprise at Sandalwood and his group as they boldly approached the group of bullying lizards, bats and monkeys, but then Lusamine broke it with a scorn and mockery laced voice. Behind Lusamine's group, the chameleon watched Sandalwood's group, especially the macaws but its eyes were burning with anger and it was shuddering as though it were agitated by the macaws' presence.

"Well, well if it ain't them Rio parrots and bats," said the Madagascan black and tawny fruit bat meanly, "Not come to get involved are we?"

"No, we just want you to release that emperor penguin chick," snapped Sandalwood boldly, to his surprise. 'Am I really being this bold, especially since that horrible confrontation with Isabella and her comrades back in Rio which didn't go down too well at all?'

Glances were exchanged amongst Lusamine's group, including the bats that barred Finnick, Tiana and Jacques from getting to Atreyu but then smiles appeared on the group's faces and laughter escaped their mouths.

"'No, we just want you to release that emperor penguin chick'!" crooned the Warren's galliwasp named Cato immaturely in mockery to Sandalwood's demand, much to the disgust of the amber flying fox pup, "You sure are dumb, ain't you?"

At this, Acerola stormed forward, a look of thunder on her face. "Who are you calling 'dumb', dumb-dumb-lizard!?" she retorted, much to Cato's shock. At this, a pink iguana which Spica identified as a Galápagos pink land iguana came forward and stood before Cato, a stormy look on his face.

"How DARE you call my friend a dumb-dumb-lizard, fox-face!" he retorted at Acerola, making the flying fox pup's auburn fur bristle. Then Alegria stepped forward but as she did so, Lusamine's mouth widened into a mocking smile.

"And I presume you're that supposed-to-be-extinct green-and-yellow macaw, am I right?" she said meanly, before her gaze turned to Sylvester and Altair, "Same with the Cuban macaw and that feathered dino-bird."

"I'm NOT a dinosaur!" retorted Altair fiercely. Suddenly, a long arm appeared and seized the archaeobird chick by the neck. Altair gasped in shock as a spider monkey, one of Guzma's friends, picked him up and then began to examine him.

"But you've got some primitive traits," said the monkey as the chick writhed in his hand, "Teeth in your beak… claws on your wings… a moveable tail… something modern birds lack entirely… and feathered legs…"

He then forcibly slammed Altair back onto the ground. Sirius, Spica and Bellatrix rushed forward and helped him to his feet as Gladion and Lillie stepped forward to confront the spider monkey.

"For your information, tree monkey," said Gladion fiercely, gesturing to Altair, "While it may be true that the archaeobird, which has supposed to have gone extinct with the dinosaurs, may have traits that no other bird has, that doesn't make them primitive."

"Same with the platypus and the echidna," put in Lillie, "They may lay eggs even though they are mammals but that's not to say that they are _primitive_ mammals."

"Oh, you mean those duck-billed and mutated long-snouted hedgehog friends of yours?" crooned Lusamine meanly, "Yeah, right."

"Hey, that's Reepicheep and Kiara you're taking about!" snapped Bellatrix.

"Yeah, they're part of Dundee's inner circle," put in Aldebaran, "You shouldn't say stuff like that about them behind their backs."

At this, Lusamine and her comrades flinched at the mentioning of Dundee. Dundee may be a kind and gentle emu but whenever he entered rebuking mode, he can be very frightening, as Sandalwood remembered when he scolded Ronno's clan for the trouble some time ago, and he would not tolerate comments like these made about his inner circle supporters such as Reepicheep and Kiara. However, the mentioning of Dundee did not stop the scornful and condescending glares return to Lusamine and her gang's faces. Then a macaroni penguin dashed in after sneaking past the flying foxes blocking his and the two chinstrap penguin chicks' way, a smug look on his face as he gazed at Sandalwood and the others with him.

"At least _someone_ has the sense of mentioning our leader," he said in his handsome voice, "After all, he does not tolerate bad attitudes," and with that, he shot Lusamine and her gang a glare. At this, Lusamine snidely stepped forward and shoved her nose into Finnick's face as Sandalwood and the others looked on.

"Who told you to butt in, algae-crested fish-face?" she hissed, much to Finnick's blinking of his eyes as they flashed with hurt. Then Guzma tapped Lusamine on the shoulder.

"Shouldn't we be dealing with this fishing net-loving runt first?" he asked, stinging Atreyu, who was still in his other hand, like a jellyfish. At this, disgust tore through Sandalwood and the others.

"How DARE you mock Atreyu's tragic ordeal involving a fishing net!?" shouted Alegria fiercely, her green and yellow feathers bristling.

"Yeah, YOU wouldn't like it if WE mocked YOUR BACKSTORY involving NEAR-DEATH!" put in Gladion, "If you have one, fruit bat!"

Lusamine, at this, put on a sour face laced with sheer dislike.

"I think you oughta join that fishing-net penguin chick over there in Guzma's grasp, you interfering brats," she crooned. However, as she went to seize Gladion, Sandalwood, Sirius, Bellatrix and Spica dived in and blocked her way, looks of thunder flaring on their faces. Behind them, Procyon, Castor, Pollux, Aldebaran, Acerola, Gladion, Lillie, Altair, Arcturus, Saiph, Regulus, Denebola, Sylvester, Alegria and Pitaya also took up a protective stance, their eyes fixated on Lusamine and also on her comrades, especially Guzma who still held Atreyu by the back feathers. Cato the galliwasp shot Lusamine a stunned look.

"Looks like those macaws, toucans and flying foxes have some determination," he said warily.

"Huh, too much if you ask me," said Lusamine. However, Finnick, together with Tiana and Jacques behind him, smiled at the courage of Sandalwood and company. Then Alegria stormed towards Guzma and demanded that he release Atreyu.

"Ort else what, fruit feathers?" retorted the spider monkey rhetorically. Alegria fiercely responded by raising a talon and flaring her claws.

"I'll swipe ya back," hissed Guzma.

"You can't hit girls, not even girl birds," snapped Alegria, "I'm sure you wouldn't hit female spider monkeys either, would you?"

This made Guzma's eyes flash with shock but his angry scowl returned, especially as Finnick, Tiana and Jacques emitted laughter at his reaction. Suddenly, a membranous wing appeared and seized Alegria by the feather flick. The Dominican green-and-yellow macaw yelped in pain as Lusamine yanked her away from Guzma and threw her down to the floor. However, before she could tower over the ultra-rare chick, Sylvester, Pitaya, Sirius, Bellatrix and Spica rushed in to protect her. At the back of the group, Gladion and Lillie had rushed off to find Dundee and some inner-circle adult animals, winking at their friends on the go who nodded in return. Luckily, none of Lusamine's group had noticed their departure.

"You even THINK of hurting her, flying fox," hissed Sirius fiercely, before his gaze turned to the still-terrified Atreyu in Guzma's grasp, "We WILL take action!"

"Yeah!" spat Bellatrix, Spica, Sylvester and Pitaya together. Lusamine, a look of shock replacing her scowl, at this, backed away especially as the three Spix macaws, their faces laced with volcanic wrath, advanced towards her. Lusamine's comrades also gazed in shock at the boldness of Sandalwood but before Sirius, Bellatrix, Spica, Sylvester and Pitaya and then Alegria who stood up and joined in the confrontation with Lusamine, the others glaring at the gang and preparing to rescue Atreyu from Guzma's grasp, the hat-wearing chameleon stepped in quickly, its wrathful eyes fixated on Sandalwood's group. Then without thinking, Saiph and Arcturus's wings shot out and they lofted into flight, shooting straight towards Guzma like a pair of blue bullets, much to his shock, especially since he was not prepared for this. The spider monkey released a short shriek of fright and covered his face with his other arm as Saiph and Arcturus shot towards him but before they could rake their talons aver his arm to get him to release Atreyu, the chameleon nearby opened its mouth and without hesitation and in a split second, a long, pink tongue darted out of its mouth and shot straight towards the glaucous and Lear's macaw chicks. Guzma then prepared to receive some painful scratches from a pair of small macaw chicks on his arm that held Atreyu but when he heard a powerful 'thwack' noise, followed by the sounds of stunned macaw squawks and then subsequently the horrified shouts of, "Arcturus, Saiph!" and screams from more macaw chicks, two flying fox pups and an archaeobird chick, the brown spider monkey removed his arm from his face and turned to see that his attackers were not near him. However, his gaze turned in time to see two blue macaw chicks, a Lear's and a glaucous, as they violently tumbled along the dirt and stopping, colourful forms of their companions rushing over to them and shouting their names. Atreyu struggled in Guzma's grasp while Finnick, Tiana and Jacques rushed over to Saiph and Arcturus who lay in a dazed heap.

"Are you two alright?" asked Regulus. At this, Saiph and Arcturus slowly raised their faces and gazed dizzily into the faces of their companions and three penguins. Their faces were twisted into pained looks and Saiph was holding his face. A flash of outrage at who did this, Procyon glared at Lusamine and her gang as they looked on in time to see a chameleon with the strange alien-looking cap dart in and glare at the group fiercely, much to Lusamine's shock.

"A spear-like tongue just shot in out of nowhere and smashed into Saiph's face before he and Arcturus could attack the spider monkey," said Castor but his sentence ended with a gasp when he found himself on the receiving end of a fiery look of a lizard.

"Did you just knock those two macaw chicks away from Guzma, Dalek?" Lusamine asked the chameleon curiously. The chameleon, its glare laced with wrath, turned and nodded to the Livingstone's fruit bat, much to her surprise and the surprise of her companions. Guzma also gazed at the chameleon, Atreyu still in his grasp.

"Well, thank you, Dalek," he said gratefully. However, he flinched at the volcanic stare from the chameleon which Sandalwood and the others concluded was called Dalek. Finnick gazed in alarm at the chameleon, especially as Cato said, "Looks like Dalek would like to help us drive away those interfering nuisances."

However Lusamine noticed something in the glare in Dalek's eyes, especially as he scowled at Sandalwood and his group, but what she said next sent chills down the latter group's spines, especially the macaw chicks.

"I think he did it out of his hatred for some of those birds, Guzma," she said. Dalek then let loose some hisses laced with acidic hatred as he returned his scowl at Sandalwood's group, but his gaze specifically bore into Sirius, Bellatrix, Spica, Procyon, Castor, Pollux, Aldebaran, Arcturus, Saiph, Regulus, Denebola, Sylvester, Alegria and Pitaya. His body began to tremble and his wrathful glare began to boil dangerously.

"What do you mean?" asked Cato. Lusamine shuddered at Dalek's boiling wrath and fiery hisses.

"It's those macaw chicks," she said, "Parrots… Dalek's most DETESTED type of bird in the world."

At this, the macaw chicks flinched but then Finnick, Tiana and Jacques gazed at them.

"It's true," said Jacques in a low, much to the horror of Sirius and the other macaw chicks present. With Guzma's attention distracted, Atreyu began to writhe to free himself from the monkey's grasp.

"Dalek didn't attack that bright orange scarlet macaw just for fun," continued Lusamine, "Neither did he savagely chase that cockatoo out of the thrill of scaring him…" at this, Sandalwood and the others flinched in horror.

"Mrs Sardonyx was attacked by that chameleon?" asked Denebola in a low voice.

"Why didn't Dundee tell us about this?" asked Acerola in disbelief. As she said this, Saiph rubbed the spot on his face where he had been hit by Dalek's tongue. That area stung like a bee sting and was quite painful for Dalek had struck him with such force with his tongue. The glaucous macaw chick then continued to glare at the chameleon as his acidic hatred began to make him tremble all the more, more rigorous hisses escape his mouth and his turret-like eyes, which were green in colour, harden with the fires in them burning higher. However, what chilled Sandalwood to the bone most of all was what Lusamine had said. Dalek _loathed_ parrots? That was similar to the hatred of exotic birds Nigel the cockatoo bore after a parakeet displaced him from fame, and also the crazed Cicatriz and his colony and their savage hatred for all Amazon rainforest birds and their blaming them for the disasters that affected them such as fires despite them being not true, but while these thoughts continued to churn in the minds of Sandalwood and the others with him, a sense of danger began to boil within them, especially as Dalek began to advance towards them, his fiery eyes fixated on the macaw chicks.


	32. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31- from bad to worse**

Sandalwood and Acerola, together with Gladion and Lillie, Altair, Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Procyon, Castor, Pollux, Aldebaran, Arcturus, Saiph, Regulus and Denebola, Sylvester, Alegria and Pitaya, continued to stand and shudder as the acidic gaze of Dalek the chameleon continued to pierce them like an enraged cat's glare, Finnick, Tiana and Jacques shuddering with them. By now, Dalek's green colour had been replaced by red for he, being a chameleon, was able to change colour depending on his mood or to blend in with his surroundings, and that fiery red colour added to his terrifying wrathful appearance with the green fires in his eyes, the hatred acidified hisses emitting through his mouth and the arching of his back. Behind Dalek, Lusamine and her gang continued to look on at the confrontation, especially at Sandalwood and his group who were now plagued by fear, especially as Dalek advanced towards them. From Guzma's grasp, Atreyu watched the group of terrified birds and two flying fox pups as they cowered with Finnick, Tiana and Jacques with concerned eyes. As Sandalwood's group continued to timidly back away from the aggressive Dalek, Cato's mouth creased into a spiteful smile.

"Looks like we have a turn of events thanks to our chameleon friend, folks," he gloated.

"Hey, Rio brats," shouted one of Guzma's spider monkey companions, a female, scornfully, "Who's frightened now?"

Laughter then rolled through Lusamine's group after this remark. Sandalwood and the others with him did not answer, however for they were too consumed by fear of the enraged Dalek as he continued to saunter towards them like an aggressive cat, their terrified gazes meeting the chameleon's detestation-laced glare of corrosive acid. Guzma, his focus removed from Atreyu due to the drama of the scene, widened his mouth into a smile but because he was so absorbed by the confrontation between Dalek and Sandalwood's group, he failed to notice Atreyu reach up to the fur in his arm with his wing flippers and latch onto it, then with all his might, the emperor penguin chick tore out some of the fur from the spider monkey's arm, sending shooting pain rocketing through Guzma's arm and making him shriek in pain and release the emperor penguin. As soon as he was free and was back on the ground, Atreyu made a hasty retreat as the others snapped their gazes from the confrontation to Guzma as he grasped his arm where some fur had been torn out. At the same time, Dalek, his entire body blood-red due to his colour-changing ability, lunged at Sandalwood's group and launched his tongue at them, aiming for the macaw chicks, a vicious and loud snake-like hiss escaping his mouth at the same time. Startled, Sandalwood and his group including Finnick, Tiana and Jacques scattered with Atreyu joining them, making Dalek's tongue hit thin air instead. Dalek then retracted his tongue, lunged at the group again and shot his tongue like a spear a second time, aiming at Aldebaran, Sirius, Bellatrix and Spica as they tried to fly away.

"Look OUT!" cried Sylvester as he and Alegria made a hasty retreat from the enraged chameleon. Aldebaran and the three Spix macaw chicks flashed a glance at the incoming pink-red spear as it darted at them and tried to scatter but Sirius did not move in time and was caught by the sticky end of the slimy javelin which ended in some sort of sucking mechanism, much to the horror of the others.

"SIRIUS!" shouted Spica and Bellatrix. Then as soon as Dalek had caught Sirius on the sticky end of his tongue, with a ferocious hiss escaping his mouth, he violently jerked his head in one direction and pulled his flexible tongue, with Sirius in its grasp, like a lasso. Sirius screamed as he was flung by the tongue until he found himself flying through space in a violent spin as Dalek released him from his tongue's sucker-end, heading right towards a tree trunk. Atreyu, upon seeing where the Spix macaw chick was headed, quickly dashed into Sirius's path and dived right into his trajectory moments before he went crashing into the hard bark of the tree trunk. After catching Sirius, both the emperor penguin and Spix macaw chicks tumbled violently past the trunk and stopped just before a large rock. Lusamine and the others cheered at Dalek as he then lunged at Regulus and Denebola next and tried to clamp his jaws onto one of the glaucous macaw chicks. The brother and sister screamed as they saw the open trap fly at them but before those jaws could make contact with their feathered targets, Dalek felt his jaws land in something hard which kept them pried open. At this, the chameleon's outraged green eyes on their turrets turned forward and to his surprise, the hard, prying object was a pair of membranous wings. Denebola and Regulus looked on in astonishment as Sandalwood, his face twisted into a look of fury with his teeth gritted, continued to brace himself against Dalek's jaws, his membranous wings locked onto the chameleon's jaws and preventing them closing. Denebola and Regulus, upon seeing Sandalwood restrain Dalek, immediately retreated. Sandalwood then began to try and force Dalek back by pushing with all his might from his feet, his membranous wings clasped onto each of the chameleon's jaws, and bracing himself against the blood-red lizard. When Dalek realised that his macaw targets had fled due to Sandalwood's interference, the chameleon let loose a savage hiss, sending a draft blowing down his amber coloured pelage and wavering his fur like grass, but Sandalwood continued to brace against Dalek's struggles to overcome his brace despite feeling the heat of the chameleon's wrath in the breath.

"Sandalwood," cried Sirius as he watched the flying fox pup continue to struggle against Dalek as Altair and Alegria helped him and Atreyu to their feet. Seeing that Sandalwood was interfering with his desire to attack the macaw chicks, Dalek immediately reared up and with one powerful swipe of a clamp-like hand at Sandalwood's feet, knocked the flying fox pup down and made him release his jaws. Sandalwood cried in surprise as he collapsed on his side but as soon as Dalek was free, he lunged at Procyon, Castor and Pollux and attempted to strike them with his spear-like tongue but the three blue-and-gold macaw chicks dodged. Seeing that Sandalwood's group was distracted by the rampaging chameleon, Lusamine turned to her group and said, "You ready gang? Let's, drive away those brats!"

"Yeah!" cried Guzma and the others excitedly. And with a massive "CHAAARRRGE!" exploding from Lusamine's mouth, the whole group of monkeys, flying foxes, lizards and iguanas all surged forward towards Sandalwood's group with screams exploding from their mouths, their arms or wings prepared for grabbing any victim they could capture. When they saw Lusamine's group charge in towards them with the intent on causing them trouble and possibly harm, Atreyu called for the others in Sandalwood's group and also Finnick, Jacques and Tiana to retreat. With that, Sandalwood, Acerola, Sirius, Bellatrix and the others all scrabbled to their feet and began to beat a hasty retreat as Lusamine's group charged in at them, screaming maniacally. Acerola and the macaw chicks all lofted into flight while the four penguins, Sandalwood and Altair began to run on foot. However, Dalek was making things very difficult for the group; particularly the macaw chicks and he immediately sent his tongue shooting out again at those birds. Aldebaran was tackled to the side by Denebola as the pink, slimy spear almost struck him in the back, much to his shock. After recovering, the pair flew on. As those able to fly in Sandalwood's group began to widen the gap between them and the grounders, Atreyu shot Sandalwood a surprised look when he saw the amber flying fox running rather than flying, with Altair hopping close behind because of his feathered legs.

"What are you doing running, fruit bat?" he barked, "Take to the air will you!?"

"Yeah, don't worry about us, we'll catch up," said Finnick. As he said this, Tiana rushed forward and scooped Altair into her wing flippers to help him escape Lusamine's group's surge and also Dalek's attempts to catch one of them with his tongue. At this, Sandalwood shot the penguins a 'What!?' look.

"You want me to take off!?" he snapped, "Are you kidding!"

"But you're a flying fox," retorted Atreyu, "You can fly!"

"Why won't you take to the air?" asked Jacques as he and Tiana carried Altair. Sandalwood, at this, didn't answer. He was reluctant to admit to the penguins that he could not fly. Rolling his eyes in annoyance, Atreyu rushed forward and scooped Sandalwood off the ground moments before Dalek's tongue rushed in and struck the spot where the bat pup had been. With a frustrated hiss exploding from his mouth, the hat-wearing (which was in fact a model of a fictional and famous peppershaker-like alien race's domed top) chameleon retracted his tongue and continued his pursuit of the group, his burning green eyes of wrath fixated on the macaw chicks. He had mistaken Sandalwood for one of them.

The chase continued for another frantic minute and on the way, Lusamine's group had sized some fruit and small stones and had begun to pelt Sandalwood's group with them. Atreyu and Tiana held Sandalwood and Altair closer to them to protect them from the flying projectiles, but the two, especially Sandalwood, were reminded of the behaviour of many of Rafael and Eva's rambunctious and horribly naughty offspring who sometimes threw fruit to cause trouble. Ahead, Sirius and the others continued to fly along, the macaw chicks frantically dodging Dalek's spear-like tongue as the chameleon threw it out at them again and again. During one of Dalek's attempts to catch one of the macaw chicks, Aldebaran lashed out and seized the end of the chameleon's tongue with his talons. The others saw him do this in horror.

"Aldebaran, DON'T!" shouted Castor but the Verde macaw chick, his fiery glare aiming at Dalek, then proceeded to throw the chameleon's own tongue back at its owner. The tongue flew round the chameleon, much to his shock and struck one of Lusamine's flying fox companions square in the face, knocking the bat off track of his flying and sending him crashing into four of the spider monkeys including Guzma. Lusamine and the others flashed a shocked glance as the group of five fell into a violent and chaotic tumble and resumed their chase of Sandalwood's group. Dalek also retracted his tongue and gave the macaw chicks a volcanic cobra-like hiss, especially at Aldebaran. Aldebaran flashed a terrified glance at the chameleon's fiery green glare which read, 'I'm gonna KILL YOU FOR THAT, you PARROT (inserts a horrible word too obscene to write)'. Dalek then lashed his tongue at the macaw chicks again only to miss for the macaw chicks had dodged. After dodging Dalek's attempt to strike them with his sticky tongue, the macaw chicks flew on.

"Why does that chameleon loathe parrots?" asked Acerola as she flew with the macaw chicks.

"We don't know," retorted Atreyu as he continued to carry Sandalwood, "Just keep going, will you!"

He ducked to avoid a flying berry which shot past his head and landed on a rock in a messy splat. Behind the penguins and also Altair and Sandalwood, horrible insults began to fly from Lusamine and her group's mouths at the group, with some threats thrown into the mix while Dalek continued shooting his tongue at the macaw chicks. After another minute, Atreyu and Sandalwood's group reached the far end of the artificial jungle and found themselves in front of a barrier formed by a steel mesh. Beyond that barrier was another jungle that was different to the one they were in. At this, the group stopped dead and turned round to see Lusamine and her group and Dalek close in on them, snide looks on their faces, their wings and hands loaded with more fruit and small stones and insults flying from their mouths, and Dalek with his face still twisted into a volcanic look as it bore into the macaw chicks. It was clear there was a murderous aspect to that look and Arcturus shuddered as she remembered her maternal grandmother Sapphire's description of Nigel's expression before he choked her into unconsciousness in an attempt to strangle her to death that she had told her at one point. Dalek's glare was just as identical as that description but with immense hatred thrown in there. Arcturus shuddered with the other macaw chicks and Acerola as the chameleon continued glaring bitterly at them.

"We're trapped!" cried Procyon in despair as he shook the steel mesh. However, Jacques saw an opening in the corner of the barrier.

"Through there!" he called. At this, Atreyu, Finnick, Sandalwood, Altair and Tiana and the others followed the chinstrap chick's point and hastily made a beeline for it. Dalek, with a massive hiss exploding from his mouth, flung his tongue out at the group, especially the macaw chicks, as they retreated towards the hole. Lusamine and the others saw the group hastily rush for that hole and begin to force their way through it into the artificial land on the other side, Atreyu and Sandalwood going first. At this, their looks of scorn flashed to looks of alarm.

"Isn't that the land of…" began Guzma. Lusamine then rushed forward at Dalek and began to shout at him to stop.

"Dalek, stop your attack," she yelled as the chameleon continued lashing his tongue at Sandalwood's group, "That land on the other side of the barrier is…"

However, Dalek flashed her a vicious stare and lashed his tongue at her to knock her back, before resuming his merciless attack on Sandalwood's group, throwing his tongue at the macaw chicks in particular. Lusamine leaned back as the spear-like tongue flew over her head, missing her face by inches before losing balance and falling on her backside as Guzma rushed in, a shocked look on his face. Then Lusamine and company gazed at Dalek as he continued his attack on Sandalwood's group. As he continued driving the group to the hole, Dalek's face began to morph from a scowl of bitter hatred to one with malice and sadism, especially as he lunged towards the cluster of blue, cerulean, navy blue, grey, yellow, green, red, pink, purple, black and white feathers and the auburn fur and basalt black membrane wings of Acerola, his attention focussed in particular on the most common type of bird among the group, thrown into the acidic concoction. Despite Lusamine and her group's protests, Dalek placed his front flat hands on the back of the group and then forced the rest through the hole but not before taking the opportunity in seizing Sylvester and tearing out his tail feathers first, much to the horror of the others.

"AAAAARRRGGGGHHH!" screeched the Cuban macaw as the excruciating pain exploded from his rear end as Dalek, a look of pure sadism lacing his face, relished the screams. At this, Alegria lunged forward and slashed the chameleon across the face with her talons, carving three claw marks into his left cheek and narrowly missing his eye to get him to release her adopted brother. Dalek withdrew from the barrier with a hiss of pain and covered his face with his flattened hands. A bit of blood leaked from the claw marks on his cheek but an entire cluster of orange-red and azure flight feathers lay scattered before the chameleon on the floor as he continued to hiss in pain. Sylvester on the other side of the mesh, at this, flashed a look at those feathers and then at his tail. To his horror and to that of the others, his entire tail was missing except for a single short flight feather sticking out. Aldebaran, Sandalwood, Alegria, Pitaya and Acerola, at this, then glared at Dalek but when they saw the look on the chameleon's face, Alegria's scratch marks on his left cheek just below his left eye emerge from his hands and then gazed at Sylvester's tattered tail and the expression it contained, a flash of pure outrage tore through them. Dalek's mouth was widened into a smile, as though he found the deed he had done to Sylvester funny. Then Alegria lunged at the fence and screeched at the chameleon.

"When we get back in there, I'm gonna FLAY YA for doing this to my adopted brother, you RAT IN SCALES!" she bellowed. In retaliation, Dalek lunged forward and shot his tongue at the Dominican green-and-yellow macaw as she clutched the mesh, slapping her hard square in the forehead and knocking her off the fence. Alegria dropped from the fence from the impact and fell towards the floor but was caught in time by Finnick. Then seeing the murderous look on Dalek's face as he threatened to come through the hole and attack the group, especially by the way he picked up a nearby stone and held it as if to say, "I'm gonna break your wings, you rotting slime-parrots,", Atreyu called out, "Let's go!" and with that, Sandalwood's group retreated further into the land despite Lusamine and company's protests that they return. After that, a wave of guilt came upon Lusamine and her group. Cato then stormed over to Dalek and demanded, "What were you THINKING, you DUMMY!?"

Dalek, without a hint of guilt in his eyes, just shoved past the galliwasp and changed his body colour, which was red which he had during the skirmish, to that of the environment, melting his appearance into his surroundings with only his namesake peppershaker-alien dome cap exposed and visible for that cannot change colour. After this, the invisible chameleon sauntered away into the bushes, his cap looking as though it was floating above the ground as it moved with his invisible head. Lusamine gazed through the mesh, a horrified look on her face as well as concern for Sandalwood and company's safety boiling within her.

"We'd better tell Dundee about this," she murmured worriedly.

"Let's go find him," said Guzma and with that, Lusamine's group of lizards, flying foxes and monkeys made a hasty departure. However, they had in mind not to tell Dundee and the other leading animals of their involvement in the chase which unintentionally led to Sandalwood and the others with him entering the other land through the mesh and decided to only tell Dundee and the other inner circle animals a half-truth to avoid trouble.

 **Rio**

Jupiter had set up some of the members of the group to send out to several different destinations, among them Tulio's Aviary, the area where the other Blu Bird Sanctuary had moved to and Basil's colony's cave at Pedra de Gavea. To each group he had assigned them a task. Rafael (who had returned with Diantha after comforting Rita), Nico, Pedro, Sparkle, Rose, Orton and Kipo were in one group and they were going to help in Tulio and his team's capture of the toucan chicks and also deal with the poachers, while Zephyr and Venus, Sapphire, Mercury, Pluto and Lapis Lazuli were going to visit the evacuated residents to protect them from the poachers but without the use of mud to disguise their blue plumages from the poachers of course. Blu had opted to fly to Basil's colony's cave while Jewel had opted to help out with catching the toucan chicks. Carla, Bia, Tiago, Justin, Matilda, Virgil and Charlotte, along with many of the other young adults including Mimas, Enceladus and his hyacinth mate Trixie, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Titan and Iapetus and also Porthos and Brooke, had been enlisted to help out in these tasks but Jupiter had avoided putting Io, Europa, Callisto, Sheldon, Byron, Mimas and Athos in the group going to Tulio's Aviary after their disturbing encounter with Sofia and her gang and what happened during that the other day, and the venom from Sofia's horrid remarks about them having kids still lingered in their confidence, but it also had another, deeper effect on some of them as well.

Andromeda was somewhere in the bushes, making something which she refused to disclose to the others while the remaining kids, Spix macaws Sonia and Melody (Carla and Justin's daughters), Einstein and Miles (Bia and Virgil's sons), Bartholomew (Tiago and Matilda's son), Jason (Charlotte and Músculo's son), Winona (Jojo and Kira's daughter), Diego and Austin (Felix and Turquesa's sons), Lilac (Lavender and Garrett's daughter), red macaws Katniss (Athos and Callisto's daughter) Xander and Kayley (Alexandre and Estelle's son and daughter), blue-and-gold macaws Peter (Dione and Porthos's son) and Poppy (Titan and Brooke's daughter), Cressida the hybrid chick of Tethys and Oberon, Basil the son of Titania and her military mate Ash, Perdita and Cecil the daughter and son of Umbriel and her scarlet mate Benjamin, Oceano (Azul and Fernanda's son), Olivia (the biological daughter of Ellie and Frodo) and her adopted Dominican green-and-yellow macaw brother Achilles, Ferdinand the flying fox pup and Sebastian and Anabelle's son, Bambi the archaeobird and the daughter of Spyro and Marella, and Aurora the toucan and daughter of Tom and Diantha will be staying with Broccoli, Daisy and Collette the cats, Avellana, Dash, Ginger, Rusty, Ebony and James and Fido and Cleo the greyhounds and also Luiz the bulldog who had come all the way to Tulio and Linda's cottage from his garage to help. The kids will be watched over by the four-legged mammals for their safety for all their parents, including Jojo, Felix and Lavender, the three first-brood offspring of Roberto and Brisa and their mates Kira, Turquesa and Garrett respectively, had been enlisted by Jupiter to help with the tasks.

While Jupiter allocated the macaws and Nico and Pedro and their friends to their assigned groups, Broccoli and the other four-legged mammals had returned from their search on the poachers and had brought back a report on the group of five poachers who had managed to break into the sanctuary but the news had not been very good. The cats and the greyhounds had overheard the poachers' plans to search for a 'colony of rare bats' which Avellana had deduced must be Basil's colony, and had seen the poachers send their crows out to look for said colony of bats. This had added to Jupiter's determination to send some of his group members to Basil's colony's home cave before any of the crows could. Also with the group being assigned the tasks were Roberto and Brisa, Travis, Sunset, Eustace, Milo, Rosa, Clemont and Serena the cockatoos, Triton and Iris, and also Cometa, Lightning, Orion, Velocity, Hermione and Merlin the falcons (or merlin in Hermione's case). The cockatoo kids, Peach, Yolanda and Oscar, and Velocity and Merlin's daughter Zelda had also been entrusted to Broccoli and the others for safekeeping for the duration of the tasks for the falcons and cockatoos had offered to help in the tasks, as well as Augustus, Melissa, Stella, Sebastian, Anabelle and Soren and also Andromeda, Frodo and Ellie though Jupiter was reluctant to include these individuals due to their species rarity but he ultimately relented.

While Jupiter continued allocating the falcons, cockatoos and macaws and explained their tasks, James watched with Avellana and Rusty while Fido and Cleo played with some of the chicks, among them Sonia and Melody and also Ferdinand, nearby.

"This is honestly a nightmare for all of us, folks," murmured the light grey greyhound sombrely, "The sanctuary's become overrun with toucan chicks… poachers have found a way into the protected land… and we still haven't found out where the missing kids, among them Ferdinand's older sister and cousin and the missing chicks including Sirius and Mimas and Ganymede's Catalina chicks, had been taken."

"Well, we've got this set of massive problems to deal with first," said Avellana, "And I'm especially worried for Basil and his colony. If they're found by those poachers' crows and if that group of toucans are causing them trouble…"

"That's why Jupiter is going to send some of those macaws and other birds to the Linda's golden orange bats' cave to help them out," explained James, "Andromeda had opted to go with that group as well," his gaze then turned to the archaeobird as she continued fashioning something amongst a cluster of tall grass blades, "But I'm wondering what she is making. She told me that she is making some sort of device based on a human thing but what?"

Rusty and Avellana just shrugged and continued gazing at Andromeda as she continued her work. These three greyhounds, as well as Broccoli, Daisy, Luiz, Collette, Ebony, Dash and Ginger, had been fascinated and amazed by Andromeda and her clan's creativity and sophisticated skills such as the mastery of fire and making camouflage outfits like the leafy cloaks. Quite sophisticated talents for a clan of birds classed as 'primitive' but the cats and dogs did not think of the archaeobirds as primitive at all. They were just an unusual species of bird that happened to be found alive and well like the coelacanth fish after being thought of as extinct for a long time. While the trio of greyhounds continued thinking about this, they were pulled back to reality by alarmed shouts.

"Jupiter! Jupiter, Ruby!" it shouted, "Come quickly! They'll KILL each other!"

At this, James, Avellana and Rusty snapped their gazes to the shouter which happened to be Ónix the red-tailed black cockatoo. Like the cats and the greyhounds and Luiz, he, along with Inky and Elsa the King Charles spaniels from next door to Susan and her family's house, had come to look after the kids while their parents were out on their assigned tasks. Ónix's jet black feathers, especially those on his head, were flared out and his eyes were inflated by sheer terror as though he had seen a ghost or monster. With him was Inky and his black and white fur was also puffed out from extreme terror. James, Avellana and Rusty exchanged confused glances.

"That doesn't sound good," said Avellana and with that, she, James and Rusty hurried off to ask the red-tailed black cockatoo and the spaniel what was going on. As Ónix and Inky continued yelling for Jupiter and Ruby as the greyhounds came in, along with Broccoli and Luiz (who had drool dripping everywhere from his mouth), the mentioned scarlet macaw couple descended from the tree branch above and touched down before the black cockatoo and spaniel, annoyed looms on their faces.

"What is it _now,_ Ónix and Inky?" snapped Jupiter irritably, "Can't you see I'm trying to concentrate on a very important task here!?"

"We've got work to do," muttered Ruby. Luiz stepped to the front. Ruby backed away with her face twisted into a 'yuk' look when she saw the drips of drool ooze down the bulldog's mouth sides.

"Jupiter, Ruby, wait uh minute," Luiz said, before turning to Ónix and Inky, "What's goin' on, you two?"

"It's…" began Ónix when suddenly; the sounds of shouting reached the group's ears. Above Jupiter and the others on the ground, the falcons, cockatoos, toucans and macaws all raised their heads in surprise, especially Europa, Callisto, Athos, Mimas and Byron.

"Sounds like a heated argument is going on," said Roberto to Venus, Brisa, Zephyr, Blu, Jewel and also Carla, Bia, Tiago, Justin, Matilda and Virgil who stood nearest to him. Kira, Jojo, Felix, Turquesa, Lavender and Garrett just exchanged confused looks. Then Jewel recognised the owners of the voices as they became louder but it made her skin crawl and also made Europa and Callisto flinch.

"Io and Sheldon arguing?" she said, "That's a first."

A the mentioning of their sister's name, Europa and Callisto's wings darted into the air and with a couple of hasty flaps, the two sisters of Io and Ganymede lofted into flight with Athos, Porthos, Aramis, Squaw'tagnan (Phoebe's mate) and Byron following.

"Europa, Callisto!" called Athos as he lofted into flight. Phoebe, Indigo, Victor, Neytiri, Charon, Blueberry and Aiden proceeded to follow but Jewel blocked their path.

"Leave this to us, you eight," she said and with that, she darted off after Europa, Callisto and the others, Blu, Zephyr and Venus not too far behind. On the ground, Jupiter and Ruby, having recognised the two voices' owners, had also lofted into flight and Luiz, Broccoli, Avellana, James and Ónix and Inky had dashed off. Rusty stayed behind to look after Fido and Cleo and the young macaws and Ferdinand with them. As they watched the group leave, Augustus flashed a worried gaze at the others.

"I hope it's not going to lead to a massive break up," he murmured. Melissa, Stella, Soren, Anastasia and Sebastian and also Diantha and Tom, and Travis, Cometa and their families who stood with Rafael gazed at the flying fox with worried looks. They hoped that Io and Sheldon's falling out would not end in that.

Jupiter and Ruby flew along with Blu, Jewel, Zephyr, Venus, Europa, Callisto, Byron, Athos, Portho, Aramis and Squaw'tagnan close behind. On the ground, Luiz, Broccoli, Avellana, James, Ónix and Inky hurried along under the macaws in the air. As they approached the area where Io and Sheldon were, their shouts increased in volume in their ears but the mood within them was not at all good. Just down the street, Ebony, Katniss, Collette and Daisy shuddered as they watched a pair of red macaws, one pure scarlet and the other half scarlet, half green-winged, argue back and forth. The two had been bickering but now that bickering had escalated to a full-blown and pretty stormy argument.

"Sofia was RIGHT, Sheldon," screeched Io at her ruby macaw mate, "We SHOULDN'T HAVE HAD Betelgeuse and Rigel IN THE FIRST PLACE. Maybe it would have been BETTER if they hadn't been BORN. That way THEY WOULDN'T HAVE HAD TO GO THROUGH THE NIGHTMARE WITH THOSE POACHERS THE OTHER DAY!"

Io's red plumage was a mess and out of place for she hadn't been preening her feathers since the disturbing encounter with Sofia and her comrades the other day. Her amber eyes had lost their sparkle and all that existed within them were erupting volcanoes of amber sulfur, like the volcanoes of her namesake moon of Jupiter, in addition to immense stress, heartbreak, devastation and frustration and exhaustion. The frustrated and stormy look was mirrored on Sheldon. His plumage looked a mess and his blue eyes were also flooded with pure frustration, exhaustion and rage.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE SHOULDN'T HAVE HAD BETELGEUSE AND RIGEL!?" he retorted, his stormy blue glare meeting Io's volcanic amber one, "YOU CONSENTED TO HAVING OUR GIRLS IN THE FIRST PLACE AND SO DID I!"

"WE made the WRONG decision, SHELDON!" bellowed Io volcanically, her messy feathers bushed out, "MAYBE WE SHOULDN'T HAVE BECOME MATES IN THE FIRST PLACE!"

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY!?" retorted Sheldon in utter shock, tears beginning to well in his eyes at that remark. Katniss cowered in Collette's forepaws as she continued to watch the couple argue violently. Her eyes were full of tears and she was shuddering much to Collette's sympathy. Then Ebony decided to intervene before things got out of control and before either of the couple could say anything that would inflict even more damage to their already gaping injuries.

"STOP IT, BOTH OF YOU!" barked the black greyhound at the top of her voice, making Io and Sheldon jolt and shoot her a stunned glare, "LET'S get this into our heads, shall we!? IT'S NEITHER OF YOUR FAULT that both of your daughters have been kidnapped by those rotten poachers! And as far your decision in having chicks is concerned; you both hadn't made the WRONG decision in having Betelgeuse and Rigel," Io and Sheldon continued to gaze at Ebony as she continued. Nearby, Jupiter, Ruby, Blu, Jewel, Zephyr, Venus, Athos, Callisto, Europa, Byron, Porthos, Aramis and Squaw'tagnan came in with Broccoli, Avellana, Luiz, James, Inky and Ónix. Io then began to shake and shed tears as Ebony continued her rebuke, "It's just unfortunate that this nightmare had to happen leading to your chicks and also the chicks and pups of some of the others including Carla, Bia, Tiago and their mates getting captured," Ebony's grey eyes then hardened, "And as for that stupid remark Sofia said to you two and Europa, Callisto, Athos and whoever else was with you about your decision in having kids," a flash of outrage then fired up within her, "that's a load of DOG DIRT! What that stupid toucan and her comrades have said is ABSOLUTELY NOT TRUE! So WHY don't we just STOP AND THINK BEFORE the two of you could INFLICT EACH OTHER WITH BLAMES AND SCATHING COMMENTS!?"

As she listened to Ebony say this, making Io and Sheldon lower the fires in their eyes, Daisy thought she saw a flash of colour out the corner of her eye. At this, the caliby cat turned and when her eyes landed on a certain black bird with a reddish-cream front and bright orange and black beak with a scornful and smug look on her face aim her spiteful brown gaze at Io and Sheldon, disgust tore through her. But by the time Daisy went to move to chase after the toucan (not Diantha or Rita), that toucan had already noticed the cat and had fled, laughing along the way, but Daisy had already recognised the toucan, but it made her fur rise and a hiss escape through her gritted teeth. After Ebony had finished rebuking Io and Sheldon and successfully quelling their heated argument, Jupiter stepped in to thank her.

"Good thinking, Ebony," he said, "You prevented a worst case scenario, but it's time to turn our focus on more important things."

Ebony, at this, flashed Io's father a saddened look, "What Sofia has said to Io and the others with her was totally disgusting, you know, especially after a crisis in both their daughters going missing."

"I agree," growled Ruby disgustedly, "But we'll sort that out later. Right now, we have some important tasks that need doing throughout the Blu Bird Sanctuary. Io and Sheldon…"

But when she turned to face the two macaws, she realised that they weren't there. Blu saw a red form disappear in one direction, loud sobs escaping her beak. Opposite to Io, Sheldon had also flown away, his face still creased into a look of anger and heartbreak. Jupiter finally snapped.

"Oh, thunder and lightning bolts," he snarled, before turning to Blu, Venus, Zephyr and Jewel, "Alright, you four, go after Sheldon while I, Ruby and Ónix go after Io," he then turned to Europa, Byron, Callisto, Athos, Porthos, Aramis, Squaw'tagnan, Daisy, Collette (who had Katniss in her front paws), Ebony, Broccoli, James, Luiz, Avellana and Inky and said, "You lot return to Tulio and Linda's cottage and wait for us until we sort this little problem out."

Broccoli and the others nodded and with that, the three groups split up and went off in their directions. As they left, Broccoli shot Io a worried look as she receded into the distance.

"I sure hope she and Sheldon aren't gonna break up after that argument," he murmured.

"I heard her hiss bitterly at Sheldon before she left and Sheldon spit on the floor before he left while Jupiter was talking," said Collette. She shuddered at that appalling sign. The rest of the group just said nothing but they were clearly worried for Io and Sheldon's relationship but at the same time, some of them, especially Ebony, Collette, Daisy and Broccoli, were completely outraged at Sofia and her comrades for inflicting the damage on the young couple's relationship via the acidic remarks they said to them about having kids the other day as well.


	33. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32- the Compartment of Carnivores**

 **Meanwhile**

Sandalwood, together with Acerola, Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Procyon, Castor and Pollux, Aldebaran, Arcturus, Saiph, Regulus and Denebola, Sylvester, Alegria, Pitaya and Altair, Tiana, Jacques, Finnick and Atreyu emerged from a nearby bush after making a dash for it to get away from Dalek. Now that they felt that it was safe to emerge, the group of 21 youngsters crept out of the bush.

"I think that chameleon with the alien-like cap's gone, folks," said Sandalwood as he lifted a leaf. Bellatrix then shuddered.

"What a horrible, horrible reptile," she muttered timidly as she remembered the acidic glare of the chameleon, the red scalers it bore and the hatred-laced hisses it emitted, "Honestly, we did nothing wrong to it."

"I agree," said Sirius in agreement as he emerged from another leaf cluster with Spica and Acerola, "What did we do to provoke him?"

"You didn't do anything," said Finnick's voice, pulling the macaws' attention to him.

"Then why did that chameleon attack us unprovoked?" asked Saiph angrily. His cheek was still stinging from where Dalek's tongue had thwacked him earlier and his wing went to the impact area, Saiph's face still laced with utter surprise. Sylvester on the other hand, was grasping his torn out tail, the pain still lingering from ripped out feathers at Dalek's clutches. Atreyu came up to the glaucous macaw chick.

"Dalek detests parrots of ALL kinds," he explained, "That includes macaws… cockatoos… parakeets…"

Saiph, Denebola, Arcturus and Regulus shot the emperor penguin chick a surprised look each.

"Why does he loathe parrots?" asked Arcturus.

"Did he target Mrs Sardonyx before?" asked Denebola.

"I don't know but we just know that Dalek detests all parrots," said Tiana.

"Then we should turn him in for punishment," snarled Pollux and Castor together as outrage flashed through them.

"We have done that before time and time again but he won't drop his attitude towards all parrots," said Atreyu, much to the frustration of Sandalwood's group. Then Tiana's gaze began to scan the surroundings, "Anyway, let's get out of here and return to our group's homes."

But as the group emerged from the bush, shivers began to creep into their nerves as a bad feeling of their whereabouts began to well within them.

"Where are we?" asked Sandalwood as he and the others examined the unfamiliar surroundings. Then Aldebaran took off and flew a few metres above the ground to get a bird's eye view of the environment.

"What can you see up there, Aldebaran?" asked Acerola on the ground. Aldebaran continued to scan the environment.

"Nothing but… more trees and bushes and other jungle plants everywhere," he said. As he said this, Spica began to timidly step away from the group, "I hear no birdcalls or see no birds or flying foxes… or even monkeys or any other animal…"

"Can you see where we came in?" asked Sirius. Aldebaran then began to examine the route in which the group came.

"I think I can see the mesh through which we came," he said, "But we have come quite a distance to escape that horrid chameleon…"

As these words left his beak, Atreyu suddenly felt a feeling that the group was being watched envelop him like a cloud. At this, the emperor penguin stiffened. Behind the group amongst the shadows of some bushes, a shadowy form slowly moved and a leg moved. The leg's foot then gently landed on the ground and above that leg, a pair of gleaming eyes, both golden orange in colour with a black slit in the centre of each eye, peered out from the shadows and glared at Sandalwood and the others. But the golden colour of these eyes did not have any aspect of beauty to them at all unlike the eyes of Venus or Io, Betelgeuse and Rigel's pure scarlet mother. Instead, these eyes bore a sinister, malicious glow to them, in addition to something else as it bore into Sandalwood's group from the bushes behind them. Spica continued to step away, alertness taking hold as the timid Spix macaw, her azure feathers and Jewel-like crest which she had got from her mother Carla, bristling from immense fear. Behind Sandalwood's group, more and more shadowy figures with gleaming eyes appeared and glared at the group, with some shooting from one place to another in a black blur. Spica continued stepping away from Sandalwood's group timidly examining the surroundings when one of her talons landed on something hard and thorny. At this, the Spix macaw snapped her gaze to what she had stepped on but the moment it did, a shriek of fright exploded from her beak and she scurried back.

Lying before the Spix macaw was a pile of white things. Some were sticks ending in lobes on either end but some were lumps of white rocks. One of them had holes in its front with a bigger hole lined with teeth below the two large and two smaller holes. Spica then realised that the lower part of the rock was disconnected from the rest of the white rock. Some of the slender sticks scattered around the lump with holes were curved, some emanating from another stick. Spica then cautiously extended a wing to the lump with holes and slowly picked it up. As she did, a voice exploded behind her, making her jump.

"PUT THAT DOWN!" at this, Spica jolted and dropped the rock as Atreyu ran in, an alarmed look on his face. The rock went clattering to the ground. The lower slab separated from the rest of the object and Spica soon realised what it was, but it made her skin crawl, her stomach lurch and her feathers rise. Atreyu then latched his wing flippers onto her shoulders and dragged her back to the group.

"We've got to get outa here," said the emperor penguin chick, "I believe we may have wandered into the… um…" but he daren't say the name of the enclosure.

"Atreyu," said Finnick as he held Sandalwood and Acerola, "Where do you think we are!?"

Atreyu was about to reply when suddenly, "Well, well, well, what do we have here?"

At this, the group of flying fox pups, macaw chicks, penguins and archaeobird all jolted into the air and flashed terrified gazes this way and that until Alegria's eyes landed on the speaker but the moment they did, she managed to stifle a terrified scream. The others followed the Dominican macaw's gaze and also spotted the speaker but they also flinched in alarm. Then the speaker, which Spica saw was some type of feline, emerged from a nearby bush and sauntered towards the group, its gleaming orange eyes piercing like an eagle's eyes.

The creature was a four-footed mammal and was definitely a feline. Its coat was almost entirely sandy brown-orange colour and its ears bore a flick of hair that stuck straight up from the points of each ear. The feline was bulky but had slender legs, and a thrashing tail that flicked at the air as the animal slowly crept out of the bushes towards Sandalwood and company. Its face which bore the golden orange eyes were twisted into a look Spica and Bellatrix recognised as something a cat bore whenever it was on the hunt and had sensed prey nearby, but that look sent shivers down the group's spines but then the group noticed a few streaks running over the cat's face and upper body/ Sirius recognised those streaks and shuddered. _Scars._ It was clear that the cat had been in a few fights and these scars were evidence of those battles but Sirius and company daren't imagine what the cats' opponents must have been. Then behind the sandy brown cat emerged more felines. Some were pure sandy brown with the same tufts of hair on their ears like the first cat while the others had golden coloured pelts decked out with black dots and stripes and their ears appeared rounded. Like the first cat, some of these cats also appeared to bear a few scars, implying that they had been in some fights as well. As the group of wildcats advanced towards the group, Sandalwood and the others huddled together, their bodies shivering, their eyes inflated with immense fear and their fur and feathers bristled. As the first cat approached the group, it turned to the others and smiled wickedly.

"Well, well, my friend servals and fellow caracals, what do we have here, eh?" it crooned in a male voice, implying it was a male. One of the spotted golden cats then smiled and replied, "I don't know, Carnassial…" its eyes then travelled to Sandalwood and the others who shuddered all the more. _Carnassial_. The group remembered Repicheep, Kiara, Flax, Harakeke, and cockatiels Lilo, Cody and Sparky talking about this cat and how he and his gang was extremely dangerous to any bird that wandered into his turf. As that name and the warning from the platypus, the two kiwis, the echidna and three cockatiels repeated and echoed in their minds, Sandalwood, Acerola, Sirius, Bellatrix, Spica, Castor, Pollux, Procyon, Aldebaran, Arcturus, Saiph, Regulus, Denebola, Sylvester, Alegria, Pitaya and Altair all shuddered violently, especially as Atreyu said, "We've wandered into the Compartment of the Carnivores!"

As this dreaded enclosure name reached Sandalwood's group's ears, they shuddered all the more. Then the cat, whose name was Carnassial, began to circle the group with his gang like vultures, their piercing feline eyes boring into the group.

"It seems like today is our lucky day, don't you think, gang?" said the caracal ringleader as he began to examine the group of macaws, bats, penguins and archaeobird. His tongue then snaked out of his mouth and skimmed around his lips.

"You've got that right, Carnassial," said one of the servals, a female, before her glare returned to Sandalwood and company, "Looks like we've got some parrots, some penguins, a couple of flying fox pups, and…" when her glare landed on Altair, her face changed to one of surprise and puzzlement, "Some sort of… unusual-looking lizard-bird or sommat."

"What sort of bird, Alecto," said another of the caracals, a female, as the cats continued circling the group. The serval then approached Altair and examined him with her piercing, yellow glare, making the archaeobird flinch.

"It's a bird," she said, "But it has feathered legs, a long tail and claws on its wings."

At this, Altair managed to find the courage to formulate a sentence, but it was fragmented by fear.

"A-a-a-and you c-c-c-c-cats look l-l-l-like s-s-some sort of… mini cheetahs and lynxes or something," he stammered. At this, Finnick shot the archaeobird chick a wary look, hoping that he was not stepping out of line. The serval, at this, backed away and re-joined the other circling cats.

"We're not cheetahs and we're not lynxes, for your information, mutant bird," retorted the first cat named Carnassial, making Altair flinch, "We're servals and caracals."

Altair and the others continued gazing timidly at the caracals and servals as they continued circling the group, their tails thrashing the air and their eyes beginning to burn with hunger. Then another caracal, a female said, "But let's cut straight to the chase, shall we? Now that you lot have wandered on the grounds of the Compartment of the Carnivores as that lousy, nutjob emu you call your leader and his group calls it…" the caracal paused dramatically, before he face twisted into an absolutely evil and sadistic scowl, "it is time to prepare yourselves to become… our… me-e-e-e-a-a-a-a-als!"

And with that, her tongue emerged from her mouth and skimmed over her lips. Drips of saliva dripped greedily from her tongue as she licked her lips.

"That's right, Shenzi," crooned Carnassial as the other cats tittered, before his glare returned to Sandalwood's group hungrily, striking fear into them, "So say goodbye to the light of day, our little special treats. Dinner is served for the CAAAAAATS!"

Laughter then rolled throughout the other cats, much to the fear of Sandalwood and company. Atreyu then gazed at the others.

"We've gotta get outa here," he murmured.

"But how," said Sirius, "You penguins cannot fly."

"That's true but you macaws and flying foxes can," said Finnick. Then Sandalwood gazed at the macaroni penguin.

"Maybe we could try to reason with them?" he asked.

"What!?" snapped Atreyu but Sandalwood had already stepped forward. Nervousness boiled within him as he did.

"Please, wildcats," he shouted to the circling group of caracals and servals that formed Carnassial's group, "We didn't mean to wander into your grounds. We were chased by a chameleon and some mean flying foxes, lizards and monkeys and…"

"And then what, little membrane winged treat?" crooned Alecto meanly as she sauntered alongside two other servals, their eyes fixated on Sandalwood and the others, "Become potential treats for us wildcats?"

"It's not like that, okay!?" snapped Sandalwood, "We just wandered here by accident intending to get away from that horrible parrot-hating chameleon and that gang of monkey, fruit bat and lizard bullies…" he then turned and nodded to the macaws, especially Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Arcturus, Regulus, Saiph, Denebola, Alegria, Pitaya and Sylvester and also to Altair, "And please let us go. Some of us are extremely rare and critically endangered species, especially the Cuban macaw, the Dominican green-and-yellow macaw and the archaeobird there…"

Sylvester, who still clutched his tattered tail, gazed at Sandalwood in surprise with Alegria and Altair.

'He sure is bold,' thought the Cuban macaw chick in awe. Atreyu, Tiana, Finnick and Jacques, however, had other thoughts. 'That flying fox pup is putting his life on the line,' thought Atreyu worriedly, 'Carnassial and his gang cannot be reasoned with.'

Then one of the caracals, a male turned to Carnassial and said, "Cuban and Dominican macaws? Are they supposed to be extinct?"

Carnassial flashed his companion a glare. "Well, rare or supposed to be extinct or not, Banzai, they're still prey, now let's concentrate in trying to seize those little morsels," his glare turned to Sandalwood's group as Alegria and Sylvester flinched at what he said, "My fangs are _desperate_ to sink into some fresh meat of REAL prey, and those foolish little chicks and pups," his gaze hardened, sending shivers down Sandalwood and company's spines, "Are just what we… ne-e-e-e-ed!"

The male caracal named Banzai widened his mouth into a fiendish smile and gazed at Sandalwood and company as well, his tongue licking his lips as the other cats released sinister titters. Atreyu then whispered to Sandalwood (who returned to the group), Acerola and the macaws, "You lot open your wings and take off now, unless you wanna become cat food."

At this, Sandalwood shot the emperor penguin chick a 'What!?' look.

"But… what about you penguins?" he asked.

"Don't worry about us," hissed Finnick as the urge to flee reached boiling point within him, especially at how the servals and caracals were beginning to hone in on them like circling vultures, their eyes burning with hunger. Sandalwood was about to protest again when one of the caracals shouted, "Hey, stop talking, you chatterboxes!"

"Yeah, you're just wasting the final minutes of your lives on palaver," said another, a serval. Finnick and Atreyu flashed the closing in servals and caracals a frightened glance, especially as Carnassial glared at the macaw chicks, obviously intent on sinking his fangs into their flesh, regardless of the rarity of the species of some of them. Atreyu, losing patience, then angrily seized Sandalwood in his wing flippers much to the shock of the others.

"Look, just TAKE TO THE AIR WILL YOU!?" he bellowed and with that, he heaved Sandalwood as he shouted, "Hey, hey, hey, HEEEEEY…" into the air. Sandalwood screamed as he found himself hurtling through space. His wings flapped madly and he flailed like a fish. Carnassial and the other cats looked on as the flailing flying fox then crashed into the dirt and rolled to a stop right before Shenzi, much to her surprise. Then Sandalwood began to quiver and shed frightened tears. Atreyu looked on as the flying fox pup continued to shake like a leaf and emit frightened squeaks as Acerola shouted, "Now look what you did! You've scared him OUTRIGHT!"

"Then why didn't he just open his wings and start flapping like all fruit bats should!?" protested Tiana. However, the conversation was cut short when the group's ears picked up, "Pounce on 'em, boys and girls!" from the ringleader. At this, the group of penguins, flying fox pup, macaws and archaeobird all snapped their gazes from Sandalwood to the group of incoming servals and caracals as they leaped off the ground and flew towards the group, their front paws flaring their claws ready for tearing into flesh. Alarm tearing through him in a split-second, Atreyu lunged at some of the macaw chicks and shoved them to get them moving while he, Finnick, Tiana and Jacques moved themselves. Sirius and the others all screamed as the servals and caracals flew at them only to miss and crash in the spot where the group had been seconds before. As the servals and caracals collapsed in a heap on the floor, Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix and the other macaw chicks and Acerola, terror flaring within them, then opened their wings and took to the air. Altair jumped onto Aldebaran's back as the half scarlet, half great green macaw lofted hastily into flight. Spica, Castor and Pollux also seized Sandalwood and helped him to his feet and within moments, the flying fox pup dashed off after the airborne macaw chicks and Acerola, Finnick, Atreyu, Tiana and Jacques following with Carnassial and his gang of servals and caracals in hot pursuit.

"AFTER THEEEEEM!" shouted the leader of the group and with screeches of hunger and rage, the pack of sandy brown and black spot and streak-studded golden pelted cats all scrambled to their feet and gave chase. As the four penguins charged along, Atreyu saw Sandalwood running rather than flying.

"Why aren't you in the air with the macaws and the other flying fox!?" he bellowed. Sandalwood, at this, flashed the emperor penguin a stunned glance. All this time he had kept his fear of flying a secret but now it was time for it to come to light and he had no more choice but to spill it.

"I-I-I um… can't…" he stammered as he sidestepped a rock and jumped over another pile of bones, apparently from another of the inhabitants of the Compartment of the Carnivores' kills. Atreyu, Finnick, Tiana and Jacques exchanged confused glances when suddenly, a caracal paw appeared and swiped Tiana's lower back, making her scream and forcing the penguin chicks to run faster. Atreyu flashed a terrified glance back at the chasers and saw Carnassial and his gang, their glares flooded with murderous bloodlust, hunger and the desire for flesh, continue their relentless chase. Saliva spilled in large drops from the cats' mouths and Sandalwood could see the fiery hunger in the pairs of amber or golden slitted eyes. Sandalwood shuddered as those eyes brought back the image of the pair of eyes borne by the snake, the one that had almost turned him and Bellatrix into a meal back in Rio and had bitten Luna, his maternal aunt, during the incident at the clutches of Isabella, one of Marco and Anastasia's daughters and her comrades leading to his immense fear of heights and flying.

"You can't WHAT!?" barked Finnick's voice, pulling Sandalwood back to reality. This was it.

"I can't…" began Sandalwood when suddenly, a serval screech exploded behind him, making him snap his gaze behind him and when he saw one of the speckled cats lunge at him with its claws bared, Sandalwood unleashed a terrified scream and turned sharply right, sending the serval crashing into the ground and tumbling towards a den where some wild dogs, their fur smeared and dotted with orange and black patches like a calico cat's fur, lived. Sandalwood shot towards the penguins and jumped into Jacques's wing flippers.

"FLYYYYYYYY!" he finally managed to say. This was met by astonished glares from the four penguins.

"You can't be serious!" growled Atreyu, jumping aside to avoid another pile of bones from another deceased animal. Finnick's foot snagged on one of the ribs but he managed to regain his balance before stumbling and continue running. One of the caracals also missed him by inches and instead struck the skeleton, much to his outrage.

"A flying fox," said Tiana, "That CANNOT FLY!?"

Sandalwood, a sad look on his face, nodded. Suddenly, Sirius's voice rang out.

"Penguin chicks, Sandalwood, look OUT!" called the Spix macaw from the air. At this, the four penguin chicks and Sandalwood looked ahead and when they saw a wolf-like creature, another dog with black, golden orange and white blotches, smearing its body, walk in their path, they screamed and quickly swerved to the left to avoid crashing into it, much to the surprise of the African wild dog. The dog then looked on with a stunned face when suddenly, "MOVE, you SPECKLED SAVANNAH MUTT!" and before the wild dog could react, a caracal paw appeared and swiped it hard across the face, knocking it down as Carnassial and his gang charged past. A yelp of pain and shock exploded from the dog's mouth as it fell in a heap.

"You couldn't have told us until NOW!?" shouted Atreyu as he hung on for dear life in Jacque's wing flippers as the penguins continued to run for their lives.

"What wasn't important until now!" snapped Sandalwood as he desperately tried to avoid falling out of Jacques's wing flippers. Suddenly, a caracal cry erupted from behind the penguins, much to the terrified screams of the four penguins. Finnick stole a glance behind him and saw Carnassial and his gang hot on their tails.

"I wonder if that yellow-crested cockatoo that accidentally wandered into this area had faced the same scene before he met his end!" cried the macaroni penguin, sidestepping to avoid another pile of bones and some thorny plants.

"Shut up and KEEP RUNNING!" bellowed Atreyu. Finnick did so.

The chase continued through the Compartment of the Carnivores. As the colourful comets formed by Sirius and the others shot past, followed by the quartet of racing penguins and subsequently the caracals and servals, eyes of more carnivores were pulled to the chase. One or two cheetahs from Africa and a leopard, also from Africa, resting in a tree looked on in surprise as the chase zoomed past them. Several carnivorous birds, among them some critically endangered vultures and owls, also watched the chase as it shot past. Atreyu, Finnick, Tiana and Jacques continued running with Sandalwood in the grasp, dodging every obstacle in their way and avoiding the paw swipes from their feline chasers behind them, but soon they were beginning to feel ache set in their legs and they were beginning to get out of breath. Their lungs struggled and strained to pull in the air to power their legs and fatigue was setting in. Behind them, Carnassial could sense that his and his group's prey was getting tired.

"We've got you now, you tasty meals!" he crooned, turning the penguins' blood to ice. Ahead of the penguins, Sirius and company had slowed down upon seeing the penguins beginning to slow down due to fatigue. However, they failed to notice that one of them was struggling to keep up as well. Sylvester, with his tattered tail, was finding it very difficult to fly. Macaws could not fly very well without their tails, and his missing tail was impeding Sylvester's ability to fly properly. As he realised he was lagging behind, panic began to set in the little Cuban macaw.

"Guys," called out Sylvester as he flapped his wings hard, "I CANNOT KEEP UP!"

No sooner than these words had escaped his beak when suddenly, a serval paw appeared and swiped the scarlet-like macaw chick right out of the air like a fly. This action plunged the rest of his group's blood and heart into icy water as Sylvester tumbled violently across the clearing and was scooped up by Carnassial. At this, Acerola, Sirius and the others in the air froze.

"SYLVESTER!" cried Sirius. Sandalwood also gazed in immense terror from Jacques's wing flippers as Carnassial held the struggling Cuban macaw chick in his paws, a devilish, hunger-burning glare on his face.

"Now we've got ya, you unfortunate parrot," crooned Carnassial, his mouth oozing saliva which dripped like Luiz's drool from his mouth and onto the floor. Some of the other caracals and servals surrounded him as Sylvester, a petrified look on his face, shuddered violently. Sandalwood flashed a glance this way and that until his eyes landed on a doglike creature chewing on a bone. This dog resembled some domestic dog breeds and its fur was golden orange colour, similar to the amber fur of Sandalwood but more orange. As he gazed at the bone, especially as the dog put it down to turn away at something, an idea entered Sandalwood's head.

Sylvester continued screaming and writhing in Carnassial's paws as the bloodthirsty caracal prepared to eat him. Nearby, Alegria, Sirius, Pitaya, Bellatrix and Castor and Pollux, the determination to save their Cuban red friend flaring within them, tried to approach Carnassial but were fended off by some of the caracals and servals who swiped their paws at them.

"Don't come any closer unless you wanna be meals too," crooned Shenzi, one of the servals, evilly. She swiped her paws at Sirius but the Spix macaw dodged. The rest of the group, Acerola, Aldebaran with Altair on his back, Procyon, Arcturus, Saiph, Regulus and Denebola had shot off to call for help. As Alegria, Sirius, Pitaya, Bellatrix, Castor and Pollux continued attempting to rescue Sylvester from Carnassial's clutches, Tiana rushing in to help only to be stopped by Atreyu who feared for her safety, one of the caracal paw swiped clipped Castor on the belly. At this, screams of pain and fright erupted from the blue-and-gold macaw chick as some yellow feathers and a bead of blood, formed as a scratch opened on his belly, flew from him.

"It's no use!" shouted Bellatrix, "These cats are too smart!"

"Consume that chick, Carnassial. After all, you've caught it first!" shouted one of the servals as it slashed its claws at Bellatrix, forcing her to dodge. This turned the blood of Alegria, Sirius, Pitaya, Bellatrix, Castor and Pollux into ice as Sylvester's piercing screams reached their ears.

"NOOOOOOO!" cried Alegria and Pitaya as they watched Carnassial raise their struggling adopted brother above his mouth, ready to consume him alive. Sylvester gazed below him and screamed as he saw the open slimy death trap lined with razor sharp teeth with a flap of pinkish skin on the bottom and a hole with a fleshy drip at the back but before Sylvester could be dropped into the trap and to his demise, the sounds of enraged barking erupted, alerting Carnassial and his gang. Alegria, Sirius, Pitaya, Bellatrix, Castor and Pollux, and also Atreyu, Tiana, Jacques and Finnick, who noticed that a certain flying fox was missing from Jacques's wing flippers, shot stunned gazes in the direction of the sound's source and to their surprise, they saw a bone move towards the servals and caracals.

"WHERE'S MY BONE!?" shouted a doglike creature. It then turned and glared at another cat, a cheetah, furiously.

"Someone stole my bone," continued the dog.

"I hadn't taken it," said the cheetah.

"WHERE IS IT!?" demanded the dog despite the slender, spotted cat's protests, lurching forward at the cat and making it back away. It was then that its glare turned to where its bone had gone and when it saw its possession near the servals and caracals, a "HEY!" erupted from his mouth. At this, Carnassial (who had Sylvester dangling in his paw close to the ground, having been distracted from his attempt to eat him) and his gang glared at the dog as it charged towards them.

"HOW DARE YOU TAKE MY BONE, you PESKY CATS!" snarled the animal and with that, it released enraged growls. During the ensuing chaos, Sandalwood had rushed to Carnassial and as soon as he was near the paw that held Sylvester, the flying fox pup jumped onto the arm and as soon as he was on it, he opened his mouth and with all his might, he plunged his razor sharp teeth into the flesh of Carnassial's paw. An extremely loud and agonised screech erupted from Carnassial's mouth and in the process; the grip on Sylvester was released, dropping the Cuban macaw chick onto the ground. Sandalwood then seized the chick and dashed off, moments before the dog, which Spica and Bellatrix identified as a dingo from Australia, then began to unleash its fury on the caracals and servals, accusing them of stealing his bone. With the caracals and servals occupied by the dingo, Atreyu and the others including Sandalwood and a badly shaken Sylvester, prepared to dash away. However, the group did not get very far when suddenly and out of nowhere, cupped meshes attached to rings came flying in and ensnared Alegria, Sirius, Pitaya, Bellatrix, Castor and Pollux as they raced away. Another net captured Acerola, Aldebaran, Procyon, Arcturus, Saiph, Regulus and Denebola while a transparent plastic open ended cube plunged over Atreyu, Finnick, Tiana, Jacques, Sandalwood and Sylvester, catching all six at once. At first, alarm tore through the group but when they realised that the holders of the traps were only humans, Finnick breathed a sigh of relief.

"Our human carers must have been alerted by the commotion," he said. Sandalwood, Sylvester and Atreyu, however, didn't look as happy but they were grateful that the human carers had come to rescue them from the dangerous carnivores and put them back into Dundee and his group's jungle enclosure, and away from the claws of Carnassial and his group.

Moments later, Acerola, Aldebaran, Altair, Procyon, Arcturus, Saiph, Regulus, Denebola, Sandalwood, Sylvester, Alegria, Sirius, Pitaya, Bellatrix, Castor and Pollux, together with Atreyu, Finnick, Tiana and Jacques, were imported back into the other enclosure. They were relieved to be back in the safe zone. However, that relief was short-lived and the group soon found themselves confronted by an emu who wore a very displeased facial expression. With him were Sardonyx, Shade, Greg, Sadie, and also Kiara the echidna, Reepicheep the platypus, Flax and Harakeke the kiwis, and Cody, Sparky and Lilo the cockatiels and all of these also wore the same facial expressions as Dundee as they glared at Sandalwood and company. Not too far away, Lusamine, Cato, Guzma and their gang watched from a tree and some bushes, fearful looks on their faces while Gladion and Lillie, who had left earlier to get help, sat perched with the others in Sandalwood's group, among them Vega, Deneb, Polaris, Petunia, Betelgeuse, Rigel and Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine and Thymine. Steven, Connie, Opal, Sugilite, Lars and Kevin also stood with the group, and all of them wore mortified looks on their faces when they saw Sandalwood and the others and also Atreyu and the other three penguins as they stood before a very displeased Dundee and some of his inner circle animals.

"To my tent, NOW!" barked Dundee, sending a massive jolt coursing through Sandalwood and the others. With ashamed looks on their faces, Acerola, Aldebaran, Altair, Procyon, Arcturus, Saiph, Regulus, Denebola, Sandalwood, Sylvester, Alegria, Sirius, Pitaya, Bellatrix, Castor and Pollux, Atreyu, Finnick, Tiana and Jacques sauntered past Dundee and the other animals and left for the tent.


	34. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33- crumbling emotions**

 **Meanwhile, back in Rio**

Io flew in the direction of a patch of jungle, the city of Rio far below her. White cotton-like puffs of clouds smothered parts of the cityscape for she was flying so high up. Behind her, Jupiter, Ruby and Ónix tried catching up to her.

"Io!" called Jupiter firmly, "Io, STOP!"

However, his eldest daughter refused to slow down and continued accelerating, much to the trio's frustration. The scarlet macaw and firstborn of Jupiter and Ruby's children was in a right state. Tears were streaming like heavy rain down her cheeks and sobs were pouring uncontrollably from her mouth. Io's heart was in complete tatters, like a wounded animal covered in countless deep cuts and gashes as a result of a vicious predator attack. The first deep cuts resulted from Betelgeuse and Rigel getting captured by those poachers alongside Sandalwood and the others, while the second set were inflicted by the acidic words of Sofia and her gang regarding her decision to have kids. Now Io's heart was torn again with her fallout with Sheldon, derailing the two's relationship and putting it in jeopardy of severing completely. And this was the last thing Jupiter and company, especially Jupiter and Ruby and Io's siblings, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto, as well as Byron, Mimas and Athos, the respective mates of Io's siblings, wanted. Io and Sheldon's relationship had been badly lacerated and clawed by Sofia and her gang's acidic words and it had had a devastating effect on Io's already volatile emotions. As the three continued chasing Io, Ruby was boiling with outright fury.

"When I GET MY TALONS on that SOFIA AND HER GANG," she snarled, "I'm GONNA…" she then spewed a set of threats and names too caustic to write. Jupiter flashed his outraged mate an utterly astonished glance at her choice of words for he had never Ruby spew such stuff like this, and Ónix actually winced and flinched at every caustic word that flew from Ruby's beak. His crest was fully fanned out and his eyes were sometimes screwed shut. However, he was unsurprised.

"I'd just be as… equally enraged... as she is… if those toucans EVER said… something like THAT to my own daughter… about having chicks…" he said between flinches, "Bella is a mother of… three chicks…"

"Io, PLEASE!" shouted Jupiter, too engrossed in getting his daughter to slow down, "Let's DISCUSS THIS!"

His heartstrings were strained by the massive fountain of sobs that continued to erupt from Io's beak like a massive geyser and his insides felt like water from the stress but Jupiter continued to fly on, determined to help his daughter.

"PLEASE LEAVE ME ALONE!" wailed Io in a fragmented, distressed voice ahead of the trio, "I WANNA BE ON MY OWN!"

Jupiter felt his stomach lurch at this sentence but he still carried on, his wings aching from flapping so much.

"Look, daughter!" he retorted, "I'm NOT GONNA LET you BOTTLE UP THOSE NEGATIVE EMOTIONS to the point of having MELTDOWN, and as your father, I ORDER YOU TO SLOW DOWN AND DISCUSS THIS!"

When Io didn't reply, for her mind was too warped by the massive whirlwind of negative emotions, Ruby lost patience.

"SERIOUSLY IO, GET A GRIP!" she bellowed. Io did not reply this this either. In response, the young scarlet macaw abruptly stopped accelerating ahead of her parents and Ónix and rocketed straight down to some trees below, sobs still uncontrollably escaping her beak and tears flying everywhere. Jupiter, Ruby and Ónix followed.

"Io, please!" shouted Ónix as the four descended towards the trees, "We're SERIOUSLY concerned about you."

He breathed a frustrated sigh when Io shut that demand out as well. Then after a few more seconds of descending from the sky, Io dived into the canopy and made a beeline to the nearest hollow she laid her tear-stained eyes on. After that, she disappeared into the shadow of the hollow, seized some leaves and quickly blocked off the entrance, moments before Jupiter, Ruby and Ónix turned up. Ónix, who had seen Io disappear into a certain hollow, pointed to the said hollow with the leaves blocking the entrance. From behind the leaves, sobs were erupting. Jupiter and Ruby, puffing and panting from flying so fast along with Ónix, then touched down on the branch leading to the hollow and began to beg Io to leave her confinement. Their daughter's immensely heartbroken sobs tugged on their heartstrings. The pair had never seen Io in such a distressed state since she was born. After taking a minute to get their breath back, Jupiter began to speak through the leaves, this time in a gentler voice.

"Io, please," he said, "We're only trying to help you."

"Yes, we wanna get something very important to you regarding what that rotten toucan said about you and Sheldon having your daughters," put in Ruby. No answer, except only sobbing from within the hollow. Ónix stood back, a worried look on his face as the parents continued trying to coax their daughter into coming out of the hollow. Much like Jupiter and Ruby, he bore a flash of outrage at Sofia and Marcel and their gang for saying such a horrible, acidic thing to Io and Sheldon, along with Europa, Callisto, Athos, Mimas and Byron, the other day and wanted to give those toucans a piece of his mind. However, he kept his mind focussed on sorting this big problem out. 'These problems always seem to pop up everywhere,' thought the red-tailed black cockatoo in despair.

"I was wrong in having Betelgeuse and Rigel," cried Io from within the hollow, "I'm a BAD parent and I MADE THE WRONG DECISION IN HAVING THOSE TWO CHICKS!"

"That is absolute CODSWALLOP!" snapped Jupiter from outside the hollow, "You were very happy in having those two adorable daughters, as were your siblings, in-laws and everybody else."

"What Sofia said is a total PACK OF LIES," put in Ruby, "SHE'S a bad parent as ARE HER MATE AND RELATIVES, NOT YOU, NOT any of the others including Carla, Bia and Tiago!" she paused for a moment, "AND TO ADD, it is NOT YOUR FAULT that YOUR TWO DAUGHTERS HAVE GONE MISSING…"

"YES IT IIIIIIS!" screeched Io from within the hollow.

"NO, it is NOT," retorted Jupiter who was getting frustrated at his daughter's stubbornness to listen, "Again, that's a pack of lies and a pile of POO AS WELL! Sofia and her gang had absolutely NO RIGHT TO BLAME YOU AND THE OTHERS of those KIDS GETTING CAUGHT BY THOSE POACHERS AND TAKEN AWAY!" his voice then turned to desperate pleading, his eyes beginning to weep tears, "Please BELIEVE US!"

Sobs continued to erupt from inside the hollow, tensing the atmosphere above Jupiter and Ruby and making Ónix's insides and the muscles in his wings and legs feel like jelly such that he could not support his own weight on his talons. Jupiter and Ruby also continued to shake as several more torturous minutes past until finally, the leaves blocking the entrance came down, revealing a seriously tear stained-eyed and still-distressed Io as she emerged from the hollow. However, her sobbing was not as loud but she still continued to weep. Upon seeing Jupiter and Ruby before her, the scarlet macaw leapt into their wings, causing Jupiter and Ruby to lock her in a tight embrace.

"There, there, Io," said Jupiter gently as he allowed his daughter to sob into his chest feathers, "It's alright."

"We will sort out this mess," said Ruby comfortingly as she also hugged Io, "We WILL get those toucans punished and also get those kids, including your two daughters and Sandalwood, back as soon as we can. 'We've just GOT to,' she thought, 'We seriously HAVE to at all costs.'

As Io continued sobbing in her parents' embrace, Ónix looked on, the strength seeping back into his wings and talons from the relief he felt for the parents and daughter, but then his mind travelled to the other macaws that had been lacerated by Sofia's acidic remarks. 'What about Callisto, Byron, Europa and Athos, and also Mimas?' he thought. However, the red-tailed black cockatoo remembered Jupiter telling him that Europa and Callisto, and also Ganymede, were very tough macaws, even though Europa wasn't as tough as her larger brother and sister due to her hard-as-rocks Byron complementing her. Athos was also very tough and would never, ever let scathing comments be said to him or his family, even though he had felt the acid from Sofia's beak burn a wound in his feelings. Ganymede also complimented Mimas's vulnerabilities and Mimas also had the support of her siblings Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Titan and Iapetus and also her siblings-in-law Trixie the hyacinth macaw, who was rather tough, Oberon from Uranus and Esmeralda's brood, a burly Porthos when had an equally burly personality, and a tough and big-sisterly Brooke. However, Io and Sheldon were both much more fragile and thus more prone to being torn down by caustic words than Europa, Ganymede or Callisto and Io has a tendency to believe scathing remarks to be true, especially after a devastating event such as her two daughters Betelgeuse and Rigel and the other kids including Sandalwood going missing and the trauma of seeing the poachers make off with those kids, and Jupiter and Ruby believed that she had unintentionally took the excess hurt out on Sheldon, resulting in their heated falling out and subsequently departure. Jupiter and Ruby had hoped that the relationship between their eldest daughter and her ruby mate would be fixed but they knew that Io might have to stay away from Sheldon for a while until her emotional wounds healed and she was more stable.

Meanwhile, Sheldon had rocketed off to the area near the Vista Chinesa with Blu, Jewel, Zephyr and Venus chasing after him. There, the green-winged/scarlet hybrid dropped from the air and landed in a tree near the monument where Blu and Jewel had spent their first night together after escaping the smugglers while they were chained together. Blu flashed a glance at the iconic monument as he, Jewel, Zephyr and Venus chased after Sheldon and thought, 'That was some _years_ ago'. He remembered that he didn't fly back then but that sparked a painful memory of a certain flying fox pup who now suffered the same problem Blu had during his first days with Jewel. Blu, at this, flashed a brief moment of sadness as Sandalwood came into his head but then he pushed it away to see to Sheldon. It was now coming close to evening, the sun slowly descending towards the western horizon in preparation for setting and ending the day. As soon as the four Spix macaws had managed to locate Sheldon, who had a combination of anger, heartbreak and frustration boiling within him like an unhealthy brew, the quartet fluttered to the branch he had perched and touched down. Zephyr was the first to speak. On the Vista Chinesa monument, several humans were surveying the bird population and also keeping an eye out for any flocks of toucans to help Tulio and his team to locate them, but the five macaws had failed to spot them, not even the familiar faces of Jack and Jill who had come with this group of humans to help in the survey, among that group.

"Sheldon, come on, snap out of it," Zephyr said firmly as Sheldon began to shed tears and breathe in and out at a rapid pace, "We understand the devastation those spiteful remarks Sofia and her gang said of your decision to have chicks had on you and Io."

Sheldon did not reply and continued hyperventilating and weeping. The past few days had taken its toll on him and now his relationship with Io was under threat. Venus then stepped forward.

"Seriously, Sheldon, get your act together," she said firmly, "We'll sort this out together."

Still Sheldon refused to answer. Instead, he began to break down.

"How could Io say SOMETHING LIKE THAT to me!?" he wailed, tears falling from his eyes and his head thrown back, "It's as though she doesn't LOVE ME ANYMORE and also BLAMES ME for our little girls Betelgeuse and Rigel going missing."

And with that, he entered an episode of uncontrollable sobbing as his emotions volcanically erupted. At this, Jewel came forward, a stern look on her face.

"That is ABSOLUTELY not TRUE!" she shouted, "It is just that…" she paused briefly, "It's just that those STUPID BRATS thought it would be funny to cause you and the rest of the parents including Carla, Bia and Tiago and their mates Justin, Virgil and Matilda TROUBLE after what had happened."

"Can you imagine how Io feels as well?" put in Blu. At this, Sheldon snapped round and glared at him, Jewel, Venus and Zephyr with teary but also enraged blue eyes. From the Chinesa Vista, one of the humans, a young boy who seemed to be in his teens spotted four splashes of blue and one of red in the tree and called for Jack and Jill.

"Don't you DARE mention the name of that brat, Blu!" snapped the ruby macaw much to the appalled flabbergast of him and the other three.

"What did you just say!?" hissed Zephyr angrily.

"You heard me," snapped Sheldon bitterly, tears falling from his eyes, "I said don't mention that scarlet macaw's name!"

Utterly astonished glances were exchanged by the four macaws but then Jewel's face morphed into an outraged scowl.

"How could you say something like THAT about your own MATE!?" she bellowed but Sheldon quickly turned her back on her and stormed off.

"She asked you a question, Sheldon," said Venus angrily. Blu and Zephyr continued to look on when suddenly; Zephyr caught sighted some familiar humans out the corner of his eye. At this, the green-eyed Spix macaw turned and to his surprise, he saw Jack and Jill standing on the Vista Chinesa, observing the quintet's behaviour. Concern laced their faces, especially as they watched Sheldon's distressed behaviour. Jill then whispered something to Jack which Zephyr deduced from the movement of her lips that she was referring to Sheldon. Putting that aside, he returned to helping Jewel, Blu and Venus reason with Sheldon. However, the ruby macaw was having none of it and kept snapping at the Spix macaws' attempts to console him. The last straw finally came when the comment that came out of Sheldon's beak, something he'd regret later, in retort to a fact in Venus's sentence.

"Io might need you in the coming days, Sheldon," said the pigtailed Spix macaw in frustration, "Until we find out where Sandalwood and the others including Betelgeuse and Rigel have been taken by those poachers, she might need your support. She is your mate after all."

At this, Sheldon snapped. With a scowl on his face, he hissed, "She's NOT my mate anymore, Venus. Don't you EVER call her my mate again! I think she's a SPOILT BRAT, just like that BRAT SOFIA!"

And with that, the ruby macaw stormed off, sobs erupting from his beak. Venus stood there, totally taken aback and dumbfounded by Sheldon's sudden outburst and declaration for what he said. Blu, Jewel and Zephyr also came in. The two males were as dumbfounded as Venus but the other was utterly outraged.

"He's gonna regret that remark now," Jewel snarled as she glared after Sheldon as he flew off into the next tree to sob his eyes out. Venus didn't say anything. As Sheldon's words about Io's relationship repeated in her mind, the pigtailed Spix macaw began to feel her head get lighter to the point of her balance being affected. Finally, the shock reached critical and Venus finally lost her balance and fell. Zephyr caught her in his wings and gazed at her as the facial skin under her maya blue feathers began to lose colour.

"I think I'm gonna be sick," murmured Venus weakly.

"Let's get her back to Tulio and Linda's cottage," said Blu.

"But what about Sheldon?" asked Zephyr. Jewel glared at the ruby macaw as he sobbed in the adjacent tree. After what he said about Io, she knew that there was nothing that could be done now.

"Let's leave him there and give him the silent treatment," she hissed, "Hopefully it'll give him time to think about what he said and prompt him to apologise to Io."

"I hope the two make up," murmured Blu warily. However, after this sentence left this macaw's beak, a scornful and bratty, "I doubt it, Uncle Blu," reached the group's ears. At this, Blu, Jewel and Zephyr flashed glances this way and that until they landed on a flock of black birds with reddish cream fronts and large orange and black beaks like Rafael. Two of them were the same toucans that threw the accusation at Tiago and Matilda as being parents of Bellatrix the 'murderous chick' the other day when those two, along with Jewel, Stella, Soren, Augustus, Cometa and Jupiter had gone to their hollow to discuss their kids' behaviour, especially regarding what they had done to Sandalwood. There were about a dozen adults including the two at the front. Then the familiar male's brown spite-laced gaze found the dazed Venus. A small laugh escaped his beak.

"Looks like Pigtails has seen a monstrous eagle or sommat," he crooned. Laughter rolled through his comrades and his mate beside him. However, the Spix macaws were not amused.

"If you think this is funny, Marco and Anastasia, it is certainly NOT!" snapped Zephyr who was struggling the urge to lash at the toucans and slash the scornful smiles off their beaks. Jewel was also on the verge of this breaking point, especially as her fiery teal glare was pinned on Anastasia and Marco. Then one of the couple's comrades said, "We heard what had happened to Sheldon and Io from our friend Sofia. She said that she had seen the couple argue and then storm off in a huff."

"Yeah, it sure was funny, hearing about that couple having a heated argument," put in another comrade before more laughs rolled through the flock. Blu then stepped forward, a furious look on his face.

"I hope you're happy now, you horribly naughty lot," he growled, his blue feathers bristled, "You've finally sent one of the couples whom Sofia had severely damaged with those despicable words over the edge."

To his disgust, the faces of the toucans, especially Marco and Anastasia, creased into mock sympathy.

"Awww," crooned Marco meanly, "We're sorry to hear about that."

As he said this, Anastasia's eyes found a flash of red in the tree behind the one the Spix macaws were perched in as sobs escaped his beak. A fiendish look on her face, she opened her wings and took off.

"Did they break up?" asked one of Marco and his mate's comrades immaturely. Then more laughs escaped the toucans' beaks.

"That Io has always been an outright (bleep) since we first met her anyway," said one of them as laughs continued to roll through the group. At this, Jewel's cerulean feathers bristled, the fires in her teal eyes began to burn higher and her talon rose. Her talon then shot out a toe like a bullet and pointed with deadly laser accuracy at Marco's face, making Marco and the other toucans with him stop laughing when they saw the threatening appearance of the volatile tempered Spix macaw. Blu and Zephyr just looked on while Venus, the shock still gripping her, gazed into space with a stunned look still plastering her face.

"Don't you EVER…" hissed Jewel in a dangerously low voice, "Insult one of Jupiter and Ruby's daughters when I'm around."

It was then that Zephyr caught-sighted a small orange and black beak peak out from behind a branch behind Marco and company. At this, his eyes travelled to the group of humans as they continued observing him and the others with him and noticed that two or three of the humans, all adults were holding a familiar barrel object he remembered were used in catching birds in nets. During this, Jewel's ears picked up Anastasia's scornful remarks from behind the tree. At this, the teal-eyed Spix macaw turned and, to her incensed fury, she saw the nasty toco toucan hurl some mocking remarks at the already distressed Sheldon, pushing his buttons about Io and his still-missing daughters Betelgeuse and Rigel and laughing at his furious outbursts and demands to leave. A hiss filtering through her beak, Jewel opened her wings, took off and made a beeline for Anastasia. Then as soon as she was near the toucan, Jewel shot at her like a comet and without hesitation barged as hard as she could into Anastasia's side much to the horrified screams of the other toucans, especially Marco as he watched his stunned mate fly through the air and land hard onto a branch, her wings clasping her impacted side. Black comets rushed over to Anastasia as she continued to clasp her side, her face twisted in sheer pain as Jewel glared down nonchalantly. Blu, however, gazed down with an appalled and flabbergasted look. At the same time, sounds of net guns going off erupted from behind Blu and Venus, who was lying on her back on the branch for Zephyr had gently placed her down and was starting to come to. The net gun sounds were accompanied by sounds of terrified toucan chick screams. At this, Blu snapped his head around and saw some of the humans standing in the Vista Chinesa as they shot down several dozen toucan chicks with a flash of blue zooming back and forth and luring the chicks to the humans. Sheldon, however, continued sobbing his heart out to notice the commotion.

Marco stood over Anastasia as she continued holding her side where Jewel had viciously tackled her, her eyes screwed shut in pain and her breath filtering through her gritted beak. Snapping his gaze from his battered mate, he shot Jewel an extremely caustic glare.

"(Bleep) you, you savage (bleep)!" bellowed the toucan before resuming seeing to his injured mate with his comrades. Jewel just spat onto a branch at them and flew away.

"I've always wanted to do that to her after what she said about my granddaughter Bellatrix the other day, anyway," she crooned nastily as she left.

"Rafael and Eva aren't gonna be pleased if they hear what you've done to their son's daughter-in-law, Jewel," murmured Blu rather sternly. Jewel, however, flashed him a smug look. Then Blu helped Venus to her feet as Zephyr appeared, the commotion between the toucan chicks and the humans at the Vista Chinesa still happening as more toucan chicks were netted down.

"Let's get back to Tulio and Linda's cottage," he said firmly, "We've got some very important tasks to do."

"But what about Sheldon?" asked Blu. At this, Jewel turned and saw Sheldon fly away into the darkening jungle, intending to get away from the toucans, roughly in the direction of where the other Blu Bird Sanctuary residents had retreated to.

"Let's leave him be for now," she said, "He's not in the mood for talking with us anyway, especially after what he said about Io."

Zephyr, Venus and Blu nodded in agreement and with that, the four Spix macaws opened their wings and took off.

 **Meanwhile, back in the Sanctuario del Parad** **í** **so**

Sandalwood sat at the foot of a tree, his back against the trunk, a very sombre look on his face and with a flower in his membranous wings. Above in the tree, Acerola hung by her feet from a branch, a sad look also on her face. Nearby, Aldebaran, Altair, Procyon, Arcturus, Saiph, Regulus, Denebola, Sandalwood, Sylvester, Alegria, Sirius, Pitaya, Bellatrix, Castor and Pollux loitered around, all their faces also laced with sadness and frustration. Sylvester was having his tattered tail examined by a couple of cockatiels who were trained in basic medical skills while Castor was having the small scratch on his belly treated with moss and plant mulch. Not too far away, Atreyu, Finnick, Tiana and Jacques sat under the supervision of some adult penguins, a few Galapagos, and a Humboldt, all with their faces twisted into stern looks. Sandalwood gazed sadly at the penguins and then back at the flower in his wings, a sad sigh escaping his mouth.

During the confrontation by Dundee and his inner circle animals back in the leader's tent, Sandalwood and the others that had been with him in the Compartment of Carnivores with Atreyu, Finnick, Tiana and Jacques had tried to explain the events leading to their entry into the forbidden area. Dundee, along with his younger brother Nick, Reepicheep the platypus, Kiara the echidna, Cody, Sparky and Lilo the cockatiels, Flax and Harakeke the kiwis and Greg, Sardonyx, Shade and Sadie the scarlet macaws and grey-headed flying foxes had not been very pleased but when Sandalwood had tried to explain what had happened, Dundee had dismissed their story as unlikely, much to the shock of Sandalwood and the others with him that had been in the forbidden Compartment. Gladion and Lillie, who had been present had also been stricken with immense flabbergast. It was obvious that Lusamine, Guzma, Cato and the rest of their gang of lizards, fruit bats and monkeys had been telling Dundee and the other inner circle animals first but Sandalwood, Acerola, Aldebaran, Altair, Procyon, Arcturus, Saiph, Regulus, Denebola, Sandalwood, Sylvester, Alegria, Sirius, Pitaya, Bellatrix, Castor and Pollux, and also Atreyu, Jacques, Tiana and Finnick and Gladion and Lillie clearly felt their tale had been fabricated.

Lusamine had told Dundee and the inner circle animals that Sandalwood and the others had deliberately provoked Dalek the parrot detesting chameleon into chasing them to the mesh separating safety land from the Compartment of the Carnivores, as well as how they tried to intervene and get Dalek to stop his chase but the chameleon refused to listen. To Sandalwood and company's outrage, Lusamine and her gang had deliberately left out the part where they had been picking on Atreyu about his tragic ordeal involving his near-death experience with a fishing net, and then subsequently the chase to the mesh with Dalek alongside them. It was clear that the Madagascan fruit bat had told Dundee and the inner circle this pack of lies while Sandalwood and company were in the Compartment desperately trying to escape Carnassial and his gang. Despite Sandalwood's protests, Dundee had issued him and the other kids and also the four penguins a punishment of grounding for two full weeks where they were not at all allowed to leave the vicinity of the flying fox and birds' 'village' or play with the other kids, much to the outrage of Sandalwood and company and to Lusamine and her gang's smugness. This punishment had left Sandalwood, and also Acerola, Aldebaran, Altair, Procyon, Arcturus, Saiph, Regulus, Denebola, Sandalwood, Sylvester, Alegria, Sirius, Pitaya, Bellatrix, Castor and Pollux completely gutted and devastated. They would never be allowed to play or even talk with their new friends Steven, Lars, Kevin, Opal, Sugilite and Connie again until the two-week penalty was over. As this reality struck Sandalwood and the others, including those that hadn't been in the Compartment of the Carnivores, such as Betelgeuse, Rigel, Adenine, Cytosine, Thymine and Guanine, the poor chicks and two flying fox pups began to feel the desire to return to Rio and their families boil within them all the more. Overwhelmed with emotion, Sandalwood tossed aside the flower and broke down, his face buried in his membranous wings as his mind flooded with images of his parents Stella and Soren and also his grandfather Augustus, grandmother Melissa, aunt Luna, uncle Sebastian, aunt Anabelle and his little cousin Ferdinand as well as the flying fox family's friends including Blu, Jewel, Carla, Bia and Tiago.

"I wish Mom and Dad were here!" wailed the amber flying fox pup as he continued to sob his heart out, some animals around him flashing him a concerned look before moving away, uncertain as to what to do.


	35. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34- night talks**

It was now night time in Iquitos but the city was alive with the night time activities of the humans living in the city. In the artificial indoor jungle compartment of the Sanctuario del Paradíso, many of the daytime animals had gone to bed while the night time ones had emerged from their nests and hollows to begin their nightly activities. The grounded macaw chicks, Altair, Sandalwood and Acerola had been ordered to bed and roost by the clan leaders Greg, Sardonyx, Shade and Sadie with Sandalwood sleeping at the foot of the tree of the flying fox group's home due to his fear of heights. However, some of the grounded kids were finding it very difficult to drop off. Sandalwood, who rested at the foot of the tree, was one of them and he was restless. After giving up, the amber coloured fruit bat pup sat up and gazed at the sleeping forms of the other flying foxes as they hung from the branches by their feet, their wings wrapped around their bodies and snores escaping some of them. Sandalwood felt a wave of longing well up within him as he saw the bats sleep like they usually did, one of the things his fear of heights prevented him from doing. He had difficulty picking out Acerola who was also up there but he imagined that his cousin was also restless. Pulling his gaze from the sleeping bats, Sandalwood slowly slinked from his sleeping spot and into the clearing of the artificial jungle.

The artificial jungle was dark except for silver streams of moonlight pouring like liquid silver through the windows from outside. It was a partly cloudy night and the black star-studded canvas was partly smothered by patchy clouds, along with a half-moon hovering like a silver semicircle halfway between the sun's midday and setting points. However, Sandalwood was not in the mood for stargazing or admiring the beautiful silvery shafts of moonlight shining onto the jungle floor. The air was riddled with cricket chirps and the peaceful nightly activities of the nocturnal animals but Sandalwood didn't care about these either. The flying fox pup was very sombre, his mind in turmoil despite the peaceful paradise-like air surrounding him and his eyes were bloodshot from crying so much from the shame Lusamine and her gang had splashed over him and Acerola, Aldebaran, Altair, Procyon, Arcturus, Saiph, Regulus, Denebola, Sandalwood, Sylvester, Alegria, Sirius, Pitaya, Bellatrix, Castor and Pollux, and penguins Atreyu, Jacques, Tiana and Finnick through a while ago by telling Dundee and the inner circle animals only part of what happened leading to Sandalwood's group's near-death at the claws of Carnassial and his gang. This was the second time the flying fox pup, along with Bellatrix in particular, had been made a shame of by a group of bratty animal kids. Lusamine and her gang's actions were very similar to those of Isabella and her group back in Rio, and it had carved another gash into the confidence of Sandalwood and Bellatrix and had upset the other kids, both those that had been involved and the others who hadn't been with Sandalwood and the others during the incident with Carnassial and Dalek. Furthermore, the incident had made Sandalwood and the others long for home and the comfort of their families more than ever.

As Sandalwood continued slinking through the dark jungle air, a very depressed look on his face and the yearning for home with his family bubbling within him, a familiar voice called him from the dark.

"Sandalwood?" it said, making Sandalwood turn and face the speaker. Then several forms, two black toucan chicks with orange and lime green beaks like Diantha, three blue macaw chicks, two red macaw chicks, one yellow and bright green macaw chick with red around her eyes and ears, and four rainbow plumaged macaw chicks all melted out of the darkness. All twelve wore sympathetic looks on their faces as they gathered around him.

"You okay?" asked Lillie. At this, Sandalwood just turned his face away and breathed a sigh.

"No," he murmured, his eyes threatening to weep tears again, "Just been going over the events of today and the mess that Livingstone's fruit bat and her gang has left us in…" his ears then dropped and he lowered his head, wiping his nose with a membranous wing as he sniffled. Then the group of twelve, which were Lillie and her brother Gladion, and Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Betelgeuse, Rigel, Adenine, Cytosine, Thymine, Guanine, and Alegria who had managed to sneak out of their hollows of stay and gather around Sandalwood, then clustered around the depressed bat as he threatened to enter another episode of sobbing. As they placed comforting wings onto the flying fox pup's back, Adenine's face morphed into a look of total outrage.

"This is exactly no _different_ from what that wretched toucan kid Isabella and her comrades have put you through," he hissed, his multi-coloured scarlet and blue-and-gold blended feathers bristling.

"Yes," put in Guanine, her multi-coloured feathers also spiked like a cat's fur as rage burned hotly through her, "First they put you through a traumatic event and then spew lies about it just to direct the trouble at you away from them."

Bellatrix shot the two elder son and daughter of Ganymede and Mimas an agreeing look. For much of the evening since the confrontation with Dundee and the inner circle animals regarding what happened, she had been shunned and glared at by many of the kids as well. The only ones who had not shot Bellatrix or the others a glare were Connie, Steven, Opal and Sugilite and they appeared to be on Sandalwood and company's side. These four had reacted in disbelief and had tried to defend the group but had been ordered to shut their beaks or mouths. Then Betelgeuse stormily but quietly stomped a few steps away from the group, her talon lashing out at a nearby stone and kicking it away. Her amber eyes, the exact same colour as her mother Io's, ablaze with amber flames and the feathers of her pineapple-like crest spiked out all over the place like Roberto's mop of head feathers.

"When I see that Lusamine bat and her comrades," the three-quarter scarlet chick seethed, the volatile temper she had inherited from her mother beginning to manifest, "I'm gonna _give that brat a piece of my mind!"_

She then lunged at a cricket as it chirruped on a leaf and swiped it away with a red wing in her anger. The cricket landed on the floor and then hopped away, frightened by the macaw chick's outburst.

"Betelgeuse!" hissed Sirius in rebuke as he watched his red 'cousin' continue to seethe and also seeing what she had done to the frightened cricket. At this, Betelgeuse snapped around and glared at the eldest son of Bia and Virgil.

"I'm sorry to do that, Sirius, but what that Madagascan fruit bat and her gang had done to Sandalwood and the others is utterly cowardly to say the least!" she hissed, her voice threatening to explode but Betelgeuse knew that it would wake up some of the sleeping animals and had already had uncertainty well within her that she may have done so already, so she spoke in a quieter voice, "And based on what that emperor penguin chick said when he explained that Lusamine and her gang were bullying him and three other penguins until you decided to intervene until that horrible chameleon showed up and decided to lash at you, it was clear that he was being honest…"

"We didn't know anything about that chameleon Dalek anyway," said Spica from the group. Her face then changed to a look of trauma as shivers ran down her spine, especially as she recalled the blood-red colour of the horrible chameleon and the green flames in his turret-like eyes that pierced the macaw chicks like lasers, not to mention the hatred-acidified hisses that escaped the chameleon's mouth during this. Bellatrix, Sirius and Alegria, and also Sandalwood, shuddered at the memories of Dalek when he exhibited that fiery behaviour and Alegria felt her stomach lurch as she recalled what he had done to Sylvester, her Cuban red adopted brother, by tearing most of his tail feathers out which almost resulted in the Cuban macaw chick getting eaten by Carnassial in the Compartment of the Carnivores.

As these thoughts continued to churn in the thirteen kids' minds, a voice said, "Are you lot okay?" at this, the heads of the two red macaws, three Spix macaws, flying fox pup, four Catalina macaws, two toucans, and Dominican green-and-yellow macaw all snapped in the direction of the new speaker as he and someone else melted out of the shadows. To the group's surprise, it was an emperor penguin chick and an adolescent macaroni penguin.

"Atreyu, Finnick," said Sirius in surprise as the pair of penguins approached the group, sympathetic looks on their faces.

"What are you doing up at this time of night?" asked Bellatrix.

"You know you're banned from speaking with us for two weeks," said Sandalwood in an edgy voice. Atreyu and Finnick, at this, ignored Sandalwood's reminder of Dundee's penalty and continued approaching the group until they sat down before them on the edge of a silvery patch of a moonlight shaft on the floor.

"We're totally sorry for what happened to you newcomers today," whispered Atreyu apologetically, a tear beginning to well in the corner of his left eye.

"We didn't think it would end in a mess like this for you folks," said Finnick in his handsome voice which reminded Sirius, Bellatrix and Spica of Roberto, bringing back a brief flash of yearning for home. Finnick's voice was as silvery as the moonlight and the three Spix macaws wondered if his singing voice was as equally sparkly as well. As Finnick said this, Betelgeuse stormed over to the macaroni penguin.

"You didn't think it would end like this," she hissed, her plumage, most especially her pineapple-like crest, spiked out, "You have no _idea_ of the impact it had on those involved," one of her colourful wings gestured to Sandalwood and Bellatrix, "Most especially these two!"

"That's right!" put in Rigel who was equally outraged.

"Why did Lusamine and her gang have to put us through such trouble when we've already got enough as it is already!?" asked Alegria. Gladion and Lillie said nothing but they also wore fiery scowls as they glared at the two penguins. Finnick breathed a sigh and began to explain.

"I think some of the elder animals, possibly including Dundee, will have told you that some of the kids here," he said, "But most especially Lusamine and her gang, among them Guzma the spider monkey and Cato the galliwasp, are very spoilt, prideful and think it's funny to pick on those that are weak or have had a tragic ordeal," he nodded to Atreyu who sat beside him, "Such as him here."

At this, Sandalwood and the other twelve shot Finnick a disbelieving look.

"Tragic ordeal?" asked Adenine as he sat with Cytosine, Guanine and Thymine. At this, Atreyu stood up and walked a couple of steps away, his back to the group and face laced with sadness.

"They love to make fun of me and how I had almost drowned after getting entangled in that fishing net during a fishing trip outing," he murmured. At this, Sandalwood, Gladion and Lillie, Bellatrix, Sirius, Spica, Betelgeuse, Rigel, Adenine, Cytosine, Guanine, Thymine and Alegria all exchanged horrified glances.

"They do _not_!" hissed Guanine in disbelief, trying to deny it but when Atreyu turned round and shot her a confirmatory look, her beak dropped open.

"That's utterly horrible," said Cytosine, a flash of outrage sparking within him.

"And it's insensitive," said Gladion, "Mommy and Daddy had always told us not to make fun of someone who has been through a traumatic ordeal leading to the development of their fear of something."

"The term for that is _post-traumatic stress disorder,"_ said Spica. She then nodded to Sandalwood and added, "That's exactly what this flying fox pup suffers from as a result of being shoved off the end of that branch with his wings bound to the sides."

"Done by some very mean and utterly stupid toucan chicks who were cousins of mine and Gladion's," said Lillie, saying that sentence with pure malice. After what they had done to Sandalwood, Lillie, along with Gladion and also Aurora and the subsequent pack of lies they told leading to the tarnished reputation of Tiago and his family, had begun to despise Isabella and her comrades. Finnick and Atreyu then shot the Spix macaw and toucan chick a horrified, disbelieving look.

"Is that true?" asked Atreyu. Sandalwood stood up and nodded.

"It all started when those toucan chicks led by Isabella wanted me to participate in pranking some macaw neighbours by throwing fruit at them and their tree and stealing their gathered food as part of a 'pirates' game," he said. Finnick and Atreyu then cocked their ears to the flying fox's story as he continued. "When I refused to go along with the plans, they took me and bound me in tough vines with my wings tied to my sides and feet tied together, and then placed me on the end of a branch," Sandalwood then shuddered and began to weep again, tears welling in his eyes, "Th-they threatened to push me off the end of that branch end and into a lake below if I didn't explain why I refused to go along with the prank…"

Sobs then threatened to escape his throat so Bellatrix took over, Finnick and Atreyu gazing at each other in disbelief. "Then when we heard that he was in trouble, we rocketed off," her face then became dark, "And the moment we arrived, I was the first to arrive on the scene, all chaos broke loose. When I, along with Bartholomew who is my younger brother, saw Sandalwood tied up with his wings bound to his sides, I surged forward in a moment of panic…" Bellatrix then began to shudder as guilt then began to well within her. Sirius and Spica, Gladion and Lillie, Betelgeuse, Rigel, Adenine and three siblings, Sandalwood and Alegria looked on as Bellatrix's turn to break down threatened to come upon her.

"Go on," said Atreyu as Finnick sat next to him.

"And… and… and… those toucan kids scattered," said Bellatrix in a fractured voice as her emotions threatened to spill, "One of them… bumped into Sandalwood and knocked him off the end… of that branch…" that was it. Her emotions reached critical and she began to break down, so Gladion took over.

"That was succeeded by a series of more disasters," he said, "A cockatoo crashed into a tree trunk and broke his wing, a falcon friend was forced to plunge into a thorn bush by pushing Sandalwood free of it, sending him flying into the lake," Finnick and Atreyu flinched when they heard Gladion say what had happened to the cockatoo (Vincent) and Hunter (the young falcon who sadly died from his injuries later). Gladion then nodded to Bellatrix as she continued to sob, Spica and Sirius comforting her, "And then Bellatrix dived into the lake and managed to haul him ashore. Since then, Sandalwood has been afraid to fly and of heights."

Sandalwood, tears falling from his eyes, nodded. After Gladion had finished Sandalwood's story, Finnick and Atreyu looked on in sympathy, a new understanding about Sandalwood's fear of heights taking root within them.

"So that's why you refused to take to the air during Carnassial and his gang's chase of us in the Compartment of the Carnivores," said Atreyu.

"Not to mention sleep the natural way bats do, which is upside down from branches by their feet," said Finnick.

"That incident has built up a barrier against every aspect of a flying fox's life," said Sandalwood in a teary voice, "Being afraid of heights and flying means I cannot fly with my friends and family… cannot sleep the usual way bats do… cannot snuggle up to my mother… and in the future, cannot forage for food by myself…"

The other twelve nodded in agreement, much to the sadness of Finnick and Atreyu. However, Alegria brought up something.

"But you managed to climb that tree trunk and help seize that lump of meat belonging to Mina and her family of Tasmanian devils from some of those lizards, Sandy," she said.

"You didn't even notice that you were on an elevated location," said Rigel. Sandalwood nodded in agreement but then his face changed to a doubtful frown.

"Yeah, and then I realised where I was and freaked out," he said.

"You were still brave though," said Sirius. Sandalwood, however, shrugged it off. Finnick and Atreyu then smiled in admiration of Sandalwood's bravery but made sombre looks at his backstory. Then Alegria moved on.

"You mentioned that you were almost drowned by that fishing net during a fishing trip?" she asked. Atreyu nodded.

"Then where are you from?" asked Thymine. Atreyu sighed, reluctant to explain his backstory.

"I was rescued as a chick from some poachers and brought here," said Finnick, "And I believe that's how you lot ended up here as well, am I correct?"

The thirteen animals nodded.

"But we were torn away from our families and home in the process," said Sirius.

"We seriously miss them and wish we were back by their sides," murmured Spica. At this, the brief joy became eclipsed by sadness as the thirteen animals thought of their relatives.

"They'll be seriously worried about us by now," said Betelgeuse, "Especially those who have lost an entire brood in a short space of time."

"What are your parents' names?" asked Finnick. Rigel, at this, gazed at the macaroni penguin.

"We have a scarlet mother," she replied, "Her name is Io and our father's name is Sheldon. He's a half-scarlet, half-green-winged macaw."

"Quite an interesting pairing," said Finnick with intrigue. Adenine then stood up.

"Some of us are hybrid macaws," he said, before gesturing to himself and to Cytosine, Thymine and Guanine, "For example, we have a scarlet father and a blue-and-gold mother."

"Their names are Ganymede and Mimas respectively," said Thymine. Finnick's intrigued smile on his beak widened.

"And who else in your group are hybrids?" asked the macaroni penguin.

"Canopus is a half scarlet, half green-winged," explained Adenine, "I don't know if you've met him yet… and there's a blue-and-gold/great green hybrid with us. His name is Fomalhaut."

"Another macaw, named Mira is a cross between a hyacinth and a blue-and-gold," said Guanine, "While Antares is a hybrid of great green and military macaw, even though his heritage is harder to make out due to the similarity of the two species."

"And then we have a hybrid of great green and scarlet," said Cytosine, "He's called Aldebaran. His father is a scarlet macaw and his mother's a great green. He has a brother called Cecil and a sister named Perdita."

"We're mixed species too," said Gladion, "We're um… three-quarter toco and one-quarter keel-billed toucan."

"Our mother, Diantha is a toco/keel-billed hybrid and our father, Tom, is a pure toco," said Lillie, "And we have a younger sister named Aurora."

Atreyu flashed Finnick an intrigued look. "I guess that explains the odd appearance of some of those macaw chicks," he said.

"I have been told by one of the hyacinth macaws that genes mix when a couple from two different species have kids," said Finnick, "I also heard that it happens in the big cats as well."

"Oh, yeah," said Sirius with a brief smile, all sadness and grief over missing his family pushed to the background for a short time, "We've heard of lions and tigers having cubs called ligers."

The others nodded in agreement, the grief also briefly forgotten.

"Anyway, moving on," said Alegria, her gaze on Atreyu, "Where are you from exactly?"

Atreyu bowed his head as he felt grief flood back. "I'm from the Antarctic continent," he replied, "from a place known as Emperor-Land."

"Emperor-Land?" repeated Sirius with confusion while the others exchanged glances, some eyebrows slightly raised. Atreyu gazed at the Spix macaw.

"Yes, Emperor-Land," he said, "It is where a colony of emperor penguins live and I was born there."

At this, Sandalwood, Gladion, Lillie, Bellatrix, Sirius, Spica, Betelgeuse, Rigel, Adenine, Cytosine, Guanine, Thymine and Alegria all sat closer together to listen to Atreyu's backstory.

"My father's name is Balthazar and my mother's name was Ginny," said the emperor penguin chick as he launched into an explanation, "Ginny is the older sister of Gloria by several years which makes Gloria my aunt, her mate Mumble my uncle and their son, Erik, my cousin."

"What is life like there?" asked Alegria, intrigue boiling within her. Finnick also smiled at Atreyu as he prepared to explain his homeland.

"We're a very musical colony," he said, "Most of our lifestyle involves singing and dancing together but before Uncle Mumble was born, all penguins used to sing which they used to pair up."

Intrigued glances rolled through Sandalwood's group.

"However, Uncle Mumble was unable to sing at all," said Atreyu, "Apparently as a result of being exposed to the sub-zero temperatures of the Antarctic winds during winter down there before his father Memphis retrieved it before it was too late. However, Uncle Mumble made up for it through tap-dancing, an ability that no emperor penguin has ever had before, resulting in him becoming an outcast until he saved the colony from a food shortage problem by communicating with humans with his dancing."

The group continued to listen as Atreyu continued, "Then after that, Uncle Mumble and Aunt Gloria had Erik and I was born to my father Balthazar and mother Ginny after another incident, the trapping of the emperor penguins in a massive iceberg until that was destroyed through the efforts and dancing of Uncle Mumble, my cousin Erik and loads of other animals including a whole bunch of elephant seals. Then sometime after that, I was born along with a cohort of other penguin chicks and when we were old enough, we went out on a fishing trip," Atreyu's face then fell, "but that's where things took a turn for the worse."

"Go on," said Sandalwood. Atreyu then gazed at the listeners. "We were taken by surprise by a fishing boat that appeared out of nowhere. Uncle Mumble, Aunt Gloria, and Mom and Dad, who had been there at the time, had been utterly horrified. We thought that fishing in those seas had been dealt with…"

"You can get illegal intrusions in protected areas," said Bellatrix, "I've read it in a book once that marine protected areas, ocean regions that had been set up as protected reserves for the sake of the ecosystem living in those areas, that fishermen groups carry out illegal fishing despite those fish shoals and schools being protected to replenish…"

"I guess that explains your encounter with that boat, Atreyu," said Finnick. Atreyu's face then twisted into a scowl.

"It seems that humans are very fickle," he growled.

"That's not always true," said Rigel, "There are still humans who care about the environment and want to preserve rare species but at times, there are some humans who just want to continue poaching them for the things humans call money…"

"Money?" repeated Finnick with Atreyu raising a confused eyebrow.

"Slips of paper and metal discs humans use in trading," said Adenine, "But there are humans who will try and catch those disobedient people and deal with them," he then paused as he thought about the poachers outside the Blu Bird Sanctuary, "I'm wondering how our families and friends back in Rio are dealing with those poachers prowling around outside the fence of the Blu Bird Sanctuary now…"

"Blu Bird Sanctuary?" asked Atreyu confused.

"It's a nature reserve in Rio set up to protect the jungle's inhabitants from poaching," said Sirius, "It is named after my, Spica and Bellatrix's grandfather Blu, a famous Spix macaw thought to be the last male Spix macaw in existence, along with Grandma Jewel before more were discovered."

"I've never actually heard of so many birds outside Emperor-Land before I was rescued from that fishing net ordeal," said Atreyu, "Until now."

"Anyway, we're going off on a tangent, can we resume your story please?" asked Sirius. Atreyu did and continued, "And after we saw that fishing boat, everything was thrown into chaos. Uncle Mumble was calling back us younger penguins but I was unable to make it and before I knew it," Atreyu shuddered as he recalled the near-death ordeal, "I got caught in the tough mesh with a massive number of fish, and that was where I thought I was going to die through drowning," the listeners shuddered as Atreyu described his nightmare. "However, just as I awaited death to come and take me, I was hauled out of the sea in the net and thrown into some kind of box thing with the fish. However, the fishers didn't bother throwing me back into the ocean and instead dragged me out of the fish box and caged me," Atreyu then began to weep, "And that was when I was separated from the others. Next, I was taken to some sort of animal place but then I was rescued by some of the humans from here and then brought here, and here I am now."

"At least you didn't get sold to an animal place like some sort of object," said Adenine. However, he flinched as Atreyu's distraught glare pierced him.

"Sold!?" he snapped, "I was _separated_ from my group and torn from my home by a bunch of intruding humans intent on stealing from our fish stocks," his eyes then began to well tears and shed them, "That's why I loathe the humans here even though they may care for us," the emperor penguin chick stood up and kicked a stone away, "That's why I yearn to be returned to Emperor-Land… to be back with my family and friends, especially my cousin Erik who I imagine is distraught over my disappearance…"

With that, his wing-flipper went to his beak and he began to sniffle, the others looking on sympathetically.

"That's why you sing that song with the words 'So lost, I'm faded,'" said Alegria. At this, Atreyu turned to the green-and-yellow macaw chick.

"That's correct," he said, "That song is called 'Faded', and whenever I feel the depressing flood of memories of my beloved home and colony fills my mind, I always erupt into that song to express my grief…"

Sandalwood, Gladion and Lillie, Bellatrix, Sirius, Spica, Betelgeuse, Rigel, Adenine and three siblings, and Alegria gazed at the emperor penguin with surprise. That was exactly how they, along with the others felt, lost and alone, faded… without their parents and relatives. Then Finnick moved on.

"Anyway, change of subject, I wanna tell you guys about Dalek," he said.

"Dalek?" repeated Betelgeuse confused.

"You mean that horrible chameleon that chased us into the forbidden Carnivore Compartment hours ago?" asked Alegria. Her feathers bristled as she said this.

"Yes," said Finnick with a nod.

"I've wanted to know why he just went at us when we've done nothing at all wrong to him, despite what that bratty bat Lusamine said about us deliberate provoking him," muttered Sirius, a scowl of disgust on his face. Bellatrix, Spica, Alegria and Sandalwood also nodded, as did Gladion and Lillie.

"That chameleon detests ALL parrots," said Finnick. At this, shock came over the group.

"Really?" asked Betelgeuse. The macaroni penguin teen then shot the red macaw and her sister a dark look, "Yes, but it is not just macaws like you. It's EVERY species of parrot… from the small budgie to the largest parrot."

"Has something happened to Dalek involving a parrot in the past?" asked Sandalwood.

"We don't know, but it's likely," said Finnick.

"Mrs Sardonyx told us that she once got into a tussle with that chameleon and had managed to escape with some torn out feathers once," said Rigel.

"That was when she went to forage for some fruit," said Finnick, "While she was picking some mangoes, she was set upon by Dalek in an unprovoked attack."

At this, horror tore through the group.

"Never!" gasped Sirius in disbelief. Atreyu, however, nodded.

"It's true," he said, "And after a fight, Dalek tore out some of her feathers but Mrs Sardnoyx managed to escape."

"Since then, Dundee had decreed that all parrots, including the cockatiels such as Sparky, Cody and Lilo," said Finnick, "Stay away from the area where Dalek lives, which is why they are all concentrated in this part of the jungle."

"Have any other parrots suffered at the clutches of Dalek at all?" asked Sandalwood.

"Yes but we only know three other major incidences," said Finnick and with that, he began to explain, "One involved Dalek attacking a young yellow-crested cockatoo named Claude and viciously chasing him in an attempt to traumatise him, while another involved Dalek attacking a group of kakapo adolescents while they went out to play, resulting in two of them getting chased away and since that incident, those two kakapos were never seen again."

"Did they end up in the Compartment of the Carnivores like how that yellow-crested cockatoo did?" asked Cytosine.

"Yes," said Finnick darkly, "While the two kakapos' whereabouts was being investigated, Olympia the cassowary, one of Dundee's inner circle animals, had brought back a report that a pile of kakapo feathers had been found by the human carers in the Compartment of Carnivores, implying that they had been caught and eaten."

Horror tore through the listeners.

"It must have been totally devastating for the little clan," said Rigel.

"It was," said Finnick, "It absolutely was. Since then that group of flightless parrots from New Zealand had moved to live with the kiwis for their safety."

"And what was the third incident?" asked Guanine.

"The unexplained death of an adult hyacinth macaw," said Finnick, "Her body had been found near the barrier dividing our land from the Compartment of the Carnivores. We had no idea how she ended up there and died but it is implied that she had gone down that part of the jungle to forage like Mrs Sardonyx."

"Do you think Dalek had something to do with it?" asked Sandalwood.

"He was involved but we believe that he hadn't been the one to cause the death," said Finnick, "You see, all the parrots here have always experienced trouble from that horrible chameleon, and because he is of an extremely rare species, we cannot put him to death."

"I wonder if Dalek intended us to enter the forbidden Carnivore Compartment so that we could be eaten by Carnassial and his gang," said Bellatrix. However, Finnick and Atreyu shook their heads.

"I doubt it," said Finnick, "That chameleon just detests parrots and will not hesitate to viciously attack them but as far as we know, he has not killed any parrot."

"I think our forced entry into the Compartment of the Carnivores must have been accidental and unintended," said Atreyu, "Nothing to be suspicious about," his face then twisted into a scowl, "But as for Lusamine and her bratty gang, I'm gonna see if we can sort it out tomorrow. You lot definitely didn't provoke him deliberately."

"We absolutely didn't!" snapped Sirius. Suddenly, the group heard the sounds of a pitter-patter on the floor. Atreyu and Finnick flashed whatever was crawling in the darkness a glance.

"Oh, looks like a group of nocturnal mammals are heading our way," said Atreyu, "We'll have to go back to bed and roost before they discover us."

"Yes, and the last thing any of us want is another telling off from Dundee," said Finnick. With that, the group stood up and shook wings.

"We'll talk again another time, but in the meantime, goodnight," said Finnick as he shook wings with Sandalwood. He then smiled at the flying fox pup, "And as for your fear of flying, we'll figure out a way to help you overcome your fear."

"Oh, thanks, Finnick," said Sandalwood with joy, the first flash of true joy he had experienced in a long time. However, under the joy, he felt very nervous. 'Will I ever be able to conquer my fear of heights and flight?'

"We'll figure this out together," said Sirius, "But let's head back to our nests and roosts before any of those nocturnal animals see us and report us."

"It was nice talking with you lot, anyway," said Alegria.

"Maybe you could teach us how to sing that song, 'Faded' next time?" asked Sirius.

"We'll see," said Atreyu, "But let's disappear," he flashed another glance at the movement in the darkness as some nocturnal mammals began to talk, "I don't want those furry creatures hearing us. We've been in enough trouble as it is already."

And with that, Gladion and Lillie, Bellatrix, Sirius, Spica, Betelgeuse, Rigel, Adenine, Cytosine, Guanine, Thymine, Alegria and Sandalwood all left and returned to their respective sleeping spots while Atreyu and Finnick left for the penguins' area.


	36. Chapter 35

**Chapter 35- a near-third theft at Tulio's Aviary**

 **Meanwhile, back in Rio**

Night had also fallen on the Brazilian city of Rio and the usual nightly activities were beginning to emerge in both the human city and the animals' jungle home on the Blu Bird Sanctuary. the cityscape of Rio was studded with a sea of artificial stars formed by the lights from the streets and houses while the sky overhead was partly cloudy with the sky studded with real, natural stars and a half moon showing through the gaps in the few clouds that were present. In Tulio's Aviary, the nightshift employees were up to their usual business. Many of the bird patients were asleep in their cages with a few on the worktops and the blades of a slowly rotating fan hanging from the ceiling in the main medical room. Among some of the birds in this room, certain individuals were still up for they did not feel like sleeping.

Ganymede, Eragon, Vincent and Luna sat on the worktop, chatting with Mimas, Velocity, Merlin, Stella and Soren. Mimas, the two falcons and the parents of Sandalwood had decided to visit the Aviary to check on the four casualties and also provide updates on the news and actions of the rest of the gang. Before they departed to Tulio's Aviary, Jupiter had granted the two flying foxes, two falcons and Mimas permission to tell Ganymede, Eragon, Vincent and Luna the truth about what Sofia had said to the blue-and-gold macaw and also to Io, Athos, Byron, Callisto, Europa and Sheldon after they had left Tulio's Aviary during their last visit. When the visiting five had finished explaining what Sofia had said to that group of macaws (including Mimas who had been there), and how it had badly affected them, especially Io and Sheldon, outrage tore through the scarlet mate of Mimas, Andromeda's mate, Eustace and Serena's son and the sister of Sebastian and Luna.

"What!?" snapped Ganymede incredulously, his eyes brown flames and his red plumage bristled, "Sofia told us that we were _stupid_ in having our kids and that they shouldn't have been BORN!? It's a totally OUTRAGEOUS and INSENSITIVE THING to say! Why didn't Blu and the others with him tell us about that?" he then paused to shoot glances at the sleeping birds around the room to ensure that he hadn't woken them, especially as some of them stirred.

"They didn't want you worried," said Velocity, "Especially since you cannot fly with that broken wing."

Ganymede shot the falcon and her mate a glare. Then Eragon came in.

"I can't believe those toucans would say something so _insidious,"_ he hissed, "They're just pouring poison into the wounds of those poor individuals and damaging their relationships, like what happened to Io and her scarlet/green-winged hybrid mate. It's an OUTRAGE! It's a SCANDAL!"

"An outrage and a scandal would be an understatement," said Soren as he stood by Stella, "It's borderline unforgivable," he paused, "Especially since some of THEM had contributed to our son Sandalwood and the other kids into getting caught and snaffled by those poachers."

Stella, a look of mixed outrage and sombreness lacing her face, nodded in agreement. Since that horrible incident, she had begun to utterly despise the many, many offspring of Rafael and Eva and their kids apart from the few that had begun to realise the problems their behaviour and constant breeding was causing for anyone, such as Carlos and Rita who she and Soren had heard had broken up with their mates after being pestered by them into having another brood over and over again. Then Soren moved on.

"So, how is that pair of golden fruithawks doing in the breeding chamber?" he asked, trying to manage a smile.

"Aurum and Gylfie?" asked Ganymede, "They… still haven't had eggs yet, and the ornithologists or bird studiers are getting pretty anxious since they are the last golden fruithawks in the entire world."

"Their species is definitely on the verge of extinction," said Eragon, "And if those two don't have chicks anytime soon their species will never have another chance at life."

"True," said Soren. Suddenly, the sound of a door opening reached the group's ears, followed by the sounds of protesting squawks. At this, Mimas, Velocity, Merlin, Stella, Soren, Ganymede, Eragon, Vincent and Luna turned in the direction of the main entrance and saw some humans walk in with some cages. When they saw the contents in the cages, Merlin's eyes widened in surprise as many of the sleeping birds were roused by the screeches of toucan chicks.

"They've caught some of those naughty toucan chicks," he said. Mimas then picked out Jack and Jill as they helped one of the women carry a big cage containing at least a dozen toucans and place it on a worktop, before her gaze travelled to the chicks in that cage. The toucan chicks were screeching and shaking the cage bars frantically, their eyes saturated with immense terror and distress. These distress-laced faces were mirrored on the other toucan chick in the other cages. At first, Mimas felt a pang of pity for the chicks but then indifference came in and overshadowed the pity.

"At least our human friends have made a start in catching some of those many, many toucan chicks that are ravaging the sanctuary," she said. Velocity and Merlin came in.

"Yes, but they've still got a long way to go," said Velocity sadly, "With THAT many toucan kids in the Sanctuary to selectively catch and cage, it's going to be one massive job."

"Blu and the others are going to help out in case any of the aggressive parents intervened," said Stella. Her face and ears then fell. "I feel sorry for the other bird and animal residents who have faced so much trouble and competition for resources from those profusely-breeding toucans and their bad behaviour. According to Uranus and some others, they have moved to a place outside the sanctuary."

"And then there are these poachers to deal with," added Soren disgustedly. As he said this, some movement appeared out the corner of Eragon's eye. At this, the male archaeobird turned and when his eyes fully landed on that movement, they flared up as alert took hold. Suspicion welling within him, the archaeobird's gaze darted this way and that until it landed on a stick thing lying on the desk nearby. This desk was a stiff, flat piece of artificial material and had numbers and lines carved along its length, and to the animals familiar with human things, it was called a ruler. Eragon quickly rushed over to the ruler and seized it with his left wing-claws; his right wing was still in a cast for his injured shoulder was still healing. Then Eragon darted off to the suspicious movement, the ruler in his wing-claws poised to attack. As the humans continued placing the caged toucan chicks they had captured onto the floor or worktops, Jack and Jill's eyes happened to catch a familiar blue and yellow macaw standing next to her scarlet mate. At this, the twin brother and sister went over to Mimas and Ganymede, the decision to check on them having seized them. As the pair approached, Stella and Soren backed away and hid behind Vincent, Velocity and Merlin for they were still shy around humans.

"Hey, you two, how are you doing?" asked Jack. Mimas stood next to Ganymede, a saddened look on her face, something Jill noticed.

"Wait, where are their four chicks?" she asked Jack, making her brother shoot her a surprised look.

"What?" he asked. Jill returned her gaze to Mimas and Ganymede. "Lucy, Susan and Bernardo told us that these two had a clutch of four chicks when they took a picture of the family," Jill gazed at the saddened Mimas and Ganymede as their heads fell, the painful memories of Adenine, Thymine, Guanine and Cytosine flooding their minds again.

"Don't tell me something terrible has happened to them, has it?" said Jack suspiciously. Suddenly, their names were called from across the medical room.

"Can you two help me please?" said one of the men as he handled a cage of enraged toucan chicks. Jack and Jill stole one last pitiful gaze at Ganymede and Mimas and then left to help the man. Vincent came in.

"Those toucan chicks certainly are putting up a fight, aren't they?" he said with a frown.

"It's gonna be even worse when they try to catch some of the chicks with their parents around," said Velocity with a dreaded glare, "I've just heard from one of the women that Francisco's group had just been viciously attacked by some adult toucans while targeting a huge flock of chicks in another part of the sanctuary…"

Ganymede, Mimas, Vincent, Luna, Merlin, Stella and Soren shot the falcon a horrified look. Suddenly, the rather calm air, apart from the screeching of a bunch of distressed captured toucan chicks, was shattered by an enormous shout of a human form the direction of the breeding chamber. At this, the heads of all eight animals and all the humans shot horrified gazes in the direction of the chamber while birds were all jolted awake from their slumber. Then a man jumped out from the door to the breeding chamber, his face laced with immense terror.

"What is it, Marcus!?" demanded another man as he helped a rather stunned and dumbfounded Jack and Jill handle one of the cages containing some of the toucan chicks. But nothing could prepare the humans and Mimas's group for what the man named Marcus said next.

"There are crows in the breeding room and they're trying to seize the two golden fruithawks!" Marcus managed to blurt out. At this, the colour drained from the faces of the humans while looks of horror were thrown onto the faces of Ganymede, Mimas, Vincent, Luna, Merlin, Velocity, Stella and Soren. This was reminiscent of the two previous times something like this happened in this aviary: one with Nigel the cockatoo and the other with cats.

"Not again!" snarled Velocity bitterly. Then Vincent noticed that the archaeobird was missing.

"Wait, where's Eragon?" he said. At this, the other seven looked this way and that and noticed that Eragon had disappeared. Then Merlin and Velocity's wings shot out and the two falcons lofted into flight in the direction of the breeding chamber the moment suspicious dread tore through them.

"Velocity, Merlin!" cried Vincent. Then Mimas, Stella and Soren lofted into flight with the latter two dropping from the desktop to take to the air. Luna, Vincent and Ganymede then rushed to a nearby mop stick propped against the side of the worktop, for they could not take off due to the latter two's wings still healing and Luna still on the road to recovery. One by one, the trio latched onto the mop's handle with Ganymede and Vincent using their talons and beaks and Luna her wing thumbs and feet, and slid down it like a pole before dashing off to the breeding chamber on foot the moment they hopped off the bottom of the handle and the bristles of the mop, narrowly avoiding the pounding feet of some of the humans including Jack and Jill as these humans made a hasty dash to the room, some of the humans staying behind to look after the captured toucan chicks.

In the breeding chamber there was chaos. Eragon had managed to subdue a suspicious creature with the ruler in his only functioning wing but the moment he identified it after he had brought it down and dazed it, his blood turned to ice. The creature had black feathers and four-toed feet with one toe pointing back and three pointing forward. And based on its body shape, it was clearly a corvid, the same type of birds that had made off with Sandalwood and the others before many of them were successfully kidnapped by the poachers, and Eragon soon realised that there were a few more of these dreaded birds flapping about the breeding chamber, searching for two specific targets. Moments later, Velocity, Merlin, Mimas, Stella and Soren exploded into the room with some of the humans, followed by Vincent, Ganymede and Luna moments later. As the group entered the breeding chamber, the flapping crows dove into hiding amongst the leaves, hollows and any other nook and cranny they could find. As the eight animals arrived in the breeding chamber with some humans, Eragon called them over.

"Guys," he called. At this, the two falcons, the blue-and-gold macaw and her scarlet mate, the three flying foxes and mixed species cockatoo pattered over to the archaeobird. When Soren and Stella's gaze landed on the bird Eragon had subdued, their blood froze and a scream almost escaped their mouths. Mimas and Ganymede also shuddered.

"This bird must be the same sort of birds that made off with your kids before those poachers captured them outside the sanctuary," said Eragon, before his gaze travelled around the breeding chamber's room as the humans began to look for the intruders, "And it seems that some of these fiendish animals had managed to find their way into this manmade habitat-looking place."

"Where are the two fruithawks?" asked Ganymede. At this, Mimas, Velocity and Merlin's wings shot out and the three took to the air despite protests exploding from their companions' mouths and beaks. Once they were airborne, the two peregrine falcons and blue-and-gold macaw began to search for the very last, and also the only potential breeding, pair of the species, in existence while the humans began to search the trees and the hollows. In one tree's leaves, a group of shadowy figures, fiendish glares saturating their eyes as they glowed menacingly in the dark, gazed at each other as their owners chatted about their next move while at the same time observing the humans' movements. On the ground, Stella, Luna, Soren, Ganymede, Eragon and Vincent began to slowly saunter along the floor, wary eyes examining their surroundings at all times. They were trying to find both the crows and the two fruithawks at the same time. From a few bushes, menacing eyes glared at the six as they continued to examine their surroundings.

"Those fruithawks must have dived into hiding the moment we arrived in here," said Ganymede as he looked around, "but those crows must have done the same."

"Mimas, Velocity, Merlin, can you find the fruithawks?" shouted Vincent.

"No, I can't," said Mimas as she flew overhead.

"We don't know what they look like," said Velocity.

"They're gold feathered birds of prey with yellow heads," said Ganymede, "They are typical hawks with sharp beaks and lethal looking talons."

As the two falcons and Mimas continued examining the breeding chamber's trees and artificial plants from above, the humans also creeping about searching for the intruders, Velocity's bulbous eyes turned to a specific tree hollow when they spotted a golden sheen in the shadow of that hollow. At this, the peregrine falcon squinted at the sheen and saw that it belonged to a hawk-shaped bird. Most of the hawk's body plumage was a gold colour, like that of the metallic yellow metal that Bia told Velocity had the symbol Au. However, the hawk's underwing coverts, which were visible for the hawk had had its wings spread out, were pure yellow, like Mimas's underside. The head and neck of the hawk were also yellow and the neck feathers formed some sort of ruff or mane. The hawk's cheeks had golden spots, placed below the hawk's gleaming sea-green eyes like a cockatiel's cheek patches, and the hawk sported a large yellow flock from the crown of its head. The hawk's beak and talons, which were shaped like the beak and talons of every other hawk, were yellow with the upper beak bearing a black patch. Based on its size and build, it appeared to be male for Velocity had read that like in falcons, male hawks were generally smaller than the females.

The hawk's sea-green eyes were laced with awareness as they gazed out into the open, especially at the humans. As worry for the hawk's safety took hold, Velocity flapped forward when suddenly, a black and white comet shot in from behind her, accompanied by Mimas's shout of, "Velocity, look OUT!"

At this, the peregrine falcon turned round in time to see a black and white corvid bird, its eyes laced with the most sadistic glare as it pierced the falcon, zoom like a rocket towards her.

"Get away from our prized jackpot hawk, you…" but the crow's sentence explosively changed to a screech of agony as Velocity ducked and raised her razor sharp talons, slashing the crow's belly with the fishhook like claws on the end of her toes. Mimas immediately ducked as the crow's body and some of its blood flew in her direction while Stella, Soren, Eragon, Vincent, Ganymede and Luna all covered their heads with their wings (or one wing in the case of Eragon, Ganymede and Vincent), as more blood from the crow, as well as some of its bloodstained feathers, rained down on them. The crow's screech and flying blood drew the attention of the humans, including Jack and Jill, and when they shoot alerted glares at Velocity as she screeched at something, they hurried over to her when suddenly, the air exploded with more black or black and white comets as more crows explosively erupted from their hiding places, diving straight for the humans. Crow squawks also flooded the air as their owners then began to unleash their fury on the humans by biting and clawing them with their beaks and talons, as well as flap madly around their heads, forcing the humans to drop on their fronts, curl up and cover their heads protectively with their hands. Stella, Soren, Eragon, Vincent, Ganymede and Luna also hastily dived into a patch of artificial ferns to escape the savage attack of the crows. However, two more bird screeches, the first from one macaw and the second from two falcons, tore the air apart. Stella, Soren and Ganymede peered out from under the fern fronds just in time to see three feather comets, one cerulean blue and yellow and the other two slate grey and ivory, zoom in at a flock of crows as they savagely assaulted the humans.

Mimas, her eyes blazing beige thunderstorms like those on the planet Saturn, zoomed in at the crows viciously scratching and biting Jack and Jill, her talons poised for inflicting injury and her feathers bristled and as soon as she struck the flock of crows, she ploughed right through them. Crows flew everywhere, alongside some feathers and blood drops as some of them were mercilessly slashed by Mimas's barb-liked talons, and Jack slowly raised his head, a stunned look plastering his face as he watched the corvids crash like meteors all over the place, squawks of pain erupting from their beaks. However, Mimas had not finished her savage attack on the crows. The volcanic blue-and-gold macaw swerved round an artificial tree close to one of the walls painted to resemble a jungle landscape complete with a natural blue sky, and like a boomerang charged back at the crows a second time. Before the crows could get up, they were struck down again by the cerulean and yellow rocket that was Mimas. Ganymede looked on in awe at his blue-and-gold mate and could not help but admire her determination to help the friendly humans despite the grief over the loss of Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine and Guanine still burdening her heavily for Mimas was willing to put aside her anguish to help the humans in dealing with these poachers' pets. Nearby, Velocity and Merlin savagely went for more crows attacking Jill and the other humans, driving them away. Seeing that the crows were occupied with fighting the two falcons and Mimas with feathers and blood flying everywhere, accompanied by screeches and squawks as the two falcons and macaw fought the crows, Marcus and his team all jumped back onto their feet and began to frantically search for the golden fruithawks.

"Where are those two golden hawks?" demanded Marcus. As he shouted this, Soren and Stella climbed up a nearby tree trunk and took to the air while Eragon (with his ruler still on hand) and Luna dashed out from under the fern fronds and joined in the fray with Mimas, Velocity and Merlin as they continued to fight the crows, despite Vincent and Ganymede's protests and also despite the fact that Eragon still had a shoulder in the process of healing. Seeing that the flying fox and the archaeobird were too engrossed with the determination to help the macaw and two falcons in keeping the crows occupied while the humans began to search for the two precious fruithawks, Ganymede and Vincent also abandoned their hiding place and began to search for the golden fruit-eating hawks on the ground in case one of them had dived for cover amongst the ground vegetation.

As the fight between the crows and Mimas, Velocity, Merlin and now Luna and Eragon as well, continued to rage, Stella and Soren, determined looks plastering their faces then flew around the air in search of the fruithawks.

"We're NOT gonna have those two fruit-eating birds of prey suffering the same fate as our Sandalwood and the other kids," snarled Stella angrily.

"Stella, look! I can see one, in that hollow!" said Soren, a membranous wing pointing to a specific hollow. Stella, at this, followed Soren's point and soon enough, her gaze landed on a flash of golden feathers glinting like precious metal in the blackness of the hollow.

"We'll have to lead those humans to that hollow, now," said she.

"You do that while I see to that fruithawk in the hollow," said Soren. Stella nodded and with that, the two flying foxes split up. Jack and Jill, together with the other humans, continued to frantically search for the fruithawks by looking behind trees and amongst the ferns. On the ground, Ganymede and Vincent helped. Stella then flew over to Jack and Jill, on the way stealing a glance at the feathery and rather bloody inferno formed by the fighting crows and Mimas, Merlin, Velocity, Eragon and Luna, especially as Eragon sent two of the crows flying and slamming hard into a tree trunk with a whack of his ruler. Stella looked on as the archaeobird, despite only having one functional wing with the other in the cast, then jumped out of the fighting cloud with the ruler over his head and held in his left wing claws, his eyes a fiery green maelstrom as they glared at the two dazed crows, and as soon as he neared the two corvids, Eragon slammed the ruler onto the crows' heads as hard as he could, making Stella wince at the resulting pain that exploded from the impact. Pulling her gaze away from the fight, she refocussed her attention on homing in on Jack and Jill as they raised their heads from a patch of artificial ferns. The moment she neared the twins, the albino flying fox began to flap around their heads, much to their surprise. She did not want to risk attracting the attention of the crows by screeching to Jack and Jill so she chose this method, and it was proving effective. While Stella alerted Jack and Jill and the other humans, Soren approached the hollow in which one of the fruithawks had taken refuge. However, he was suddenly startled by a very frightened screech from the gold and yellow bird.

"It's alright, I'm gonna help you out of this chaos," said the bat trying to assure the bird. However, the golden fruithawk scrambled further back into the hollow, before its sea-green glare morphed into one of defensive threat. Its talons rose and the claws, which the fruithawk used to tear apart the flesh of fruit and nuts rather than of the meat of animals, were then flared, much to Soren's alarm. The lush gold and yellow feathers also spiked out as the hawk took on a defensive stance.

"You come an inch closer, and I'll SLASH YA!" snarled the hawk threateningly. Soren backed away but he began to protest.

"But, you're the prime target of these intrusive crows, and they're intent on kidnapping you and talking you to their poacher owners," he said, "And so is the other one, wherever she's gone…" his gaze flickered about the breeding chamber.

"You mean Gylfie?" snapped the hawk, which was definitely a male, "Ever since we met after being imported into this place, we never liked each other from the start."

Soren flashed the hawk a surprised gaze when suddenly, another bat, a white furred one with chalky white wings, flapped up alongside him.

"The humans are on their way, Soren," she said. At this, Soren turned and saw Jack, Jill and the other humans with them rush towards the tree and backed away, leaving the fruithawk dumbfounded. However, he was soon faced with some human hands reaching into the hollow, much to his rage and began to apply his beak and talons to drive back the hands. Stella and Soren looked on as Marcus then gently coaxed the male fruithawk out of the hollow as he continued to lash his beak and talons at his hands. A cage was held by one of the women nearby, ready to receive the fruithawk the moment he was gently seized, relief that one of the precious birds was being moved to safety. However, that relief was immediately shattered when the sounds of crow screeches erupted from behind the two bats. At this, Stella and her mate snapped their gazes but the moment their gazes landed on what was coming behind them, horror tore through them. Some of the crows were surging forward towards the humans as they were in the process of moving the fruithawk from the hollow.

"Stella, Soren, look OUT!" screeched Mimas, who was covered in a few cuts and bruises and some bald patches, from nearby. At this, Stella and Soren dove aside as the crow rockets rushed past them. However, the two bats immediately swerved round and charged at the crows as they began to viciously attack the humans again. Shouts of frustration, pain and curse words erupted from Marcus's team as human hands went to their heads as crow beaks and talons pecked at or clawed at their heads. Amidst the chaos, a golden and yellow form was dropped. The golden fruithawk crash-landed in a flower patch. As the hawk stood up and shook himself to, he was suddenly set upon by several crows.

"Seize the fruithawk!" shouted one of them and soon, the fruithawk found himself under attack from crow talons determined to seize his wings but the hawk, the instinct to defend himself taking control, fought back full force and began slashing his talons at the crows. However, some of the crow talons managed to break through his defences and latch onto his shoulders and talons and soon, the fruithawk found himself beginning to be overwhelmed by his attackers. Nearby, the other crows continued savagely attacking the humans who continued to protectively cover their heads and upper bodies with their hands. One of the crows seized one of the employee's glasses and made off with it, cackles escaping its beak as the glasses' owner lunged at it, shouts of frustration exploding from her mouth for she could not see without them (this woman is not Linda). As the fruithawk struggled and writhed in his attackers' iron grasp, screeches erupting of rage from his beak especially as his talons were frozen firmly in the grip of some of the fiendish corvids, one of the crows shouted, "Alright, we've got one of our targets. Let's get outa here before we get attacked again."

No sooner than this sentence had left his beak when an enraged, "I'm afraid what you've said is COMING STRAIGHT AT YOU, you CORVID PESTS!"

At this, the crows looked up just in time to see a white furry comet with chalky grey-white membranous wings, her reddish eyes blazing pink-red firestorms, zoom in towards them. Then before the crows could react, Stella ploughed right into them. Crow screeches of surprise erupted as some of the corvids were flung into the air by the bat. Amidst the chaos whipped up by Stella, the crow talons restraining the fruithawk's wings and talons were released but before he could escape, a pair of human hands came out of nowhere and seized him, much to his frustration. However, the fruithawk soon found himself carried away from the chaos by a human known to Stella and the others as Jack. As Jack hurried off for the safety of the door with the male fruithawk in his hands, Ganymede and Vincent continued searching for the other fruithawk, the female, amongst the ferns and other ground plants while Velocity, Mimas and Merlin continued to keep the crows occupied. Eragon then came in, his lungs straining for air from the strenuous fighting he had to do and his ruler, which he had used to bludgeon the crows, snapped to half its length for one of the crows had been wrestling with him for the weapon, possibly in an attempt to disarm and seize the archaeobird but the quick-thinking Eragon had deliberately snapped the ruler and made a hasty retreat, leaving the stunned crow with half of the ruler in the process.

"Looks like one of the fruithawks has been successfully rescued," he said, "I've seen that young guy run off with it in his arms."

"There's still the other fruithawk to rescue," said Ganymede. Suddenly, extremely loud screeches and squawks laced with distress reached the trio's ears, making the cockatoo, archaeobird and scarlet macaw jump a few inches into the air. Nearby, Stella and Soren flapped in and shot stunned glances this way and that, trying to locate the source of the cries, while the humans continued to frantically search for the remaining fruithawk. At first, Stella and Soren thought those distressed squawks were from Velocity or Merlin but then they realised that it was from another type of bird of prey.

"That sounds like the screeches of the other fruithawk," shouted Soren above the screeching. Stella continued shooting desperate glances this way and that until her eyes finally found the source but the moment they landed on said source, her heart dropped. Soren followed her horrified gaze and his heart also plunged into ice.

A flash of gold and yellow feathers, like the feathers of the first fruithawk, was struggling like mad in the grasp of around two dozen crows who had their talons and beaks latched onto the gold and yellow form's wings and talons in an attempt to restrain it. Like the male fruithawk, this bird had golden body plumage, yellow underwing coverts and yellow head and neck with the neck ending in some sort of mane, and she was clearly larger than the male. Her cheeks were decorated with a spot of gold and her crest was a sheet of feathers rather than a yellow flick and her eyes were a shade of brown, but those eyes were blazing with distress and rage as their owner tried to dislodge her attackers. Her beak, which was yellow with an orange topping on the upper part, was emitting the extremely loud screeches. Eragon, Ganymede, Vincent and also Mimas, Merlin, Luna and Velocity, who were now covered in a few scratches and bruises with Luna bearing a black eye, also saw the writhing fruithawk.

"That must be the other golden fruithawk," shouted Velocity. The humans, among them Jill and Marcus, then began to surge forward to save the female fruithawk but were viciously attacked by the crows and stopped in their tracks. Jill screamed as one of the crows slashed its claws over her face, cackling evilly but that crow was tackled away from the young lady and Jack's twin sister by Soren, who screeched, "Don't you DARE claw this human friend of our friends, you BRUTE!"

And with that, he added to his tackle attack with a slash of his foot claws to the crow's neck and chest, making the crow screech in agony and back away. Jill, her forehead streaked with bleeding lines that ran dangerously close to her left eye, flashed Soren a thankful glance before Soren turned his attention to the struggling fruithawk. He, together with Stella and also Merlin, Velocity and Mimas, all surged forward at the crows as they continued mercilessly restraining the female fruithawk and together, smashed right into the flock. Screeching crows flew everywhere once again as the two falcons, blue-and-gold macaw and two flying foxes charged right through the cloud. However, those gripping the fruithawk's wings and legs still had their grasp on their target and began to make for the door while the other crows kept the humans occupied. Ganymede, Vincent, Eragon and Luna ran along the ground, their eyes on the crows as they made a beeline for the open door with the female fruithawk in their grasp and with Soren, Stella, Merlin, Velocity and Mimas in hot pursuit.

"Don't let them get away!" shouted Ganymede to the flyers. As the five chasers continued pursuing the crows Merlin rocketed into the air and accelerated towards the space above the crows as they neared the open door. Then as soon as he was above the flock, Merlin immediately dived down on the corvids like a stone and landed on the back of one of them carrying the fruithawk by the shoulder. The crow, which happened to be the biggest of the flock and the ringleader, taken by surprise, then began to writhe and shake to dislodge the peregrine falcon as he began to apply his beak and talons full force in an attempt to get it and its comrades to drop their prize that was the female fruithawk. Merlin's attack was successful in slowing down the attempted kidnappers of the fruithawk and soon, Soren, Stella, Velocity and Mimas had caught up and had thrown themselves into the fray. As another fight erupted, the crows attacking the humans, upon seeing their comrades struggle to carry the fruithawk out of the door, stopped their assault on the humans and rushed off to help but Eragon, upon seeing this group rush towards the inferno formed by Stella, Soren, Merlin, Velocity and Mimas, immediately scrabbled up a rock and tossed the remaining half of his ruler at the flock, aiming for the one at the front. The throw was a well-aimed toss and the broken ruler, which spun like a thrown knife, clipped the crow at the front on the wing, sending it into a chaotic tailspin and crashing into some of its comrades, resulting in a chain-reaction and causing some of the crows to fall out of the air and crash into either a nearby tree or the ground. Eragon uttered a hiss of triumph as he watched the action while Luna shouted, "Nice move, Eragon!"

Vincent and Ganymede then hurried off to the humans as they struggled to their feet.

Back in the inferno, Stella, Soren, Velocity and Mimas had managed to force the crows into releasing the fruithawk by biting and clawing at them while Merlin continued his merciless attack on the ringleader crow. As he continued scoring his claws into the crow's flesh and biting at it, the crow finally erupted into a violent temper.

"THAT DOES IT!" it screeched and with that, the enormous crow bolted sharply like a horse and launched Merlin into the air, much to the peregrine falcon's shock. Then as Merlin fell back down, the crow, its eyes blazing furious fire, then tackled the falcon in the belly and forced him towards the open door. Merlin did not have time to react when suddenly; he was slammed hard against the edge of the door, the back of his neck crashing against the slab of wood. Velocity saw the crow do this to her mate as she, together with Soren, Stella and Mimas and a number of other colourfully feathered forms of several of the other bird casualties who had minor injuries, were able to fly and who had heard the chaos in the breeding chamber and thus come to help, managed to get the crows to finally release the female fruithawk. As soon as she was dropped, Eragon, Ganymede and Mimas rushed in and caught her with each of their functioning wings before she hit the floor. At the same time, Merlin flopped limply from his impact site and onto the floor at the foot of the door as the crow backed away, a sadistic look lacing its face as it glared at its opponent as he fell, before being mercilessly slashed down the back by a massive hyacinth macaw who had a bandage around its head. The crow screeched in agony and was forced to retreat as the enormous navy blue bird lashed at it with its enormous beak and talons, furious screeches exploding from its beak.

"MERLIN!" cried Velocity and with that, she darted out of the inferno as Mimas, Soren, Stella and the other flying birds managed to drive away the other crows while Eragon, Ganymede and Vincent handed the female fruithawk who was badly shaken, to Marcus and the other humans. Within moments, the crows were viciously driven out of Tulio's Aviary and the chaos soon died down, especially as the humans were relieved that the two precious fruithawks, named Aurum (the male) and Gylfie (the female) were safe and sound. However, not everyone was relieved. Velocity stood over Merlin's limp body and began to try and shake him awake.

"Merlin," she cried, her wings on her mate's body, "MERLIN, please wake up! MERLIN!"

Behind her, Ganymede, Mimas, Eragon, Luna, Soren, Stella and Vincent, as well as the other birds that had come to help, stood a short distance away as the peregrine falcon continued crying to her mate and shaking him to wake him up. Jack also stood by, Jill and the other humans having gone to get their injuries treated, especially Jill for the scratch on her forehead inflicted on her by one of the crows. Dread hung over the group as Velocity continued trying to shaking her mate awake, tears welling in her bulbous eyes. Then it dawned upon Velocity. Reluctantly, the female falcon placed two toes of a talon where the claws emerged from the fleshy part onto Merlin's neck to check for his pulse. The watchers looked on, sombre looks on their faces. Mimas leaned against Ganymede who had his left wing, the only one that wasn't in a cast, draping over her back while Mimas's own wings were on her chest while Stella and Soren huddled each other, tears also falling from their eyes. Vincent, Luna and Eragon also stood by, sympathetic looks on their faces. The other birds also looked on, fear for Merlin boiling within them. Velocity continued feeling for Merlin's pulse for a few more seconds but when she got the result, a horrified and anguished gasp escaped her beak and her wing flew to it. Her eyes began to ooze more tears and sobs began to escape her throat as realisation finally took hold. As her heart began to break over her mate's demise, Velocity buried her face into her mate's limp body and began to sob hard.

"Mer-her-her-li-hi-hin!" wailed the falcon. Mimas also broke down and began to weep into Ganymede's chest while Stella and Soren nearly crumpled, grief overwhelming them. Vincent also closed his eyes and looked away in disbelief while Luna's membranous wings covered her mouth in utter shock. Eragon also lowered his head and closed his eyes, a tear seeping through the eyelids of his left eye and running down his cheek. The other birds including the hyacinth macaw that had driven away the enormous crow also looked on sombrely.

"I'm so… so… sorry for your loss, Velocity," said one of them, a parakeet, while another parakeet slowly approached Velocity and put a comforting wing on her shoulder as she continued to sob into Merlin's chest. Mimas and Ganymede did the same while Jack, who had been watching the group grieve for Merlin, also raised his hands to his mouth in shock and began to shed tears as he watched the group of birds and three flying foxes continue to sadly watch Velocity as she continued weeping into her limp mate's chest feathers.

Merlin was gone, having sacrificed himself to help rescue and prevent one of the priceless golden fruithawks and the last female of her species from being kidnapped by the poachers' crows.


	37. Chapter 36

**Chapter 36- catching the toucan 'clan' at** **Pedra de Gavea**

Somewhere else on the Blu Bird Sanctuary, Blu and Andromeda with her bat-bird Rouge were flying through the dark forest to a specific location of the reserve: the Pedra de Gavea cave where Basil (not to be confused with the son of Ash and Titania who also has this name) and his colony of Linda's golden orange bats lived. With the trio were Mercury, Sapphire, Pluto, Lapis Lazuli, Brisa, Roberto and Augustus who had been allocated to this group by Jupiter, especially since Blu and some of the others including Brisa knew where the cave was. As the group flew through the jungle, Augustus examined the dark surroundings that were partially lit by silvery shafts of moonlight from the half-moon that illuminated the leaves and other exposed surfaces, but only when the moon was not eclipsed by the individual puffs of clouds in the sky. The sounds of cricket chirrups flooded the air, dancing stars from fireflies buzzed gently close to the ground and other movements indicating the presence of other night time animals flashed by in the branches. However, Augustus's mind was on the Linda's golden orange bat colony.

"I'm surprised that there is another species of Brazilian bats alive in this country," he said to Blu, "I thought that we Brazilian flying foxes were the only bat species in Brazil."

"Oh, no, the Linda's bats disprove that claim, Augustus," said Blu with a slight smile, "We found them while we were searching for that legendary liquid said to grow back hair or feathers and their discovery was what saved the Blu Bird Sanctuary from being lost."

"How small are they?" asked Augustus.

"About half your size when fully grown," said Mercury as he flew alongside Sapphire, "They're quite small."

"You'll see how small they are compared to you when we meet them," said Pluto. Augustus flashed an intrigued smile, one of the rare smiles he had managed since Sandalwood and the other kids' capture by the poachers the other day and continued flying on. As the group continued, Lapis Lazuli said, "Fernando's group will be arriving at the Pedra de Gavea Cave with their bird catching equipment any moment now. Hopefully we'll arrive roughly at the same time as them as well."

"And then we'll set to helping those humans catch as many of those toucans chicks that had settled in the trees outside the cave's mouth the moment they set to the task," said Brisa to which Roberto flashed a surprised glance.

"So these toucan kids are definitely everywhere?" he asked.

"Many of Rafael and Eva's grownup offspring have been having one clutch after another," muttered Brisa, before she threw on a frown, "You've heard from Bia about how the population has grown over the past few years, Beto."

Roberto just shrugged and flew on. Moments later, the Pedra de Gavea Mountain melted into view and at the foot of the mountain, the cave where Basil the bat's colony lived.

"Here we are," said Blu and with that, he slowed the group down as the members put on wary looks, "Let's be careful around here. Those pesky toucan kids and their parents that have settled here could be anywhere, especially in the nooks and crannies of those leaves and branches of the surrounding trees."

Andromeda and Rouge, Mercury, Sapphire, Pluto, Lapis Lazuli, Brisa, Roberto and Augustus did so and began to scan the environment carefully. From the trees, dozens of curious pairs of eyes gazed at the group of colourful feathers and drabber brown fur or reddish pterosaur hair and black and reddish membranous wings as they slowly moved through the jungle towards the mouth of the Linda's golden orange bat colony's cave. Most of the eyes belonged to a variety of nocturnal animals but a few of the eye pairs were laced with malice as they glared at Blu's group, for they belonged to a certain bird that had settled in this part of the sanctuary. Hisses escaping the outline of the large beaks below them, the owners of the eyes darted from their hiding places. As Blu's group continued advancing towards the cave mouth, with Andromeda flashing intrigued glances at it for she was reminded of the mouth of the Cave of Colours and Sparkles, the treasure cave that was dangerously guarded by a massive flock of enormous predatory bat-birds that nested around the site leading to the mouth in her and her Amazonian clan's former homeland the Jurassic Jungle in Guyana. However, rustling leaf sounds pulled the archaeobird's attention from the cave mouth to her surroundings. Behind Andromeda and Rouge, Augustus and the macaws continued to scan the leaves and trees, watching for any suspicious movements. Though they didn't know where the toucan clan of some of Rafael and Eva's many, many, many offspring and grandkids lived exactly, they knew that this clan had settled on this site and could be lurking anywhere. Then Roberto saw a flash of light through the jungle as well as the sounds of an artificial moving object. At this, the handsome Spix macaw gazed through the clutter of leaves and branches and saw a four-wheeled object, a truck loaded with a number of figures drive through a road.

"I think that's the human group tasked with catching the toucans coming this way," he told the others.

"Right, thanks for letting us know," said Blu. Then Mercury and Sapphire fluttered up.

"That'll be Fernando and his group with their equipment," said Mercury.

"We'll follow those humans to the cave and then alert and guide them to the toucan clan's living space as soon as you find them," said Sapphire and with that, the two Lear's macaws fluttered away in the direction of the truck.

"Alright, you be careful," called Pluto as the pair left. As Mercury and Sapphire disappeared into the dark, moonlit clutter of the jungle, Blu, Andromeda, Augustus and Rouge advanced further towards the mouth of the Pedra de Gavea cave, alert looks on their faces as they continued to scan the environment. Andromeda had something packed by her side, something that none of the macaws or Augustus had yet seen but she was about to put it to use in a moment. Suddenly, the sounds of shaking leaves reached the group's ears and pulled their attention to the leaf cluster that shuddered but their eyes did not see anything. Behind the four, Pluto, Lapis Lazuli, Brisa and Roberto, whose blue eyes were inflating with fear and his crest was spiking out, continued to examine the area.

"G-g-guys, I'm b-b-beginning to g-g-g-get s-s-s-scared…" stammered Roberto as nervousness continued to boil.

"Now this is no time to let fear set in," snapped Brisa rather impatiently, "I know how nerve-wracking you're finding it but we've got to do this job for the sake of Basil and his colony."

"Yes, absolutely," said Lapis Lazuli in agreement. Pluto also shot the timid Roberto an agreeing glare, prompting Roberto to continue examining the environment, fearful blue eyes bulging out of their sockets. Pluto then felt a flash of sympathy.

"I'm wondering if this is an effect left behind by his traumatic experience of getting caught by poachers as a chick after those flying foxes slayed his family," he whispered to Lapis Lazuli, but he flinched when his mate shot him a glare. Pluto uttered a word of apology before the glaucous couple resumed their scanning of the dark, moonlit trees decorated by a few dancing firefly stars. Ahead of Pluto, Brisa and their mates, Blu, Rouge, Andromeda and Augustus continued advancing towards the Pedra de Gavea cave's mouth. The artificial light, which was from the headlights of the truck, had pulled up through the trees, signalling to the group that Fernando's group was about to disembark from the truck and prepare to search for the toucans. At the same time, Augustus saw the movement of a small shadowy figure emerge from the cave mouth and into the moonlit jungle air. At first he thought it was a bird but then he saw that the creature's wings were shaped like his own wings, indicating a bat.

"I think some of those little bats of that colony are about to start their nightly activities, Blu," the flying fox whispered. Blu followed Augustus's gaze and saw another small bat flit out of the cave and into the air. At this, the brown-eyed Spix macaw threw on a frown.

"Yep, they are," he said, "Well spotted Augustus."

"So they're the golden orange bats of your human friend?" asked Andromeda as she watched another tiny bat flit out of the cave in awe, "They're tiny."

"They don't belong to Linda like a piece of property would," said Blu, "Their species is named after her."

"I see," said Andromeda.

"Interesting," said Augustus.

"There are quite a number of species named after humans who are experts in animal subjects," said Blu, "Our species, the blue Spix macaw, is named after a human with the last name Spix, while Mercury and Sapphire's species is named after another animal studier whose last name was Lear."

Andromeda and Augustus made small smiles of intrigue. However, those smiles were soon stripped from their faces when the trio heard a whooshing sound. At this, the Spix macaw, archaeobird and flying fox, as well as Andromeda's bat-bird mount, all flinched and a split second later, the group found themselves confronted by a small group of little birds. All of these birds resembled Rafael, Eva, Tom and Diantha and their eyes were laced with mischief as they bore into Blu, Andromeda, Augustus and Rouge. Some of the Rafael lookalikes' talons bore sticks.

"Intruder alert!" shouted one of the toucan chicks, before aiming the tip of its stick at the trio and Rouge, "YOU are under… arrest!"

At this, Blu and Augustus threw on flabbergasted looks but then Andromeda took action. With a scowl on her face, the archaeobird on her bat-bird mount bravely advanced towards the small flock of toucan kids, brandishing some sort of disc shape in her wing claws.

"Oh, YEAH!?" she retorted, much to the shock of the toucans and also Blu and Augustus, and soon, Roberto, Brisa, Pluto and Lapis Lazuli and before anyone could stop her, Andromeda thrusted her wing claws holding the disc and launched said disc at the toucans. "Try arrestin' THIS!"

Then before the toucan kids could react, the disc, which was actually a double disc bound together, flew in a flash from Andromeda's wing claws, straight at them. The disc was attached to some sort of string and was spinning as the string unwound, the end of the string held in Andromeda's wing claws and as Blu and Augustus watched on in utter shock, the toucan kids, flooded by panic from the surprise attack from the archaeobird, tried to flee but were caught by the string of the double disc which subsequently spun around them like a ball on a string Blu had seen was called a swing-ball. As the double disc swung around the toucan chicks, its string wrapped around them, adding one loop per swing and soon, the toucan kids were bound tightly into a bundle. Then seconds later, the subdued and tightly tied toucan kids were flung onto a nearby branch where Andromeda and Rouge speedily rushed over to them and finished the binding job by tying the other end of the string to the double disc to ensure that the toucan kids _didn't_ escape. Blu, Augustus, Brisa, Roberto, Pluto and Lapis Lazuli's faces then morphed into awed and amazed looks.

"What was that thing you just used?" asked Blu. Andromeda flashed him a smug look.

"Doble Disco en una Cuerda," said the archaeobird as she tightened the string binding the toucan kids only last time by pulling on the double disc which Blu saw was made from two flat, round pebbles bound together and the string being some very tough plant fibres which had been wrapped around a central material Andromeda had used to bind the pebbles together into the double disc, "Spanish for 'Double Disc on a String'… an invention inspired directly from a human made object of a similar design. I saw some humans swing one of these around a pole such that its string wrapped around it so I figured it could entrap some mischievous toucan kids."

"How very clever," said Roberto with an admiring smile.

"You've based that on the yoyo?" asked Blu. Andromeda flashed him a confused look.

"Yoyo?" she repeated.

"It's a human trick device that has two discs bound together with thread wound in the middle," explained Pluto, "My former owner Blake who lives across the Atlantic Ocean, used to play with one until he lost interest. You throw the yoyo down and it spins and then when you tug on the string, it winds back up onto the string and returns to the user's hand."

Then Lapis Lazuli smiled at the others, "You know? There certainly seems to be no end to archaeobird talent and ingenuity, is there?"

"Yeah, I'm starting to feel a little jealous," said Blu with a titter and those titters rolled through the others. However, this humour faded to seriousness as Blu turned his attention to the bound toucan kids who glared bitterly at their captors, "Anyway, time to take this lot to the humans through there," he nodded to the artificial lights through the tree branches.

"Just WAIT till our parents HEAR about this!" snarled one of the kids who struggled in the tight plant material string with his comrades.

"Yeah, they're gonna go MAD!" put in another, a female. Without sympathy, Pluto glared at the speakers and their comrades as the other toucans protested the same thing.

"I'm afraid you're going nowhere, except to our human friends, you bunch of little troublemakers," said the glaucous macaw flatly, "Hopefully it'll teach you a very BIG lesson about respect!"

"And your parents about having so many kids," put in Lapis Lazuli, "There are hundreds and hundreds of other toucans scattered throughout the sanctuary already and they're causing the other residents no end of trouble in terms of living space, food and mischief."

"Yes," said Blu in agreement, before his gaze turned to the others, "Let's get 'em to the humans, now."

Then before the captured toucan kids could protest again, they were lifted into the air by three Spix macaws and Lapis Lazuli and carried in the direction of the artificial light. As they did that, Andromeda, Rouge, Augustus and Pluto continued to the Pedra de Gavea cave.

"We'll check on the Linda's bat colony while you take those troublemakers to be caged," said Pluto as the four left. Blu nodded and with that, the group split up. Blu, Roberto, Brisa and Lapis Lazuli continued carrying the toucan kids as they started to throw an enormous tantrum and screech for their parents.

As Augustus, Pluto, Andromeda and Rouge closed in on the cave which was beginning to disgorge several more small bats by now, one of the little bats happened to turn its gaze in the direction of some forms as they approached the cave. At this, the little winged mammal slowed to a hover as it blinked and gazed at one of the forms, a turquoise macaw with a grey head and yellow around his eyes and by his lower beak, before recognition took hold. At this, the bat darted back into the cave.

"Toby, Toby, Velma!" it shouted in a squeaky voice, "We've got visitors!"

Pluto, Andromeda and Rouge, and Augustus touched down onto the foliage near the mouth of the cave and stood near the rim of the mouth leading to Linda's orange bat colony's home. Pluto, who had heard the bat shout for the colony leaders, said to Augustus, Andromeda and Rouge, "Wait here," before entering the cave to ask for the leaders. As the glaucous macaw disappeared into the cave, the remaining three began to examine the surrounding area. The mountain was massive and extended high into the patchily cloudy sky for tens of metres, and opposite the cave mouth, a dense sea of vegetation consisting of trees, shrubs and ferns stretched from the mountain. Augustus then gazed at the small bats as they continued flitting out of the cave and in to the vegetation.

"So those are the Linda's orange bats?" he said with intrigue, "They certainly are small."

The bats were indeed small in comparison to the larger Augustus. Most of the little bats had orange fur but some also had a hint of brown and auburn as well. The majority of the bats' eyes were orange but some also had amber and yellow eyes, but these shades of yellow and orange weren't the unsettling and fear-inducing amber and orange glares of the predatory bird of every winged and arboreal (tree dwelling) jungle creature's worst nightmares, the harpy eagle. The size of as fully grown Linda's golden orange bat was only half of that of Augustus and the average spans of their wings, which were dark grey to black in colour, were only probably about a third of Augustus's wingspan which was about a metre and a half when fully opened. Around the flying fox, Andromeda and Rouge, moving stars, indicating fireflies, decorated the moonlit night jungle, and Rouge playfully chased one before flinching as another little bat flew past her. Andromeda then gazed at two streams of artificial light as they moved this way and that and deduced that they must be the humans. The light was coming from things Blu had noted to Andromeda and Augustus were called flashlights, or torches to the macaws that grew up in the UK.

"The humans look just about prepared to carry out their task," said Andromeda to Augustus. Augustus then heard some human voices emanate from the flashlight holders. At this, the flying fox cocked his ears to listen.

"Well done, Blu, Lapis Lazuli, Brisa and Brisa's mate," said one, "You've managed to capture some of the toucan chicks."

"Let's get these birds caged and placed in the back of the truck," said another. Andromeda smiled as she heard the humans give praise to Blu, Lapis Lazuli, Brisa and Roberto. "I was actually the one who caught them," she said. Squawks were heard from the four macaws as they explained that their 'four-winged friend', referring to Andromeda was the one who had helped capture those kids. As Andromeda and Augustus continued listening to the humans talk to Blu and the other three, the sounds of wing flaps, some from a pair of feathered wings and the rest from three pairs of small membranous wings one third of Augustus's wingspan, reached the pair's ears. The flying fox and archaeobird turned to see Pluto touch down with three of the small orange bats onto the foliage and walk over to them.

"Andromeda, Augustus, this is Toby and Velma, the leaders of this cave's bat colony and also Basil's parents," said Pluto, before gesturing to the younger bat next to the pair, "And this is Basil with his stick friend Jeffery."

At this, Augustus and Andromeda reached out their membranous wing and wing claws respectively and shook the wings of Toby and Velma, both orange coloured bats with grey wings. Tobu had yellow eyes while Velma's eyes were orange. Basil also had orange eyes and the muzzles of all three bats were yellow, a characteristic of this bat species. Clasped in his wings was a stick which he had called his friend 'Jeffery'.

Basil had indeed grown over the past few years. When he first met Blu, Jewel, Carla, Bia and Tiago for the first time, he had only been a baby bat but now, he was a full grown adult. He still kept a hold of his beloved stick, however, and when his eyes landed on Andromeda's and the much larger Augustus, his yellow muzzle widened into an intrigued smile.

"Well, it's nice to meet you two," said Toby as he shook wings with Augustus, "We've never actually seen bats that are twice our size and have faces like a domestic dog."

"Oh, it's a feature of our species, the flying fox," said Augustus, "Humans say that we flying foxes have faces resembling a doglike animal called a fox."

Velma gazed at Andromeda and commented on her unusual features, "And we've never heard of a bird species with feathered legs and a long tail."

Andromeda smiled and gazed at her feathered legs. "Our legs are actually like a second pair of wings," she said, "We're called archaeobirds, thought by humans to be survivors when those strange, mammoth animals they call dinosaurs but we call giant lizards walked the earth."

Basil then gazed at Rouge who waited near the rim of the cave mouth. "And what sort of bat is that?" he asked. Andromeda gazed at Rouge.

"Oh, that's a bat-bird or as humans calls her kind, pterodactyl," she said, "They look like bats, don't they, but they have beaks and their wing membranes are supported by only one long finger. They're also reptiles, not mammals."

"Reptiles!?" repeated Toby incredulously. Basil walked over to Rouge and examined the unusual creature's wings. Velma also examined Rouge. "That creature doesn't look like it has scales."

"Yeah, its body's covered with hair like us," said Toby.

"Those 'hairs' are actually called 'pycnofibers' or 'pterodactyl hair'," said Pluto but then he decided to change the subject, "Anyway, enough introduction on the archaeobird and the pterosaur or bat-bird, let's talk about how you orange bats are doing."

"As well as what trouble those toucans that have settled in this part of Rio sanctuary are causing you," said Andromeda. At this, outraged and frustrated looks were thrown onto Toby and Velma's faces, and Basil emitted an angry hiss. Toby turned round and walked a few steps.

"Oh, don't mention that group of big nosed birdbrains," he muttered, before turning back to face Andromeda, Augustus and Pluto, "That lot keeps interfering with our foraging tasks and nightly outings, especially the chicks."

"Ever since around two or three couples of those toucans have settled here," put in Velma, "The number of kids they had had exploded over the past few months and soon, those trees," she nodded to some of the plants, "Have become infested with those pesky toucan chicks."

"They cause us no end of trouble," said Basil as he held his Jeffery stick, "They keep interfering with our foraging trips, making a racket during the daytime and keeping our pups awake, and," his face hardened, "Once, those kids pelted the entrance to our cave with fruit and shouted abuse at us."

Andromeda, Augustus and Pluto all flinched as though they had been stung by a swarm of bees as horror tore through them.

"You're joking!" said Pluto but the three orange bats shook their heads.

"No, we're not," said Toby, "And when I and some other bats went to complain to the parents of those numerous chicks, they denied their kids' bad behaviour and told us to back off and not interfere with their lives."

"Because those toucan kids keep interfering with our hunt for insects and other small flying prey," said Velma, "The number of successful catches has been badly affected. Some nights, most bats come back to the roost without a single successfully caught meal, some of them mothers with pups, by the time dawn comes round."

Andromeda and Augustus gazed at Pluto.

"That sounds very serious," murmured Augustus, shock and disbelief lacing his face.

"Yes, it is," muttered Toby angrily, "Honestly, those pesky birdbrains with big beaks are causing hunger for some of the families in our colony. Mothers can't suckle their young without sufficient meals and weaned pups are complaining constantly of hunger due to insufficient numbers of successful meals caught."

"We've even searched for prey further away from our cave, hoping to forage in peace," added Velma, "But those toucan kids keep following us and causing us trouble, wherever we go. Some of the foragers are even too scared to come out of the cave because of those troublemakers."

Pluto, Andromeda and Augustus continued standing there, speechless as their brains absorbed this information. Then after a minute or so, Pluto broke the silence, an assuring look coming on his face.

"Well, some of our human friends have arrived to help deal with the problem," said the glaucous macaw with a nod to the group of humans through the moonlit night air, "They've come with the necessary equipment to help catch some of the toucan chicks as possible."

"But if they're gonna catch those four or five dozen chicks roaming about the trees;" protested Velma, "Shouldn't they target the three pairs of adults that have moved here as well? After all, they're the ones producing all the chicks."

Pluto flashed Basil's mother a look and was about to reply when suddenly, commotion erupted not too far away from the cave's mouth. At this, the three little orange bats, the glaucous macaw, flying fox and archaeobird all snapped their gazes into the night air hanging over the trees and to their horror, they saw what looked like a mid-air fight breaking out. Shouts of frustration and mischievous laughter also flooded the air and the group saw several of the bats trying to out-fly something. Some of the bats also looked like they were covering their faces with their wings as little bullets flew from their chasers at their bodies, bouncing off their heads, wings and backs like seeds. Pluto narrowed his eyes. 'They _are_ seeds', he thought. Some other bats were frantically trying to dodge some other missiles that were emitting mischievous cackles, like the cackles of crows. Basil, Velma and Toby also frowned.

"That's what we're talking about," said Toby with a nod to the chaos, "It's been going on for months. Those interfering big-nosed nuisances keep causing us havoc as you can see up there."

Pluto rubbed his beak with a talon, opened his wings and lofted into flight.

"Where are you going?" asked Basil as he clutched his stick 'Jeffery'.

"I'm gonna see if I can lure those toucan chick troublemakers to our human friends," shouted Pluto as he left, "You need to stay in your cave for the time being. Andromeda and Augustus will look after you."

At this, Basil, Velma and Toby gazed at Augustus and Andromeda who ushered the trio back into the cave. Then a thought hit Andromeda as she gazed back at the little bats trying to out-fly the pesky toucan chicks who kept chasing them and pelting them with seeds, laughing all the way.

"Wait, if those bats are struggling to find food for the colony and their families because of those ruffians," she said, "We might need to lend a wing in feeding them."

"But Andromeda, I'm a flying fox… a fruit bat and you're an archaeobird who can only glide without your bat-bird mount Rouge," protested Augustus, disbelief at Andromeda's suggestion, "These little bats must have the ability to hunt and catch flying insects in mid-air, something we flying foxes do not, if ever, do. How are we gonna catch such agile aerial critters?"

Andromeda, at this, gazed at the flying fox, a plan formulating in her head.

While Andromeda and Augustus were tasked in looking after the other orange bats in the cave, the bats that had taken to the air were under serious peril. Terror and frustration flooded their orange to yellow eyes and they were frantically trying to flee the chasers, which were indeed some of the toucan chicks, the offspring of the three couples of adult toucans who were three of Rafael and Eva's grown-up offspring and their mates who had moved to this part of the sanctuary, continued to try and tackle them or pelt them with seeds fired from hollow sticks, mischievous glares lacing their faces and their large beaks emitting naughty laughter.

"This is NUTS!" shouted one of the orange bats, a female, as she dodged a toucan missile, "We can't go on living with these PESKY FEATHERED HOODLUMS."

Another bat nearby nodded another toucan missile while two more covered their faces with their feet protectively as seed bullets flew from two more toucans armed with the peashooter-like twigs, the seeds bouncing off the two bats' faces as they struck their targets. Another bat nearby, with prey in its legs and feet for it had managed to successfully pluck a moth out of the air using high pitched sounds that rebounded from its target back to its ears (called 'echolocation' by humans and also the birds who were ecology experts, such as Blu, Bia and Ganymede), was flying like mad to escape another toucan kid who chased it, giggling immaturely when suddenly… BAM! One of the feathered comets zoomed in and purposely rammed into the bat's side, making it drop its prey. The bat, alarmed, stole glances this way and that until its eyes landed on the falling moth. Alarmed, the bat swooped down to retrieve its precious prey but another toucan comet flew in and snatched it up in its beak, much to the bat's outrage.

"Hey, that's my prey, THIEF!" bellowed the bat but the toucan chick that had eaten the moth only flashed the bat a mischievous look before flying away, much to the bat's fury. While all this was going on, some more feathered forms entered the chaos, but they were larger and had smaller, curved beaks, typical of parrots. Pluto, together with Mercury, Sapphire, Lapis Lazuli, Brisa, Roberto and Blu all flew in, horrified at the chaos.

"Ganymede, Eragon and Luna weren't kidding about this," murmured Blu in utter disbelief.

"Look how much trouble those toucan chicks are causing the bats," said Mercury. Roberto and Brisa were forced to dodge a bat as it zoomed past with a cackling toucan chick in hot pursuit.

"Those chicks are honestly like those poachers' crows," snarled Brisa disgustedly, making Roberto shoot her a terrified look. He hated the mentioning of poachers. Brisa, at this, shot Roberto an apologetic look. Then Blu threw on a determined face. He was determined to help these poor bats deal with this problem.

"Never mind about how naughty the toucan chicks are," hissed the brown-eyed Spix macaw, "We've got work to do. Are you all ready for this?"

"Yes!" said all the other six macaws in unison.

"Then let's fly and herd those toucan kids to our human friends down there!" shouted Blu and with that, the seven macaws all scattered and threw themselves into the inferno.

Mercury glared at a small group of five toucan chicks as they harassed several bats, two of them being mothers with pups clasped to their breasts and charged in at them, an enraged screech exploding from his beak. The Lear's macaw's squawk alerted the toucan chicks and their victims and when they saw a navy blue and teal comet rocket towards them, the bats darted away but the toucan chicks were transfixed with utter shock until finally, the urge to flee took hold.

"SCATTEEER!" shouted one of them and with that, the flock dispersed, much to Mercury's surprise. This was not what he had in mind. However, with an outraged glare on his face, he glared at the toucan chicks as they swerved round and rocketed towards him.

"You're NOT gonna get away with this, you troublemakers!" shouted the Lear's macaw but no sooner than the word 'troublemaker' had left his beak when suddenly, he felt small, hard bullets bounce off his face and body. Two of the toucan chicks, both armed with peashooter sticks, were firing seeds at the Lear's macaw, their comrades laughing.

"Take THIS you MONSTER!" cackled one of them and with that, she accelerated towards Mercury and charged into the Lear's macaw's side, momentarily stunning him and sending him into a clumsy flutter. As he regained control of his flight, Brisa flew in.

"You alright, Mercury?" asked she. Mercury grasped the side where he had been hit with a talon but he was willing to go on.

"I'm fine," he said, "Help me herd those chicks to the humans please."

Brisa was about to reply when suddenly, she saw a small group of big orange and black beaked rockets dive down on them from above, the word, "DIVE-BOOOOOMB!" exploding from their beaks. At this, the Spix macaw tackled into Mercury and knocked him away moments before the toucan chicks plummeted past, narrowly missing Brisa. Brisa shot the toucan chicks an enraged glare.

"We should have had Andromeda help us out with her yoyo thingy, I think," she muttered.

"Yeah, it was an excellent ide… look OUT!" shouted Mercury as his horrified eyes saw the feathered, orange and black beaked comets swerve upward and charge towards them again. The Spix and Lear's macaws, seeing no choice, accelerated from a hover to a charge in a fraction of a second as the comets flew towards them, the intent on pouncing onto the two and harassing them clearly fuelling the toucan chicks. Unintentionally, Mercury and Brisa rocketed in the direction of Fernando and company waiting on the ground, the toucan chicks in hot pursuit. Around them, Roberto, Blu, Sapphire, Lapis Lazuli and Pluto were struggling to lure the other toucan chicks away from the little bats.

"Just HOW MANY are THERE!?" shouted Pluto as he tried shaking a toucan chick that had grabbed onto his wing feathers off his wing.

"I don't know but their parents sure have been breeding like rabbits… OOOOW!" shouted Blu as some feathers were torn from his tail. At this, the blue macaw flashed a glare at the toucan chick as it rocketed away with a beak-ful of blue feathers, giggles escaping its beak. Blu felt hot rage burn through him.

"Some of those chicks are honestly no DIFFERENT from some of their parents!" he muttered. Roberto screeched as one of the toucan chicks pulled on his head feathers while two other toucan chicks rode Sapphire and Pluto like a horse, the little bats looking on in utter horror and confusion. Some more toucan chicks were rapidly circling Lapis Lazuli so fast that she eventually became dizzy and began to fly unevenly. The female glaucous macaw was then struck hard in the stomach by one of the toucan kids, mischief lacing its face.

"Lapis Lazuli!" shouted Blu when he saw this. Lapis Lazuli then fluttered clumsily onto a branch and grasped her stomach, the toucan chicks laughing at her from the air. Blu came in and landed beside her. Lapis Lazuli's face was twisted into a pained look and her wing was clasped onto her stomach.

"You might want a rest," said Blu but Lapis Lazuli was determined to continue.

"I'm fine, just a little hurt," said she but Blu was unconvinced and began to convince her to rest.

While the chaos continued in the air, Mercury and Brisa continued diving towards the humans with their toucan chick pursuers in hot pursuit. One of the chicks fired more seeds at the two, forcing them to screw their eyes shut. However, the two macaws heard one of the humans speak.

"Here they come, team, aim your net guns," said a man. At this, Mercury opened one eye and saw Fernando and the other humans with him as they lifted some barrel-like tubes in the artificial light such that their mouths were pointing directly at the macaws. Mercury saw what the humans were going to do, especially as bangs were heard and spiderweb-like things were thrown out of the mouths.

"Look OUT!" he shouted and with that, he charged into Brisa to knock her away. The toucan chicks flashed a confused glance at the two macaws but before they knew it, they were entangled by meshes of thread of manmade origin and wrapped into a tight ball. The toucan chicks, at this, screamed in utter horror as they then found themselves plummeting towards earth but then they felt something catch them. It was a pair of human hands.

"Got SOME!" shouted the catcher, which was Fernando and the toucan chicks, horror gripping them, looked through the threading and saw the triumphant look on the young man's face. Then the next thing these little troublemakers knew they were placed into a box made of silvery bars and slabs. The toucan chicks screeched and squawked as their cage was padlocked shut by one of the handlers. From the air, Mercury and Sapphire saw this, and that was then an idea took hold of Mercury like a positive grip.

"I've got it," he said and with that, he rocketed back in to the air to tell the other macaws.

"Got what?" asked Brisa as she followed. As soon as the two were in the air, Mercury called the attention of Roberto, Blu, Pluto and Sapphire as they continued struggling with the toucan kids, the little bats continuously watching on.

"I've got an idea!" he shouted and with that, he began to demonstrate to the group by flying towards a group of toucan chicks harassing three of the bats and began to provoke the chicks into following him. Blu looked on as Mercury then called to the bats to follow him and together, the Lear's macaw and the three orange bats dived towards the humans with the toucan kids in hot pursuit. Blu, at this, felt understanding wash over him, especially as the mischievous toucan chicks began to overcome the struggles of their targets.

"Follow Mercury!" he called to Roberto, Sapphire and Pluto. At this, the trio gazed at each other confused but as the toucan chicks became more reckless, especially as one managed to rip out one of Roberto's leaf-like head feathers, causing him pain, they did as Blu said. Brisa also passed on the idea to the orange bats and told them to fly down towards the humans, which they did. Soon, the macaws and orange bats were diving down towards the humans, a large flock of toucan chicks in hot pursuit. Some of the chased covered their heads with their feet as seeds flew from some of the chicks armed with hollow sticks. Then as soon as the group neared the humans, their net guns ready and aiming at their targets behind them, Mercury shouted, "NOOOW!" and with that, the macaws and the bats all swerved away, leaving the toucan chicks exposed to the net guns. Several bangs were heard and before the toucan chicks could react, they were ensnared by the netting as well and were knocked out of the air like a rock. Horrified and frightened screeches escaped their beaks as the toucan chicks were then caught and subsequently loaded into cages by their captors. The seven macaws and the orange bats repeated this trick another two times (with Lapis Lazuli joining in after recovering from the tackle to the stomach) with more toucan chicks and as soon as the third group was captured and caged, Blu, Roberto, Brisa, Sapphire, Pluto, Lapis Lazuli, Mercury and the bats all touched down on the ground nearby, watching as Fernando and his group loaded the caged toucan chicks into the truck.

"Good idea, my macaw friends," said one of the bats, "We never thought of luring those troublemakers to the humans."

"Heh, it was Mercury's idea," said Sapphire, a smile at her mate, "He's the one who should be thanked most."

"Absolutely," said Brisa.

"Look how many toucan chicks there are," breathed Mercury in immense shock as he examined the number of the young big nosed birds in the cages, "There must be well over fifty of them at least."

"More like almost a hundred," said another bat, a female, "Those three toucan couples certainly have been breeding like nobody's business."

"Is it any wonder you Linda's orange bats have been having such problems," said Lapis Lazuli. Just then the sounds of flapping membranous wings, larger ones, reached the group's ears. At this, the group looked up and saw Augustus fly towards them through the moonlit jungle. As the flying fox touched down, Blu asked him.

"How are the other bats doing in the cave, Augustus, including the leaders Toby, Velma and their son Basil?" he asked.

"They're fine," said Augustus, "But Andromeda has decided to stay with the colony for some time and help them search for areas in the jungle where the bats' prey is abundant as well as protect them from potential crow intrusions."

As he stated this, Andromeda turned up on her bat-bird Rouge, her yoyo-like weapon returned to her from the humans the moment her toucan kid catch had been caged.

"That's absolutely right," said the archaeobird as her mount touched down and she dismounted, "I'm going to help the orange bat colony start anew and make up for what they have lost because of that bunch of toucan kid troublemakers."

"But what if Spyro and Marella and their daughter Bambi need you?" asked Pluto in protest. At this, Blu stepped in.

"They'll be looked after by the rest of us for the time being," said the Spix macaw, "But we'll keep Andromeda informed on their wellbeing and provide updates of our progress."

"Thank you, it's much appreciated," said Andromeda with a smile. Then one of the orange bats stepped forward. He, along with the other adult bats his species, only reached the height of Andromeda's chest for Andromeda was only the size of a Spix macaw or perhaps slightly taller but shorter than Augustus.

"We're thankful for your help, Mrs Archaeobird," said the bat gratefully, "We could do with a little wing here after all the trouble…"

"Please, call me Andromeda," said Andromeda with a smile. The bat smiled at this as titters rolled through Blu's group but that brief moment of happiness was shattered when the sounds of screeches tore the quiet of the night air apart. At this, the macaws, flying fox, archaeobird and the smaller bats all stiffened. The group of humans did the same, the sounds of distressed toucan chicks still emanating from the truck trailer.

"What's that?" asked Augustus, his eyes inflated with alarm and his ears pricked. Andromeda, Rouge and the little orange bats also flashed confused glances this way and that, as did Roberto and Brisa. Blu, Pluto, Lapis Lazuli, Mercury and Sapphire, however, threw on serious glares.

"The enormous problem we talked about while discussing the tasks," said Blu in a low, serious voice, "Do you guys remember what we said about how the parents of the toucan kids are going to react upon seeing their offspring get caught and caged?"

At this, Augustus and Andromeda shot Blu a realisation look while the orange bats looked on confused. Seeing that there was no time to explain why, Blu glared at Andromeda and said, "You'd better get your yoyo weapon and your ingenious combat skills ready, now."

Andromeda, at this, rushed over to Rouge and remounted her. Then with a short, squeaky command, the archaeobird ordered Rouge to take off. Mercury, Sapphire, Lapis Lazuli and Pluto followed. Turning to Augustus, Blu said, "You take those bats back to their cave and report to Toby and Velma of the success of our human friends' mission in catching those toucan kids and stay with them until we've dealt with the final problem," Blu snapped his gaze into the night air as he heard several more screeches. It was definitely the screeches of some adult toucans, and they were laced with wrath. Sensing that the adult toucan attack was imminent, Blu jumped straight to the end.

"Take those bats back to their cave IMMEDIATELY!" he commanded and before Augustus could speak, Blu was off, a lush blue blur. After being left with the command, Augustus commanded the small bats to return to the cave.

"To your cave, NOW!" ordered the flying fox. The orange bats, confused looks on their faces, exchanged glances until they finally went along with the orders. Augustus took off after the little bats and hurried for the safety of the cave where the other orange bats including Velma, Toby and Basil were waiting.

Back with Fernando's group, Fernando and company were also alerted by the extremely wrathful screeches and had frozen in alertness as they were packing up and ready to return to Tulio's Aviary, the caged toucan chicks in tow. The humans' heads shot wary glances this way and that as they tried to locate the sources of the screeches. However, those sources were heading straight for them right out of the darkness, the distressed cries of so many toucan chicks having reached their ears. Six larger toucans, three of which had Eva's red tinted cream face masks and bellies and brown eyes like Rafael but were ablaze with fury launched themselves right out of the trees and swooped down upon Fernando's group. Then before the group of humans knew it, two of them, a man and a woman, felt aerial cat claws slash over their faces as something shot past their faces, screeching loudly. At this, chaos erupted among Fernando's group as the two struck humans were thrown into a chaotic stumble, their hands covering their slashed faces and screams of pain exploding from their beaks. Fernando flashed the two a horrified glance.

"Claudia, Jose!" he shouted to the pair but before he could rush over to the said man and woman as they covered their scratched faces, something feathery tackled into Fernando's back and knocked him down onto his front, much to his shock. However, that tackle had knocked him clear of more aerial cat like claws of another furious adult toucan, whose talons slashed the air where Fernando's head and eyes had been moments before. Fernando, confused, scrambled to his feet with the help of some of the other humans and also Lapis Lazuli, the one who had tackled Fernando from behind and knocked him down to save him from receiving a nasty scratch over the face. As he scrambled back onto his feet, he shouted, "Get the NET GUNS!"

Without hesitation, three of the humans dived into the back of the truck and seized a net gun each but a black comet with an orange and black beak zoomed in and, with its large beak, seized one of them, a lady, by the ponytail and yanked hard, tugging the woman back and away from the truck. The woman screamed and began to wave her hands at the toucan to dislodge the bird but the bird continued its relentless assault on her. Then bangs of net guns exploded into the air as the other two humans who had managed seized a net gun each fired nets at the enraged adult toucans as they zoomed around the humans, the parental instinct to save their many, many offspring held in cages at the back of the truck having taken control. The adult toucans, enraged screeches exploding from their beaks, dodged the flying nets and swooped down on the humans, their barb-like talon claws poised to attack. From the cave's mouth, Augustus, along with Basil, Velma and Toby and some of the other orange bats, watched in utter horror as humans attempted to net the adult toucans. One of the toucans swooped down at another lady named Denise, a lady whom Fernando was dating and had joined the task of catching the toucans plaguing the jungle outside the Pedra de Gavea cave, its claws poised to slash her face. Denise, at this, screamed and covered her face with her arms but before the toucan could rake its claws over the skin of her arms, a BAM was heard. When Denise did not feel claws rake over her arms, she slowly lowered them and looked up to see that her attacker had been tackled away. The other humans including Fernando also looked up to see the toucan then begin to unleash its fury on its tackler, Brisa as they viciously locked talons and began to savagely struggle and wrestle with each other in the air, enraged screeches exploding from their beaks.

Nearby, another toucan swooped down on another human as he helped the two humans that had been scratched over the faces, Claudia and Jose, into the truck, its talons aiming for the back of his neck but before the toucan could inflict an injury on that spot, a pair of discs attached to a string appeared out of nowhere and struck it square in the beak. The toucan, stunned, then entered a wild tailspin as Andromeda appeared on her bat-bird Rouge and withdrew her yoyo weapon. However, Andromeda commanded Rouge to swoop down at the toucan and before the toucan could crash-land in the back of the truck, Rouge seized the toucan's tail and slowed its descent. Moments later, a pair of hands appeared and seized the toucan and before the toucan knew it, it was hastily placed into a cage. Then another adult toucan was placed in a cage with it for Roberto and Blu had helped to catch that one and bring it to the human. Then after a few more minutes of chaos, the other four furious toucans were caught and caged but not before several more injuries were inflicted. Pluto had pounced onto another toucan as it tore out Denise's hair and was scratched across the torso before that toucan was seized and caged; Andromeda had accidentally hit another human in the face with her yoyo while trying to take down another toucan and Mercury and Sapphire had received small scratches to the face and side respectively by the other three toucans before they were shot down with nets and caged. Then after the chaos had subsided, relieved sighs could be breathed. The humans all hi-fived each other while Roberto, Brisa, Andromeda, Blu, Mercury, Sapphire, Lapis Lazuli and Pluto did the same, congratulating each other on a job well done.

"Good job, team," said Blu as he did a fist bump with Roberto and Mercury who, despite the sharp pain from the scratch to the cheek which wept a bit of blood, was glad that the job was done.

"That was pretty rough," said Sapphire with a relieved gasp. She gazed at the scratch on her left side which also wept a bit of blood and breathed a sigh.

"Okay, Augustus and the orange bats can come out of the cave now," said Blu. At this, Andromeda jumped onto her bat-bird's back and took off in the direction of the cave but Augustus had already emerged from the cave with some other small bats, among them Toby and Velma.

"We saw that you've managed to catch those six adult toucans with your human friends," said Toby the moment the archaeobird and her bat-bird flew up to them.

"Yes," said Andromeda, her gaze on the humans as they prepared for their trip back to Tulio's Aviary, "Anyway, those humans look like they're going back with their catches so if you want to join them Augustus, I suggest you do so now."

At this, Augustus prepared to fly to the truck but not before saying goodbye to Toby, Velma, Basil and the accompanying bats.

"Well, it sure is nice to meet you but I'm afraid it has to be cut short, regrettably," said the flying fox as he shook feet with Toby.

"It's okay, but thanks for your help in dealing with the toucan problem," said Toby as he broke the shake with Augustus, "Hopefully that little toucan clan will be dealt with."

"We hope that they will be sent to other sanctuaries away from here," said Velma firmly.

"Well, that's still pending at the moment," said Andromeda. She then heard the sound of a truck engine starting, sending alert flashing through her. "Oh, Augustus, the humans are about to start their journey back to base. You'd better join them now."

Augustus, at this, darted off in the direction of the truck but Andromeda and Rouge stayed put.

"You sure you aren't coming back with us?" called Augustus as Blu met him to take him to the truck.

"I'm sure," said Andromeda, "I'm going to help this colony of bats forage for the food they've missed, anyway."

"We'll see you guys some other time," called Basil.

"It sure is nice to see you lot again after such a long time, and thanks for helping us deal with the toucan problem," said Toby.

"And we hope that the toucan overpopulation in other parts of the sanctuary will be dealt with too," added Velma.

"We'll do our best," called Blu, "We have our human friends by our side anyway. Anyway, we're off and we'll see you again soon. Andromeda there will look after you for some time and protect you from any poachers' crows that may have entered this area as well."

At this, Basil, he, Velma, Toby and the other bats waved to Blu, Roberto, Mercury, Sapphire, Pluto and Lapis Lazuli and also Augustus as they and the human group including Fernando prepared to drive back to Tulio's Aviary. However, some of the humans had opted to return to the Pedra de Gavea and set up camp so that they could keep an eye on the orange bats for the coming few days and monitor their recovery from the competition with the toucan clan that had settled here which had now been removed. Then moments later, the truck had disappeared down the road in a cloud of dust, melting away into the dark jungle night lit by the silvery shafts of moonlight. After they had gone, Basil flashed Andromeda a confused look as she, Rouge and the little orange bats returned to the cave.

"Poachers' crows?" said he.

"I'll explain about those troublesome birds when we return to your cave," said Andromeda. At this, Basil tipped his head to one side in curiously and then followed his parents and the other bats back to the cave.


	38. Chapter 37

**Chapter 37- something not quite right**

 **Next morning**

Daylight shrouded the city of Iquitos, Peru, but today, the sun was screened from view by a thick layer of grey clouds, so the weather was not as cheery as it had been yesterday. Dark clouds loomed in the distance, implying rain and some winds gusted through the human city. In the artificial indoor jungle compartment of the Sanctuario del Paradíso, the diurnal animals were preparing their morning routines including foraging for breakfast and getting young animals: chicks, pups and other baby animals, ready for lesson time. Dundee and his inner circle animals happily greeted the other animals as they left their 'tent' to set things up for the upcoming lesson, while the other animals wore joyful faces as they chatted with each other and smiled at their kids who played. However, not everyone had joy bubbling within them. Sandalwood and the others that had accidentally strayed into the Compartment of the Carnivores and almost to their demise at the paws of Carnassial and his gang of caracals and servals along with Atreyu, Finnick, Tiana and Jacques, all woke to a miserable start to the day under the command of the older animals. Sandalwood and Acerola were commanded awake sharply by Shade and Sadie while Greg, a firm and stern glare on his face, knocked onto the wall of the hollow with a talon to bring Sirius, Bellatrix, Spica, Procyon, Castor, Pollux, Aldebaran, Arcturus, Saiph, Sylvester, Alegria, Pitaya, Regulus and Denebola out of slumber-land. Nearby, Altair, a miserable and disgruntled scowl on his face, prepared for breakfast under Sardonyx and an elder blue-and-gold macaw's orders with some of the other chicks including Gladion, Lillie, Carmen, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka. Sirius and company, however, were not in the mood for waking up to the day ahead for they had not slept much last night. Greg's patience began to drain faster like sand through an hourglass.

"Come on, you fourteen," commanded the scarlet macaw, his talon constantly banging on the hollow wall, the sounds travelling through the wood and into the ears of the fourteen sleepy macaw chicks, "It's time to get up."

Gladion, Lillie, Carmen, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka, together with Lars, Steven and Kevin, watched on as Sirius and some of the others in the group of fourteen just released tired groans and turned over in their nests.

"That Lusamine's gonna pay for causing those macaws, Altair, Sandalwood, Acerola and also the four penguins this misery," hissed Gladion bitterly as he watched Greg firmly tap Sirius on the head with a talon to get him to wake up. Sirius then reluctantly obeyed and wearily sat upright before Greg went on to tap Bellatrix on the head to get her to get up.

"I can't believe they're grounded for two weeks for something they had never done," murmured Carmen in a low voice, "It's just not fair."

"Especially since we're still new here," added a very disgruntled Alnitak, "We knew nothing about this Dalek chameleon."

"Why didn't Dundee tell us that there was a parrot-detesting chameleon somewhere in this indoor jungle?" asked Alnilam.

"I think he wanted to give you guys time to settle into this place first before telling you about that colour-changing lizard," said Steven, but then his face fell, "But that hadn't turned out too well."

As he said this, Castor and Pollux, their anger simmering within them, silently stormed past.

"We just came across him while we were going for a walk," growled Castor sourly, his anger threatening to flare up. Pollux also simmered in silence and said nothing. As the blue-and-gold twin brothers reluctantly stood beside Lars and Kevin who were wary of their simmering anger, Sardonyx appeared at the entrance to the hollow with four other adult scarlet macaws with two leaf bags full of fruit and nuts while Greg continued to wake up the other chicks.

"Breakfast time," Sardonyx said and with that, she and her companions began to distribute the food amongst the chicks. Soon, the chicks were having their breakfast. However, Sirius, Bellatrix, Spica, Procyon, Castor, Pollux, Aldebaran, Arcturus, Saiph, Sylvester, Alegria, Pitaya, Regulus, Altair and Denebola were not in the mood for eating and instead just fiddled with their fruit and nuts, the anger at Lusamine and her gang and their pack of lies and getting them into trouble still boiling within them. As these fourteen macaws and archaeobird chick continued to fiddle with their food despite Sardonyx and two of the other scarlet macaws' command to eat their breakfast. While the three scarlets tried to get Sirius and the other fourteen to eat, Greg stood at the front of the feeding chicks.

"This morning's lesson is going to involve an introduction and talk about Dalek for the newcomers," he said, "After what happened yesterday, Dundee has decided that the newcomers know about that parrot-hating chameleon and why all parrots should avoid him."

"Are we still grounded for two weeks?" muttered Procyon as he reluctantly ate a berry, Castor and Pollux sitting nearby and playing with their berries.

"Yes, for entering the Compartment of the Carnivores and almost getting yourselves killed after deliberately provoking Dalek," said Greg firmly. At this, the three blue-and-gold macaw chicks, along with the rest of the fifteen, released disgruntled huffs.

"I'm sorry, you lot but we did warn you about going into that compartment of the artificial jungle," said Sardonyx in agreement, "Our human carers have separated us from those carnivores for a very good reason."

"But what about the Tasmanian devils?" asked Bellatrix.

"They're more self-controlled and will only eat the meat provided to them by our carers," said Greg, "Not unlike Carnassial and his gang and the other carnivores who will not hesitate to sink their teeth into prey like us. Now eat your breakfast and no more talking."

Disgruntled, Sirius and the others obeyed and began to disdainfully shove their breakfast down their throats but a sharp rebuke from Sardonyx put a stop to this behaviour and they were forced to eat normally. Some time later, it was time for the lesson and a wide variety of baby animals, chicks of various rare bird species, flying fox pups and monkey kids and more, all gathered in the lesson spot while Dundee and the others with him set up the lesson board ready for the next lesson, which was the animals of Asia this time. As the young animals gathered, Sirius, Bellatrix and Spica all slid their eyes over the crowd of various young animals until they landed on a familiar black fruit bat pup with her friends, among them some spider monkeys. At this, the Spix macaw chicks' feathers bristled and their bodies began to shudder with wrath as they glared at Lusamine and her group of friends as they sat down together and talked with their parents and relatives. However, a blue-and-gold macaw adult's command snapped the three Spix macaws out of their glares and they were forced to join the congregation of young animals as commanded by the adult macaw who had her wing in a point. Somewhere else in the crowd, Sandalwood and Acerola who sat with Connie and two other grey-headed bat pups, gazed at the animals as they talked with Dundee. Behind them, two or three apes, which Sandalwood recognised as chimpanzees or chimps for short, were pinning up a map of a set of countries Sandalwood and his cousin could not recognise, alongside some other pictures of animals from those countries, among them a tiger. Standing before Dundee the emu were several animals also from these countries. Two of the animals resembled an anteater but Sandalwood noticed that the creatures' body was covered in a layer of large scales.

"Those two are pangolins," explained Connie, "Their species comes from the Asian country of India. Looks like they, along with those other animals also from the Asian continent, such as that panda and also those two orangutans…" as Connie said this, Sandalwood and Acerola focused on a bear-like creature and two rather large apes. The bear was white and had black ears, black patches around its eyes, and black legs with a black river-like mark flowing from the creature's front legs and around its back. The two apes were large, burly creatures covered in shaggy fur. Their long fur was a deep, glossy orange-brown colour similar to Acerola's auburn fur but darker. Their arms were longer than their legs. Their faces looked flat with their eyes positioned next to each other above a pair of nostrils.

"We've never actually seen a panda with our own two eyes before," said Acerola, "We've only ever seen a picture of a giant panda in an animal book back in Rio."

"They only eat bamboo, don't they?" asked Sandalwood, "Then how do those pandas get their food if there isn't any bamboo that grows here?"

"It's provided to them by our human carers," said another grey-headed bat, a male and one of Connie's friends, "That panda you see over there is named Mulan and she's the mother of two cubs. She, her mate and their cubs are the only four pandas that reside here."

At this, Sandalwood and Acerola turned and watched the panda which was a female named Mulan as she checked the map of the Asian countries, before nodding to one of the chimps to confirm that the map was set up correctly. Then moments later, the lesson on Asia and the animals of Asia was up and running.

 **Later**

After the lesson on the animals of Asia and also Dundee's talk with Sandalwood and company about Dalek and his issues with parrots, the young animal activities involving them playing and talking had begun. Young monkeys and other mammals played ball while bat pups and bird chicks chatted in the trees. In the penguin zone, penguin chicks played with young aquatic mammals. The artificial jungle was indeed alive with the lively giggles and chatters of the young animals while the older ones looked on proudly, but there were some chicks and flying fox pups who weren't at all joyful. Sandalwood and Acerola, Altair, Sirius, Bellatrix, Spica, Procyon, Castor, Pollux, Aldebaran, Arcturus, Saiph, Sylvester, Alegria, Pitaya, Regulus and Denebola and also Atreyu, Finnick, Tiana and Jacques miserably went about under the supervision of older macaws, flying foxes and penguins, obeying their commands in tidying up the trees, hollows or burrows. Envy boiled within these 21 kids as they gazed at the other young penguins, macaws, flying fox pups and other baby animals as they played and had fun. Nearby Sandalwood, Acerola and the other flying foxes' sleeping tree, Petunia, Vega, Deneb and Polaris sat perched on a branch, that very same branch some mischievous lizards had retreated to with Mina the Tasmanian devil and her cubs' meal before Sandalwood intervened and made them drop it yesterday. The four Spix macaws' faces were twisted into looks of outrage as they watched Sandalwood and Acerola, under the supervision of an adult grey-headed bat other than Sadie and Shade command the two young Brazilian flying fox pups tidy the foot of the tree.

"I hope Lusa-neem or whatever her name is and her gang are happy about this, cousins," muttered Petunia bitterly.

"Yeah, I've just seen that black flying fox pup flash those two a spiteful glance as she went past with her friends just as we were dispersing," muttered Vega, "She's honestly no different from that Isabella and her comrades back in Rio."

"This is the second time Sandalwood had been plunged into trouble thanks to a pack of lies told by a bunch of brats," muttered Deneb. Polaris, however, was partially lost in thought while also watching Sandalwood and Acerola tidy the foot of the tree. Her chin was in her wing and she was staring into space.

"Are you alright, Polaris?" asked Deneb when she saw her sister in this spaced-out state. At this, Polaris snapped back to reality and gazed at her and also Petunia and Vega who also wore slightly concerned faces.

"Um, yes, I am," said Polaris before any of the other three girls could question her, "Sorry, I've just been thinking about what Dundee, along with Kiara, Reepicheep, Flax, Harakeke and also Cody, Sparky and Lilo have been telling us about that chameleon named Dalek and why he hates us parrots so much," the other three cocked their ears as Polaris said this, "But none of them said the reason why that chameleon despises those birds."

"Hmm, maybe something could have happened to him involving a parrot in his past?" asked Vega.

"Or maybe he's been in a savage fight with one some point," suggested Deneb, "Leading to that enmity Dundee said that chameleon harbours for us macaws and other parrots."

"A savage fight?" asked Petunia unconvinced, "I don't think an event like that would have been the cause of this chameleon's loathing of us parrots. I think something more dramatic might have happened to that chameleon involving a parrot or group of parrots."

"Like what?" asked Polaris. Petunia shrugged. "I don't know, perhaps some parrots have killed his family, if he had one, and it had left him with a bitter hatred of parrots since that event?"

"Well, if that is so," said Vega, convinced at the plausibility of this theory, "Then that could explain Dalek's immense hatred of parrots," her face then formed a frown, "But that's just an idea. We can't use that as a conclusion without investigation and evidence to confirm it."

Petunia, Deneb and Polaris nodded in agreement. Just then, the sounds of small wing flaps reached the quartet's ears. At this, the four Spix girls looked up and saw two toucan chicks, a ruby macaw, a hyacinth macaw, a hyacinth/blue-and-gold hybrid and a great green/scarlet hybrid fly past.

"Hey, Petunia, Polaris, Deneb, Vega, we're gonna go and play, would you like to come with?" asked Gladion. However, the tone of voice did not sound as enthusiastic as the idea and Petunia, Vega, Deneb and Polaris saw that the faces of Gladion, Lillie, Canopus, Mira, Fomalhaut and Gertie were as sour as Gladion's voice.

"Go and play, with that attitude?" said Petunia with a raised eyebrow and perplex welling within her. At this, Gertie approached her to explain what the group was really going to do.

"We're gonna confront Lusamine and her gang over their getting Sandalwood and the others including your cousins Sirius, Bellatrix and Spica, those that had been forced to enter the Compartment of Carnivores to escape Dalek, into trouble by lying about them," she whispered, much to Petunia's shock. Vega, Deneb and Polaris also winced at the idea.

"But Gladion, Lillie, Gertie," protested Vega, "Canopus, Mira, Fomalhaut, that might not be a very good idea. What if it backfires?"

"We don't care about what that Livingstone's flying fox brat might say," snapped Canopus stubbornly, "We wanna get this message about lying about others and getting them into trouble into the heads of Lusamine and her comrades and we wanna get it into those noggins of theirs HARD!"

Fomalhaut and Mira nodded hard in agreement. Then Petunia, Vega, Polaris and Deneb flashed a glance at Sirius, Bellatrix and Spica as they were commanded by an adult scarlet macaw (other than Sardonyx or Greg) to tidy up the hollow and also gazed at the miserable looks on the three Spix macaws' faces. At this, the agreement to go along with Gladion and the other five's plan to confront Lusamine began to boil within Petunia, especially as she turned and saw Sandalwood and Acerola continue to tidy up the foot of the tree under the supervision of the adult grey-headed flying fox, a stern look on his face, as he fired commands at the two pups like an army captain. Vega and Deneb also frowned but Polaris was uncertain.

"Let's go then," said Gladion, pulling the four Spix macaws out of their thoughts. At this, Petunia, Vega, Deneb and Polaris opened their wings and took off from their perch. After they had joined them, Gladion, Lillie, Mira, Gertie, Fomalhaut and Canopus, together with the four Spix macaws then flew off in the direction of Lusamine and her comrades' home trees. As they passed by the grey-headed flying fox supervising Sandalwood and Acerola as they continued to tidy the foot of the flying foxes' sleeping tree, the bat said, "You kids are off to play?"

"Yes we are," replied Gladion, his gaze, along with the gaze of the other nine with him turning to the winged mammal in reply. The flying fox frowned. Under the gaze, the ten birds concealed their true intentions.

"Well, make sure you stay away from Dalek, won't you," he said firmly, his eyes especially on Petunia, Vega, Deneb, Polaris, Mira, Canopus, Gertie and Fomalhaut, "The last thing we want is any of them macaws getting into trouble with that parrot detesting chameleon."

At this, Gladion's group left.

"We will," called Gladion, Lillie and Gertie together and within moments, they were out of earshot. Sandalwood and Acerola saw them leave and yearned to go with them but their supervisor commanded the two to return to work, which they did, disgruntled and sour looks plastering their faces. At the same time, three more red macaws, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka were going out for a flight around the artificial indoor jungle to escape the tension existing between some of their group-mates, among them Sandalwood, and some of the artificial jungle's animals after what happened yesterday when they passed by Opal the rainbow lorikeet and Sugilite the unusually purple galah or rosette cockatoo as they talked with Mulan the panda, a chimpanzee named Herbert and an orangutan named Wally about the Asian animal presentation they had given during the lesson. Before passing by the galah and the lorikeet, Alnitak flew up to them.

"Hey, Sugilite and Opal," he said with a small smile, "Would you like to come for a flight with us?"

"We're gonna explore the parts of the artificial jungle we had not yet explored properly yet," said Alnilam.

"It would be great if you could give us a more detailed tour of those areas," said Mintaka. At this, Opal and Sugilite turned and gazed at the scarlet triplets.

"We'd love to, you three but we're busy chatting with Mulan, Herbert and Wally about Asia and its natural habitats at the moment," said Sugilite.

"Yes, we, along with Herbert here, are very curious about those areas in that continent," said Opal, "And we'd like to learn more about their climate, their habitat type and so on."

"These two parrots from Australia and chimpanzee from Africa certainly are fascinated about our species' home continent, I can tell you," said Wally with a smile. Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka then gazed at Mulan the panda.

"Pandas are extremely endangered, aren't they?" asked Alnitak. At this, Mulan's face fell.

"We certainly are," she said sadly, "Due to our specialisation in eating bamboo and slow breeding rate."

"I always thought that pandas fed on other plants besides bamboo," said Alnilam. However, Herbert the chimp shook his head.

"No," he said, "Pandas only eat bamboo. Mulan and her family are supplied with plenty of that plant material, which unfortunately doesn't grow here, by our human carers."

Alnitak and his brother and sister just gazed at Mulan in awe. Then they moved on.

"Well, if you two aren't in the mood of taking a flight with us right now, maybe next time?" said Mintaka, "We'll get our cousins Betelgeuse and Rigel to come along with us instead."

Then with that, Mintaka and her brothers darted off.

"Have fun you three," called Mulan.

"Also, stay away from the penguins and aquatic animals' area, especially Atreyu, Finnick, Tiana and Jacques," put in Herbert.

"Yes," said Wally, "Those four penguin chicks are grounded for two weeks."

Opal and Sugilite nodded in agreement. However, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka just breathed huffed sighs and flew on, not looking back at the galah, lorikeet, orangutan, panda and chimp as they resumed talking about Asia's habitat and ecology.

 **Few minutes later**

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" asked Polaris, uncertainty gnawing at her from the inside. The gnawing had grown stronger as she, along with Petunia, Vega, Deneb, Canopus, Mira, Gertie, Fomalhaut, Gladion and Lillie perched a good distance away from the outskirts of the grove of trees and bushes in which Lusamine and her family and friends, including her spider monkey and lizard friends, and their families lived and played. Vega, Petunia and Deneb also looked unsure and Canopus and Mira were beginning to have second thoughts about the impending confrontation with Lusamine and her gang as well. Gladion and Lillie, along with Gertie and Fomalhaut, however, wore adamant and determined facial expressions.

"C'mon, Polaris," protested Gladion sternly, "We seriously need to teach Lusamine and her gang a lesson about telling the truth and accepting responsibility in naughty behaviour rather than redirecting the trouble onto someone else. After all, they were the ones who started the whole mess through picking on that emperor penguin chick Atreyu yesterday."

"That's right," put in Lillie, "And besides that, Sandalwood and the others, Atreyu and the other three penguins included, hadn't been the ones to provoke that parrot detesting chameleon into chasing them into the Carnivore Compartment in the first place, anyway."

"Sandalwood and the others were only trying to rescue those four penguins from those bullies," put in Gertie. At this, Petunia, Polaris, Vega and Deneb gazed at the grove ahead of the group and decided to go along with it.

"Okay," said Polaris in a low and wary voice, before a frown came upon her face as she glared at the toucan chick and his sister, "But I want you both to know, if this plan goes wrong and then crashes and burns, you two will be the ones to blame," her face travelled to Canopus, Mira, Gertie and Fomalhaut, "As will those four!"

"Thank you, Polaris," said Gladion rather nervously.

"But if the worst comes to the worst," said Lillie, "We will have to flee," her face then twisted into a scowl, "But we will not, repeat: NOT… allow those brats to get away with landing Sandalwood, along with Bellatrix, Sirius and the others in trouble like how our pathetic excuses for cousins Isabella and her comrades had landed Bellatrix and her family in a sour reputation by hurling the blame for Sandalwood's incident at them."

"Let's get this over with," said Fomalhaut angrily and with that, the ten chicks set to approaching Lusamine's neighbourhood grove.

Meanwhile, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka, together with Betelgeuse and Rigel, and Carmen the blue-throated macaw chick who had opted to come along with the red macaws, flew parallel to the steel mesh separating the artificial jungle from the human zone consisting of a path that ran through the artificial constructs. On the other side of the mesh, humans went back and forth, admiring gazes beaming through the holes of the barrier and at the collection and variety of animals inhabiting the jungle: both in Dundee's area and the Compartment of the Carnivores on the other side.

"It's busy today," said Rigel as she examined the number of visitors. Carmen then stopped to hover in front of a young human boy as he gazed in fascination through the mesh. The boy giggled at the little purple-tinted blue backed and throated, yellow fronted bird as she hovered in front of his face. Then after she had had enough of hovering in front of the boy's face, Carmen flitted away after the five red macaws. Further down the mesh, there were fewer people walking about and soon, Betelgeuse, Rigel, Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka and Carmen, their gazes scanning the human zone, landed on a group of three scientist humans dressed in white robe-like uniforms. The lettering on the backs of the uniforms read 'Paradise Sanctuary Foundation' in Portuguese. Curiosity sparking within them, Carmen and the five red macaws slowed to a hover and began to observe the group of three humans, which were two men and a woman, as they talked.

One of the humans was holding some sort of paper block in his arms which Alnitak deduced was either a notepad or a booklet for he had seen one lying on one of the chairs at Susan and Lucy's cottage back in Rio, and the other man was wearing glasses, implying short or long-sightedness. The three humans were talking in Portuguese.

"Can any of you translate what those three humans could be saying?" asked Mintaka. At this, Betelgeuse and Rigel latched onto the mesh with their claws and beaks and began to listen closely to the conversation. However, because of the distance between the six chicks and the humans, it was hard to decipher full sentences but the three-quarter scarlet sisters and daughters of Io and Sheldon managed to pick out some words.

"Um… that man holding that notepad is saying things like…" said Betelgeuse, "Um…" she listened to the human as he spoke, "'We need to find mates for… that Cuban… Dominican… dinosaur… and purple…'

At this, confusion sparked within Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka and Carmen.

"'Cuban', 'Dominican', 'dinosaur' and 'purple'?" repeated Alnitak, his head tipped to one side.

"'We need to find mates'?" added Alnilam. Rigel then listened to the next sentence that came out of the notepad-holding man's mouth and began to translate what she could, "We really… families of… birds…"

"This is very confusing," muttered Carmen. However, Betelgeuse had already deduced what the trio of humans were talking about despite the fragments she and Rigel had managed to pick out.

"I think they are talking about Sylvester, Alegria, Pitaya and Altair," she said. At this, the other five including Rigel shot her a stunned look.

"Are they?" asked Rigel.

"Well, 'Cuban' obviously must refer to Sylvester's species, the Cuban red macaw," explained Betelgeuse, "While Dominican could refer to Alegria, our Dominican green-and-yellow friend. Also 'purple' could refer to Pitaya and 'dinosaur' could refer to Altair for his species is sometimes described as a 'dinosaur-like bird'," her gaze returned to the three humans and began to examine their behaviour, "They seem very excited about breeding those four birds to establish a family of Cuban, Dominican and purple-and-pink macaws and archaeobirds in this artificial jungle…"

"Of course they want to establish a family of those bird species," said Carmen, "This place is a conservation area," her face fell, however, "But it isn't really our home. Our home's in Rio and the Amazon," her mind then flashed an image of her brother Oceano and parents Azul and Fernanda but that image was popped when Betelgeuse said, "Those humans also sound like they are saying they'd like to establish a small population of Spix, glaucous and Lear's macaws in this place, but as soon as possible…"

As she said this, Mintaka watched the facial expressions of the three humans closely.

"What's up with them?" she asked, "They look so disgruntled and frustrated."

As she said this, Betelgeuse, Rigel, Alnitak, Alnilam and Carmen examined the humans' facial expressions. The two men and woman's faces clearly looked disgruntled, but Rigel sensed something about those facial expressions and their owners' behaviour.

"They look impatient," she said, "I've exhibited that behaviour before when Mommy and Daddy had a special surprise for Betelgeuse and me before our trip to Rio."

"I don't think those humans' impatient behaviour is anything like yours or Betelgeuse's, Rigel," said Carmen warily. Rigel and Betelgeuse, at this, examined the humans' impatient behaviour closely and saw that their faces were laced with sourness. When Io and Sheldon kept the surprise of Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka's birth in Europa and Byron's nest from Betelgeuse and Rigel back in the Amazon, the sisters had been impatient out of sheer excitement of meeting their three cousins, and again when Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine and Guanine, the hybrid chicks of Ganymede and Mimas and then Canopus and his sister Katniss in Athos and Callisto's nest. But the impatience exhibited by the three humans appeared to be based on negative intentions.

"What's written on that notebook thing in that man's arms?" asked Carmen, her eyes gazing at the block of white in the arms of one of the men as he showed the other two whatever was written on it. The red macaws watched this.

"Is that some sort of list, like the one Mr Blu showed us during our flight to Rio when he showed us a human shopping for fruit?" asked Alnitak.

"He called it a checklist," said Alnilam.

"That definitely looks like a checklist of some sort," said Mintaka, her eyes narrowed at the white sheet with markings on it. Confusion then rolled through the group.

"Why would they want a checklist?" asked Betelgeuse with shocked perplex, "Th-th-this is a conservation area. Surely they have no need for a checklist."

Rigel then felt unease set in.

"We need to investigate this," she said, "I have a bad feeling about this."

"But how?" asked Alnitak.

"There's nowhere through this barrier to the outside except that door through which only the human carers could enter," said Alnilam, "And that's a double door presumably designed to keep the flying birds and bats in."

"We'll leave that till later," said Rigel with a firm facial glare, "For now, let's report our findings to Dundee and the others. I don't like the way those humans are acting regarding their goal in establishing a family of Cuban red, Dominican green-and-yellow and purple-and-pink macaws, archaeobirds and also the Spix, glaucous and Lear's macaws at all."

And with that, she darted off, Betelgeuse in tow. Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka and Carmen followed.


	39. Chapter 38

**Chapter 38- something not quite right part 2, more violence from Dalek**

Sometime later, Antares, Achernar and Capella were having their own flight away from their place of stay but in the opposite direction of Alnitak and company. Antares flew ahead while his two full great green cousins talked with each other behind him. As he flew along, Antares's sea green eyes picked up the activities of some humans in white outfits. At this, the half great green, half military macaw chick turned his gaze and began to observe the group of humans, some of the carers of Paradise Sanctuary, as they talked through the steel mesh separating him from the human zone.

"I've just been to see Atreyu and Finnick at the penguins and aquatic animals' play area," said Capella, "And honestly, I've never seen them so sour-faced."

Achernar just breathed a frustrated sigh.

"I'm not surprised, sis," he muttered, "They've been landed in trouble over something they didn't do."

"This is honestly no different from what Isabella and her comrades have done to Bellatrix and her family back in Rio," said Capella slightly sourly. Then her mind moved to something else and her green gaze began to wander, "Come to think of it, this place doesn't feel like paradise at all for some reason despite it being called Sanctuario del Paradíso."

"Homesickness has come upon some of us, especially those that have been grounded for two weeks such as Sandalwood, Acerola, Bellatrix, Sirius and Spica," said Achernar, "I've been observing Procyon slouched on a perch as we were getting up, gripped by sheer misery."

"It seems that Atreyu misses his home as well," said Capella, "According to Adenine who managed to seize the opportunity to talk with that emperor penguin chick with his three siblings Cytosine, Guanine and Thymine, Atreyu comes from an Antarctic region known as Emperor-Land, a place inhabited by a colony of emperor penguins."

"I've been told that he had been rescued from a fishing net that almost killed him," said Capella. As she said this, Antares continued examining the group of humans as they talked. There were the exact same three humans Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka, Betelgeuse, Rigel and Carmen had seen and they were discussing with around two more humans dressed in white uniforms with the words 'Paradise Sanctuary Foundation' written in Portuguese on their backs, but the Buffon's/military hybrid chick's face was twisted into a look of suspicion as he listened intently on the conversation which went on in Portuguese, a language Antares was quite fluent at despite his age.

"I reckon this Mumble penguin would be seriously worried about him as will these penguins called Ginny and Balthazar who, according to Adenine as well, are his parents," said Capella.

"Having a young chick go missing, of course," said Achernar unsurprised. The two chicks of Miranda and Aramis continued flying on until their gazes landed on Antares as he clung onto the mesh wires, his ears cocked at something. At this, Capella and Achernar felt concern take hold of them.

"Antares?" asked Achernar but he flinched when Antares's wing shot up in a 'Be quiet' gesture. At this, Achernar and Capella flashed each other a glance before following Antares's suspicion laced glare which was focussed like a laser on a group of white uniform-dressed humans as they continued talking. One of the men was holding some sort of notepad.

"I don't like what those humans are saying, you two," murmured Antares uneasily.

"What are they saying?" asked Capella.

"They're talking about some rare birds, most of all the Spix macaw, glaucous macaw, Dominican macaw, Cuban macaw and archaeobird," said Antares, "And how they want this place to have a small population of those species living in it."

"Of course," said Capella unsurprised, "The Spix, Cuban, glaucous and Dominican macaws and the archaeobird are extremely rare species."

"That is true," said Antares in a low voice, "But Sirius and the other Spix macaws; Saiph, Denebola and Regulus the glaucous macaws, Arcturus the Lear's macaw and Sylvester, Alegria, Pitaya and Altair are only chicks and thus too young to breed as those humans know already, but…" his glare hardened, "They are talking about obtaining some adults of those species to bring here and breed instead, rather than finding mates for those individuals and waiting for them to mature which would take years."

At this, Capella and Achernar gazed at their half great green cousin in surprise and perplex. Then Achernar's ears picked up something from the conversation. At this, the great green chick snapped his gaze to the talking humans. Like Antares, Achernar and Capella were quite fluent with Portuguese but not to the same extent as their half great green cousin.

"Did that woman just mention the Sanctuary de Amazon in Brazil?" Achernar asked. At this, Antares cocked his ears to the humans as they continued to natter and tried to pick up what Achernar had allegedly heard. However, he did not hear it, but he did hear another familiar sanctuary get mentioned.

"Sanctuάrio de Pάssaros azuis no Rio de Janeiro'?" said the chick with surprise. Achernar and Capella looked on as Antares flashed them a stunned glance.

"That, translated to English, is 'Blu Bird Sanctuary in Rio de Janeiro'," he said.

"Blu Bird Sanctuary!?" retorted Capella incredulously, "Why would they want to talk about the Blu Bird Sanctuary or even the Sanctuary de Amazon for that matter?"

Antares was about to answer when suddenly, a massive clang exploded through the steel mesh as something impacted it. Antares, as he felt the shockwave course through the steel mesh, jumped into flight with a short squawk of surprise when Capella and Achernar shot surprised gazes in the direction of what had struck the mesh. Antares did the same but to their surprise, it was only a rock and approaching the rock was a familiar flightless, aquatic bird with a grey body and black and white head. At this, the penguin chick gazed up at the green macaw trio.

"Atreyu," said Capella with surprise.

"You gave us quite a fright," said Antares. Atreyu, at this, snapped his gaze to the rock and picked it up.

"Sorry, you three, but I'm in a very bad mood," he growled furiously. The three macaw chicks could see the fire in the emperor penguin chick's blue eyes.

"Well then, uh," said Antares, "We'd… better head back."

"We're sorry about what happened yesterday," said Capella sympathetically and with that, she, Achernar and Antares darted off, wanting to escape the emperor penguin's temper. Atreyu glared bitterly after them and prepared to slam the rock into the ground as a way to vent his rage at Lusamine and her gang and their landing of him, Finnick, Tiana, Jacques and some of Sandalwood's group in trouble over a pack of lies.

 **Some time later again**

"We know what we heard from those humans, Adenine," said Antares with a stern frown. With him were Capella and Achernar and also Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine, Guanine and also Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka, Betelgeuse, Rigel and Carmen. These macaws had returned to their hollow of stay and had perched onto the branch to help out with some tasks, one of which was opening some nuts.

"You saw those three humans with the disgruntled looks on other faces about establishing a small population of the Spix, glaucous, Lear's, purple-and-pink, Cuban red and Dominican green-and-yellow macaws in this place by finding mates for Sirius and the others?" asked Betelgeuse with surprise.

"Sirius and the others are obviously too young to have their own chicks," said Rigel, but then she frowned, "We must have not been listening to those humans enough and have arrived at the wrong conclusion."

"We even told Dundee, Olympia, Kiara the echidna and Reepicheep the platypus about their behaviour but he just dismissed it as nothing out of the ordinary and that they were just discussing about conserving those rare macaw species," said Alnitak.

"You three must have been listening far more carefully than us," said Alnilam.

"But why would they mention the Sanctuary de Amazon and the Blu Bird Sanctuary in Brazil?" asked Mintaka.

"Maybe they want to send some of their group members to study the Spix macaws and the other rare macaws and archaeobirds in their natural habitat?" asked Carmen.

"We didn't hear anything from those humans about them sending a group of some of their members to study those birds in those two Brazilian sanctuaries," said Antares as he held the nut in his talon and prepared to deshell it, "But based on the way they mentioned about bringing some adult specimens of those birds back to here because of the individuals they currently have being too young to breed, I somehow arrived at the assumption that those humans are thinking about going to those two sanctuaries to find some adult specimens."

At this, the others exchanged glances.

"But the Blu Bird and Amazon Sanctuaries are in _Brazil_ ," said Betelgeuse, "And we're in _Peru_. How could they possibly be planning on going all the way to Brazil to visit those two sanctuaries?"

"I don't know but I don't like it one bit," said Antares, "I just hope we find a way out of this place and back to our families and home in Brazil."

"Yeah, we don't belong here, anyway," said Achernar before his blue-green gaze travelled around the surrounding artificially grown trees and the lively animals as they went about their daily business, "Even though we have made new friends and have met a variety of rare animals from other places in the world."

With that he and Antares resumed deshelling nuts. Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka, Betelgeuse, Rigel, Camren and Capella did the same but some of them had in mind to investigate the suspicious mentioning of the Blu Bird Sanctuary and the Sanctuary de Amazon when the opportunity arose.

 **Meanwhile**

Petunia, Vega, Deneb, Polaris, Canopus, Mira, Gertie, Fomalhaut, Gladion and Lillie peered out from behind a bush, their glares fixated on their target group of flying foxes, lizards and monkeys as they sat around in a circle feasting on some fruit and nuts picked from the trees and pieces of meat provided to them by the human carers. Around the group, a variety of animals continued their daily activities, with some picking fruit and seeds, some chatting and some playing but Gladion and company were not in the mood for sightseeing. They wanted to address something with Lusamine and her group as soon as possible so they continued to wait for an opportunity to emerge. Disgust coursed through them like a sound shockwave travelling through a tree trunk from the impact of a massive object against it when they overheard Lusamine spit a snide remark about 'That miserable yellow-furred flying fox pup from Brazil' which was subsequently followed by a burst of laughter from herself and her comrades. Petunia's azure feathers spiked out while Deneb's ponytail flared and Vega's mop of head feathers which greatly resembled those of her paternal grandfather Roberto but longer, fanned out as disgust flared within their owner.

"That's _Sandalwood_ she's talking about!" hissed Vega disgustedly.

"I know," replied Gladion under his breath, "Those brats think that Sandalwood and his group's misery is something g to laugh about."

"They're honestly no different from our numerous cousins, among them Isabella back in Rio," hissed Lillie, her black feathers and ponytail bristling. The group stopped talking when they heard Lusamine and company begin to talk about Atreyu.

"I wonder what that miserable emperor penguin is singing about now?" crooned a female rusty red-orange primate Gladion and Lillie identified as a rare species of lemur, "He'd probably be singing about his misery from getting into trouble rather than his homeland he calls 'Emperor-Land'!" a guffaw followed this sentence, alongside the guffaws from the other bats, lizards and monkeys.

"You've got that right, Plumeria," said Lusamine as she ate some sort of fruit, "Too bad he doesn't have a family to comfort him whereas WE all do whenever we are down or upset!"

More laughs rolled through the group. The disgust burning within Gladion and company raged ever higher.

"How do THEY think WE feel?" hissed Fomalhaut bitterly.

"Laughing about someone who had been torn away from their families and homeland," muttered Polaris, "That would be as _abhorrent_ as laughing about Sandalwood and his fear of heights and flight after what happened!"

"I can't believe they would joke about Atreyu's such tragic backstory!" growled Canopus. Then Gertie got ready to emerge; the hulking bundle of navy blue feathers that stood taller than the other chicks rose to her feet.

"Gertie, what are you doing?" asked Gladion as the hyacinth macaw chick prepared to storm over to Lusamine and her gang.

"What does it look like?" snapped Gertie and before anyone could stop her, the hyacinth macaw boldly strode right over to Lusamine and her group without a sliver of hesitation and with her navy blue feathers bristling.

"If Atreyu feels so 'faded'," continued a rare deep maroon galliwasp who was named Cato, "He'd be an old, withered coat of the stuff humans call _paint!"_

"Paint?" snapped Lusamine in a broken voice due to laughter, "More like a withered old PLANT that's lost its use!"

With that, laughter exploded from her mouth. Guffaws from her friends also erupted but that eruption of guffawing was abruptly interrupted when a large macaw talon darted in and seized Lusamine by the neck. Lusamine released a shriek of shock and surprise but before she knew it, she found herself on the receiving end of a glare from a pair of fiery brown eyes saturated with rage, surrounded by a ring of yellow skin.

"How DARE you scoff that emperor penguin's tragic loss, you SNOBBISH, INSENSITIVE BRAT BAT!" snarled Gertie, her talon grasping Lusamine by the neck and holding her close to her face. Behind her, Petunia, Vega, Deneb, Polaris, Canopus, Mira, Fomalhaut, Gladion and Lillie walked in. "How DARE you mock his near-fatal ordeal and his grief of missing his family and homeland! Why do you have to make jokes about those WHO ARE SUFFERING!?"

Lusamine angrily struggled in the hyacinth macaw chick's grasp but the macaw chick refused to slacken her grasp on the Livingstone's fruit bat's neck, but she did not tighten it too much as to strangle the bat. As they watched their ringleader struggle, a dark red-brown lemur, along with a spider monkey and a galliwasp, stormed over to Gertie, outraged glares on their faces.

"You release Lusamine this MINUTE!" snarled the spider monkey. The others also wore demanding glares as they scowled at Gertie. Then two toucans and four Spix, one red and two mixed species macaw chicks appeared around Gertie, their faces also twisted with scowls as well. Gertie then sourly slammed Lusamine back onto the ground and stood back as the Livingstone's fruit bat rubbed her neck where she had been grabbed. After this, she stood up and glared at Gladion's group.

"What do you lot want!?" snarled Lusamine.

"Yeah, I thought you lousy Brazilian birds should be back with your little friends in your own designated area!" growled the spider monkey named Guzma. At this, Gladion stepped forward.

"We've come to question you why you got Sandalwood and the others into trouble yesterday," he sternly said.

"Yes, especially Atreyu and three of his friends," put in Lillie. At this, spiteful smiles appeared on Lusamine's group's faces and the group of bratty bats, lizards and primates all exchanged amused glances. Then they gazed back at Gladion and the others.

"Well, what can we say?" asked Lusamine nonchalantly, "You get yourselves into trouble, so you end up grounded. It's that simple."

"Yeah," crooned the others, following this word with snickers. Gladion and company, however, were not at all amused. Behind Lusamine and company, a hovering dome with stubby antennae floated past. However, it was not levitating by itself, but was moving with the head of an invisible creature, and that creature was stalking some insects that lived in Lusamine and company's patch.

"Yesterday," said Gladion, his glare hardened, "You lot were taunting those four penguins, especially Atreyu, and before you could go too far with your taunts towards that poor emperor penguin, we had to intervene."

"But then that chameleon decided to intervene and cause us, especially the macaw chicks trouble," said Lillie, "That was when YOU lot decided to rally together and chase those chicks, along with Sandalwood and Acerola and also Atreyu, Finnick, and those two chinstrap penguin chicks, to the Compartment of the Carnivores where they were almost killed," Lillie then stood back, a look of utter disgust lacing her face, "I still can NOT believe all that happened while Gladion and I went to fetch Dundee and some of the other grownup animals."

Lusamine and her gang continued listening to the description of the events leaving the two toucan chicks' beaks but to the disgust of Gladion and the others, their facial expressions remained nonchalant.

"Atreyu, Sandalwood and the others hadn't been the ones to provoke that chameleon, you lot," growled Petunia angrily, the urge to shout and screech threatening to explode, "That chameleon chose to attack Sirius and the other macaw chicks currently grounded instead!"

"Haven't you heard what we told Dundee about those events?" snapped Lusamine angrily. Then Cato the Warren's galliwasp stepped forward.

"Those three blue macaw chicks, two Brazilian flying fox pups and the others with them had done the provoking of that chameleon," said he, "Not us."

The others behind Lusamine and Cato all shouted in agreement. However, Gladion and company were not fooled. They could clearly see that Lusamine and her company were trying to deny what really happened. Then the dark rusty brown lemur came forward and seized Fomalhaut in her hands, much to the alarm of the others.

"You lot shall LEAVE this MINUTE," snarled the lemur, named Plumeria as she shook Fomalhaut like a ragdoll, before slamming him hard onto the ground like how Gertie had done to Lusamine, "If you DON'T, we will BIND YOU LOT and SET YOU LOT UP AS SKITTLES in a BOWLING GAME THAT WE LIKE TO DO!"

Gladion, Lillie, Petunia, Vega, Deneb, Polaris, Canopus, Mira, Gertie and Fomalhaut's faces all melted from scowls to fear and they all took a step back, much to the spiteful smiles of Lusamine and her gang.

"Hah, I knew you lot would be lousy cowards under that bold streak," tittered Lusamine snidely.

"You're honestly no different from the previous group yesterday," crooned Guzma. Titters then rolled through the rest of Lusamine's gang as they continued to taunt the intimidated Gladion and company. During this, the invisible creature wearing the metallic dome with antennae slinked by, not noticing that there were eight macaw chicks, parrots, standing with two toucan chicks confronting the same bunch of primates, bats and lizards that had caused Sandalwood and the others so much trouble yesterday. Then Canopus furiously stepped forward, the bubble of anger he had inherited from his maternal grandfather Jupiter beginning to swell dangerously inside him.

"Us, lousy cowards!?" he rhetorically retorted, his beak shoved right into Lusamine's face, "I think YOU lot are the LOUSY COWARDS, NOT US!"

"YEAH, ESPECIALLY IF YOU'RE GONNA LIE AND GET OTHERS INTO TROUBLE!" bellowed Mira at the top of her lungs, sending shock surging like a tsunami through Lusamine and her group and causing them to flinch and back away, their faces flashing from scowls to stunned looks. However, the hyacinth/blue-and-gold hybrid macaw chick was unaware that she had made a lethal move in bellowing at Lusamine and company for her voice had travelled not only to the ears of Lusamine and company, but to the ears of the invisible hat wearing creature as well. The moment the creature heard the screeches of a macaw, its body flashed into a visible blood red, its head darted in the direction of Gladion and company and its mouth sent cobra-like hisses shaking the air around it the moment its turret like green eyes, which had suddenly erupted into green volcanic plumes of wrath and acidic hatred, found the four Spix, one red, one hyacinth and two mix-species parrot chicks accompanying Gladion and Lillie. Petunia, Vega, Deneb, Polaris, Canopus, Mira, Gertie and Fomalhaut, along with Gladion and Lillie, all jumped a few inches into the air upon hearing such a loud hiss and snapped their gazes to the blood-red creature as it hissed furiously at them, its volcanic glare boring into them. Lusamine and her gang also turned to the creature in surprise.

"Dalek!?" gasped Lusamine in shock.

"So _that's_ Dalek?" asked Petunia in shock. Gladion and Lusamine, however, puffed out their black and red-tinted white feathers and took up a defensive pose.

"Yes, that parrot detesting chameleon and the same one who drove Sandalwood's group into the forbidden Carnivore Compartment," said Gladion in a low voice. Petunia, Vega, Deneb, Polaris, Canopus, Mira, Gertie and Fomalhaut then began to warily back away as Dalek, a cat-like hiss continuously filtering through its mouth, then began to saunter towards Gladion and company, his eyes fixated dangerously on the eight macaws. Then Lusamine and her company entered action mode.

"It seems to me that you've just led eight more macaw chicks into the sight of that parrot detesting chameleon, big nosed mango heads," said Lusamine spitefully. Then Guzma turned to Dalek and shouted, "Go for it, Dalek! Show these little interfering nuisances what for!"

The other primates, bats and lizards also cheered. Dalek then crouched and like a cat launched himself into the air and at Gladion's group. His mouth opened and his spear-like tongue was launched right at the macaw chicks.

"Look OUT!" cried Gladion and with that, the two toucans and eight macaws all scattered, sending the sticky end of Dalek's tongue slamming into the ground. Dalek, at this, landed and withdrew his tongue, spitting out dust and sand that attached itself onto its tip, before glaring furiously at the macaw chicks. Vega, Deneb and Polaris then shot the chameleon an outraged glare.

"What WRONG did we do that reptile?" snarled Vega, her long head feathers flaring out.

"We DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!" put in Polaris. Then an idea, a wise one, entered Gladion's head.

"Let's get outa here before that savage piece of work does you macaw chicks any damage," he called to Lillie and the eight macaw chicks. These nine agreed to this and regrouped to leave, Lusamine and the others laughing at them but before Gladion's group could flee, Dalek had launched his tongue at the group again, flying like a spear straight at the macaw chicks.

"Look OUT!" shouted Plumeria. Too late. Dalek's sticky ended pink harpoon hit home and slammed into Gertie, hitting her in the back and sticking to her, much to the terrified hyacinth macaw's scream and the alarm of the other nine. The moment his tongue caught the hyacinth macaw, Dalek swung his head and heaved his tongue, taking Gertie with it and flinging her across the room after releasing her from his sticky tongue. Gertie went careening through space and crashed into a violent tumble before coming to rest at the foot of a nearby tree.

"GERTIE!" cried Mira, Gladion and Lillie together while Petunia, Vega, Deneb, Polaris, Canopus and Fomalhaut looked in in utter horror. Lusamine and company winced as they watched Gertie crash and roll painfully to the tree's base before turning to Dalek as he surged like a savage dog towards Gladion, Lillie and the other eight macaw chicks, an explosive hiss erupting from his mouth, forcing Gladion and the other eight to scatter the savage chameleon's wrath. Plumeria went to help but Lusamine, Guzma and several other lemurs and spider monkeys stopped her, fearing for her safety.

"Don't," said Lusamine, "You could get hurt."

Plumeria, at this, relented and watched the imminent vicious fight between Dalek and the eight macaw chicks. Gertie continued to lie at the foot of the tree, dazed while Gladion, Lillie and the others began to try and escape Dalek's wrath. Dalek then fired his tongue at Petunia, Vega, Deneb and Polaris but Lillie darted in with a stick she had managed to find and whacked the tongue away to deflect it from the four Spix macaws. Dalek withdrew his tongue and glared at the toucan chick with volcanic green eyes. Mira then glared pleadingly at Lusamine and her group.

"Lusamine, group, please HELP US!" she begged.

"But what can we do?" asked Lusamine.

"If we get involved, we could get hurt," said Guzma.

"Watch yourself, green, blue and yellow macaw," said one of the other flying foxes and Lusamine's friends with an amused grin.

"Mira, look OUT!" came Gladion's voice. At this, Mira turned just in time to see Dalek launch himself from the ground and fly towards her, his mouth poised to fire his harpoon-like tongue at her. At this, the hybrid hyacinth/blue-and-gold macaw released a startled screech and rocketed upward before Dalek could pounce onto her. Dalek then launched his tongue straight up at Mira but she dodged and rocketed away. Dalek then began to chase after Mira and attempt to strike her down with his tongue a few more times but Mira kept dodging. During one attempt, Dalek's tongue flew and hit a tree branch as Mira quickly darted away. Dalek's tongue stuck to that branch but the chameleon tugged it, making it pop from the branch. Then after reeling in his tongue, Dalek continued his relentless chase of Mira. Lillie flew in with her stick with Gladion while Petunia, Vega, Deneb, Polaris, Canopus and Fomalhaut touched down around Gertie who continued to lay there, her face twisted in pain.

"You lot take Gertie away while we distract that chameleon and rescue Mira," said Gladion. Petunia and the others nodded and with that, they began to help Gertie to her feet while the two toucan chicks launched themselves at Dalek as he continued chasing Mira. Mira dodged Dalek's sticky harpoon as the chameleon attempted to strike her in the face with it but as Dalek withdrew his tongue, two black comets with reddish cream fronts and colourful beaks shot past and tackled straight into the chameleon, distracting him long enough to allow Mira to escape. Dalek, at first, flashed a stunned gaze and caught his namesake alien dome hat before it could fall off with his front hands. As he did this, Gladion and Lillie, their hazel and chocolate brown eyes ablaze with fury with the latter carrying a stick in her talons, then swerved round and charged towards Dalek, screeching wrathfully.

"You're NOT gonna cause ANY of those macaw chicks TROUBLE, you BRUTE!" snarled Gladion. Then Lillie prepared her stick to batter Dalek but before the two toucan chicks could land their attacks, Dalek shot his volcanic gaze at the toucan chicks and immediately launched his harpoon tongue at them, so fast that the two toucan chicks did not have time to react and dodge. Lusamine and her comrades looked on in awe as Dalek's tongue then caught Gladion on the forehead, much to the alarm of Lillie and the eight macaws including Gertie. Then Dalek, a furious cat-like hiss of fury exploding through his mouth, heaved his head and swung his tongue with Gladion stuck onto the end of it, straight towards a tree trunk. Gladion slammed hard into the hard tree bark but then Dalek swung his head the other way, dragging his tongue with Gladion on the end of it, and flung the toucan chick in the direction of Petunia and the other macaws. Gladion screamed as he spun wildly through space and crash-landed by the macaw chicks, much to their horror.

"GLADION!" cried Petunia and with that she, Vega, Polaris and Fomalhaut ran over to him as the dazed Gladion began to struggle to get up. However, as he lifted one wing, his right one, excruciating pain shot through it, right through the bony part.

"AAAARRRGGGH!" screeched the toucan chick and with that, he grasped his right wing with his left and twisted his face in agony. This sent immense dread tearing through the group, especially Lillie. Canopus examined Gladion's wing and saw that it was kinked.

"It's BROKEN!" he screeched in alarm.

"No, no, NO, NO NOOOOO!" cried Lillie. From across the clearing, Lusamine and the others looked on in utter horror while Dalek sauntered menacingly towards Gladion's group like a stalking cat, his green eyes fixated on the macaw chicks and his mouth emitting a low hiss. At this, Lillie, Petunia, Vega, Deneb, Polaris, Canopus, Mira, Gertie and Fomalhaut all looked up and gazed timidly at the chameleon as he continued to saunter towards them, intimidated by the fiery wrath that burned within the colour-changing lizard's eyes and the redness of his scales. In the background, Lusamine and company continued to watch in horror as the chameleon then prepared to attack but before he could do so, an explosive hiss erupted nearby, much to the alarm of Gladion's group and also Lusamine and her company, but it wasn't from Dalek, for he had popped his head up in alarm as well. It was not a reptilian hiss, but the hiss of a flightless bird. Then before any of them could deduce what bird it was, a long leg ending in three toes, one big and clawed, darted in and swiped at Dalek, masking the chameleon hiss in fright and dart away. However, dirt was kicked up in the process. Petunia, Vega, Deneb, Polaris, Canopus, Mira, Gertie, Fomalhaut, Lillie and Gladion, his broken wing clutched in his other, huddled together as a large, black bird with a bright blue and red head and neck and a casque atop its crown rushed in and began to viciously drive Dalek away, hisses exploding from its beak. However, before leaving, Dalek launched one last attack on Gladion's group.

As Gladion and company cowered as dust flew everywhere, a harpoon-like tongue surged through the dust and stuck onto Polaris's back. Polaris then screamed as she was lifted into the air by the tongue, much to the alarm of the others. Then Dalek, with all his might, slammed the Spix macaw hard into the ground before turning tail and fleeing as the massive black bird, another enormous hiss exploding from its beak, rushed in again and lashed its foot claws at the chameleon, sending it into a panicked bolt. As the dust cleared, Petunia, Vega, Deneb, Canopus, Mira, Gertie, Fomalhaut, Lille and the pained Gladion all looked up and saw Polaris lie limply and facedown into the dirt.

"POLARIS!" cried Petunia. Then an echidna, platypus, two kiwis and a Tasmanian devil appeared as the larger bird, a cassowary by the name of Olympia, glared after Dalek to ensure that he did flee. Lillie and the others looked on as the newcomers, Kiara, Reepicheep, Flax, Harakeke and Mina, rushed over to Polaris to check on her, Kiara picking up the limp Spix macaw chick's body.

"She's just unconscious," she said, much to the relief of the group, "Let's get her to the medical zone."

"We have another casualty as well," said Fomalhaut, and with that, Gladion came forward, his face twisted into agony and his left wing clasping his right. At this, Flax and Harakeke took the toucan chick and gently led him away while Kiara handed Polaris to Mina who followed the kiwis. As the three animals left with Gladion and Polaris, Canopus, Mira and Fomalhaut flew up to Olympia as she glared fiercely at Lusamine and her group. Unnerved by the stern glare of the cassowary, Lusamine and her group began to think about running away.

"Um, Mrs Olympia…" began Mira but Olympia shot her a glare, making her, Fomalhaut and Canopus flinch.

"To Dundee's tent, NOW!" commanded the cassowary. At this, shame came over the three macaws.

"We're sorry," said Canopus.

"Just obey my command," snapped Olympia, "We'll sort this out with Dundee and the others."

Mira, Canopus and Fomalhaut were about to protest but Petunia flew in and nodded to them to prompt them to obey. Nervously, the red, blue-and-gold/hyacinth and the blue-and-gold/great green chicks followed Petunia as she in turn followed Vega, Deneb, Gertie, Kiara and Reepicheep. Olympia then turned her glare to Lusamine and company.

"You're coming with us as well," she commanded. At this, dread flooded through Lusamine and company and under the cassowary's command, they went along as well while Olympia commanded Reepicheep to call the parents of Lusamine and company.


	40. Chapter 39

**Chapter 39- a flight down memory forest**

 **Back in Rio**

The activities of Rio de Janeiro continued to flow by, both in the city and in the jungle. However, one aspect of the jungle was in the process of change. More and more toucans and the offspring and sons and daughters- in-law of Rafael and Eva were being captured and taken to Tulio's Aviary with Blu's group helping. In Pedra de Gavea cave, Andromeda and Rouge continued to look after Basil the bat and his colony. She had enlisted the help of Eustace, Milo, Rosa, Clemont, Serena and also Yolanda, Oscar, Peach and Bruno in searching for and providing the Linda's golden orange bat colony with fresh insects to make up for what they had missed over the time period when the toucan flock had settled in this part of the Blu Bird Sanctuary and started interfering with the small bats' nightly business which included foraging and catching insects while at the same time helped the bats to watch out for any corvid birds that would dare intrude into the land with the intention of nabbing any of Toby and Velma's bat colony members.

While Andromeda and the cockatoos helped the orange bats, the rest of Blu's group continued their tasks in helping Tulio and his team in catching more toucans and bringing them to the Aviary in cages for relocation while some of them looked after the remaining kids. Blu and company carried out a rotation schedule: some would stay with the remaining kids at Tulio and Linda's cottage, among them Einstein and Miles, the remaining sons of Bia and Virgil, while the others would help in catching more of the toucans plaguing the Blu Bird Sanctuary with Tulio and company. However, the burden of grief of missing the kidnapped kids including Sandalwood still gripped many of the members, especially Carla, Bia, Tiago and Stella and their respective mates Justin, Virgil, Matilda and Soren, and their efforts were somewhat hampered. Callisto, Athos, Byron and Europa were also deeply troubled over Io and Sheldon's seemingly destroyed relationship and struggled to get over it but another tragedy had struck another particular bird family. Cometa, Lightning, Orion and Hermione, Spike and Zelda had been utterly devastated by the news of Merlin's demise as told from a deeply heartbroken Velocity. Merlin had sacrificed his life to prevent another theft at Tulio's Aviary involving a bunch of crows that nearly made off with the only two golden fruithawks in existence, and now Velocity had become widowed while Zelda had become fatherless. Because of this fresh grief, the falcon family had decided to drop out of the toucan task for some time and rest while they grieved the loss of Merlin with the other Control de Plagas Squad falcons and falcon-like birds who had also been devastated by the news as well. It certainly was a very difficult time for everyone, especially since Sandalwood and the others' destination was still unknown. As for Rafael, along with Tom, Diantha and Aurora and also Rita, Carlos and some of the toucans who were not badly behaved like the rest of Rafael and Eva's offspring, had moved to live with the other Blu Bird Sanctuary residents to escape being accidentally caught by Tulio and company as well as help the residents, and also Sheldon, avoid the poachers still roaming the outskirts of the Blu Bird Sanctuary, while the rest of the group continued their task in helping Tulio and his team catch as many of the toucans plaguing the Blu Bird Sanctuary as possible to vastly reduce the population to a reasonable number.

One group was out searching for some toucan chicks in one part of the Blu Bird Sanctuary but they had decided to take a break from the task. Stella and Soren, together with Enceladus and his hyacinth mate Trixie, Frodo and Ellie the Cuban macaws and their remaining two chicks, their biological daughter Olivia and adopted Dominican green-and-yellow macaw son Achilles, and Spyro who had decided to accompany them with his bat-bird Garnet, were trudging through the forest floor foliage. Aurora was chasing after some butterflies while Enceladus was distributing some insects, fruit and nuts he had collected and packed in a large leaf-bag before departing Tulio and Linda's cottage on this trail.

"Here," said Enceladus as he passed a small bag of bugs and grubs to Spyro, "Get these down you. You're gonna need it in case we get ambushed by any of those pesky toucan hoodlums."

Spyro, at this, took the bag and began to eat the bugs, while also giving them to his bat-bird who gladly ate them. Stella, Soren, Trixie, Enceladus, Ellie, Frodo, Achilles and Olivia also began to eat the fruit, nuts and remaining bugs.

"We've just had a call from the Sanctuary de Amazon from Phoebe's younger sisters and Squaw'tagnan's sisters-in-law, Annette and Jasmine, this morning, while you were taking Ferdinand, Olivia, Achilles and Poppy out with Titan and Brooke," said Trixie to the Cuban macaws and the bats, "They say the tribes and clans are doing well in the Sanctuary de Amazon and have told us that Andromeda's clan has invented a new style of game for the Pit of Games."

"Oh, yes?" said Ellie with a small smile, the grief over the missing Sylvester, Alegria and Pitaya briefly forgotten.

"What sort of game have they invented," asked Stella.

"I don't know if you've heard of the human book series _Harry Potter,"_ said Enceladus, "There's a game in that series called 'Quidditch' where the wizards play ball in the air on their broomsticks. Well, the game that Andromeda's clan has invented is similar in some ways to that game."

"It's still like a soccer game," said Trixie, "But with additional factors added and modifications or changes made," Stella, Soren, Frodo, Ellie and Spyro then began to listen while Achilles and Olivia continued to examine some butterflies and flowers in fascination, being careful not to stray too far from the group, "Some team members pass the fruit ball to one another like in the human game of rugby and have to throw it into the opposing team's goal to score with a keeper to contend with; some team members have to ward off what Ophiuchus has called 'Distractor Birds', little birds that will try and confuse the players to hinder their progress, while one player from each team has to catch a highly agile dragonfly. The game ends if the set number of goals is reached with the fruit ball, or if the dragonfly is caught."

"That sounds quite creative," said Frodo, "That definitely sounds like the Quidditch game in the Harry Potter franchise."

"You've read the book series?" asked Enceladus with surprise.

"No, but Carla, Bia and Tiago and some of the others including Justin, Charlotte, Matilda and Virgil have has told me about the fantasy series and described that game from the books," said Frodo.

"Among other fantasy books like Chronicles of Narnia, which is Justin and his three siblings' favourite book series," said Ellie.

"What's the name of the ball game?" asked Stella.

"It's called Pájarritch," said Trixie, "And the Sanctuary de Amazon inhabitants are currently playing that in the Pit of Games. The Lear's macaw tribe has just returned to their home patch after their match with the red macaw tribe, with the Lear's macaw tribe winning."

Smiles of intrigue rolled through the listeners. Ahead of the adults, Achilles and Olivia continued exploring the surroundings, laughing heartily but as their delightful gazes travelled in a certain direction, the delight vanished in a heartbeat.

"I would love to participate in that new game when we return after our missing kids have been found," said Frodo, and at that his face fell as he thought about Sylvester, Pitaya and Alegria, "I sure hope that they haven't been taken to a place that is too far…"

"I hope so, too," said Spyro in agreement, "I hope Altair is alright…"

Ellie, Enceladus, Trixie, Stella and Soren nodded in agreement when suddenly, a piercing scream from a pair of macaw chicks reached their ears, jolting the group into snapping their gaze at Achilles and Olivia. When they saw their daughter and adopted son stand rooted to the spot gazing at something, their colourful feathers on end, Frodo and Ellie rushed over.

"What is it, you two?" asked Frodo. Achilles and Olivia, their eyes inflated by fear and their beak wide open, shakily pointed a wing at what they had spotted. As they did so, Enceladus, Trixie, Stella, Spyro and Soren ran in and followed the terrified Cuban red and Dominican green-and-yellow macaw chicks' gaze and point but the moment their gazes landed on what has frightened Achilles and Olivia, the four macaws, two flying foxes and archaeobird all stiffened but within Enceladus, disgust and hostility also flared up, making his aqua blue and yellow feathers bristle.

Ahead of the group was a familiar bundle of ragged grey-white feathers which were similar in colour to Stella's grey-white wings but with a very ugly aspect and he appeared to be taking a mud bath, humming to himself. His ragged pale yellow crest lay flat against his head and his brown eyes, each with a bag of reddish skin hanging from under them, were focussed on his bath. Lying beside the rim of the mud puddle in which the cockatoo was bathing in was a tatty green and yellow cloth with threads hanging off of it due to wear and tear over the years. Frodo and Ellie had been told by Blu and Jewel of a highly infamous cockatoo who used to smuggle and torture birds, named Nigel. Spyro, Trixie, Stella and Soren had also been told about Nigel but they, along with Ellie and Frodo, had never seen the hideous cockatoo in the flesh, but Enceladus had first seen Nigel when he had been a chick with his family, hence his hostility-laced glare at the cockatoo and his bristled feathers.

Trixie, Spyro, Stella and Soren and Ellie, Frodo, Achilles and Olivia, continued gazing at the hideous cockatoo as he continued to roll about like a dog in the mud puddle and spread more of the brown stuff all over his tattered plumage with his tattered wings and humming to himself, currently unaware of eight pairs of shocked eyes, one laced with bitter hostility, gawking at him. After a moment of silence, Stella finally broke it.

"Isn't that…" she began but her throat was too stiff from fear and stun to form words. Enceladus, at this, shot the albino flying fox a confirmatory glare.

"Yes, it's that infamous Nigel the cockatoo," he hissed, "The cockatoo who loved to torture birds and cause them no end of misery, especially during the smuggling process," his fiery glare returned to Nigel as he continued to bathe in the mud puddle, "He's Blu and Jewel's nemesis, and the nemesis of numerous other birds. He's a sorry state and a horrid piece of work, he is."

Stella gazed at Enceladus in surprise. Frodo, Ellie, Trixie, Soren and Spyro then glared at Nigel with disgust laced faces. These five had already taken an immediately disliking to the cockatoo. Garnet, Spyro's bat-bird, also whimpered and backed away at the sight of the hideous cockatoo, dislike also taking hold within him.

"He's _disgusting!"_ hissed Trixie repulsively, her navy blue feathers bristling.

"We may sometimes use mud to conceal ourselves whenever we need to," said Soren, "But him… he seems to use mud differently."

"He looks as though he hadn't slept for days," added Spyro, commenting on Nigel's bloodshot eyes. Ellie, at this, wanted to get away from the cockatoo as soon as possible, especially for the sake of Achilles and Olivia and also Spyro.

"Never mind about that," the female Cuban macaw grumbled, before putting her wings onto Achilles and Olivia's shoulders and turn them around to leave, "Let's get out pf here before he sets his eyes…"

But before the entire sentence could leave her beak, a scornful, hostile, "Well, well, well, what do we have here? A bunch of pesky pretty birds who have decided to drop by and watch me have a delightful bath?"

At this, dread froze the group of animals and slowly, they all turned and faced the mud-covered cockatoo, his brown eyes laced with scorn and hostility glaring menacingly at the group. However, the moment they found the familiar blue-and-gold macaw, the cockatoo's ragged feathers, including those on his head, fanned out. Enceladus then began to shudder, his pale blue eyes set ablaze with wrath and sheer dislike as they made contact with Nigel's scornful brown pair and his blue and yellow plumage bristled.

"I hope you're still laughing about me, my tatty plumage and also my inability to fly after what those good-for-nothing blue slime-worms Blu and Jewel have done to me all those years ago, are you!?" snarled the cockatoo as his acidic dislike-saturated pair of brown eyes continued to bore into Enceladus, one of the sons of Saturn, Nigel's most detested blue-and-gold macaw besides Blu, Jewel, Zephyr, Venus, Mercury, Jupiter and the rest of the gang. Enceladus continued to shake with rage, the urge to lunge at Nigel to slash the mocking glare off the cockatoo's face threatening to erupt. Then Nigel's hostile glare travelled to some unfamiliar figures flanking the blue-and-gold macaw. Achilles and Olivia cowered behind Frodo and Ellie, timid whimpers escaping their little beaks, fright at Nigel's unfriendly gaze bubbling within them.

"He's like a monster," murmured Achilles to his adopted sister.

"He's _awful,_ " said Olivia. As Nigel's eyes examined Trixie, Frodo, Ellie, Spyro, Stella and Soren and also Garnet, his beak widened into a scornful smile.

"So you seem to have brought a variety of some little new friends with you," he crooned mockingly, before his brown glare began to rake over the newcomers, starting with Trixie.

"I see you've got a stinking hyacinth macaw," crooned Nigel with disgust lacing his mocking voice tone. Trixie's glare flashed to a look of utter outrage at this insult. Nigel's eyes then began to rake over the other newcomers, "two… disgusting scarlet macaws that look like their wings are covered with dried blood," Ellie and Frodo's feathers bristled at this offensive remark regarding the colour of their purple or burgundy upper wing coverts. Frodo also crouched, his blue eyes flaring at the remark, with his wings spread protectively across his mate, adopted son and daughter in case Nigel decided to attack them. Fortunately Nigel's raking glare did not see Achilles and Olivia. Nigel's eyes then travelled to Stella and Soren, "A pair of overgrown furred RATS with wings on STEROIDS," he growled, striking outrage into Stella and Soren as they were burned by the remark. Then Nigel's glare travelled to Spyro, who picked up a stick and pointed it threateningly at the cockatoo, and Garnet who ducked behind his rider. Nigel hardened his gaze as he examined the archaeobird's wing-like legs and prehensile tail and also the little pterosaur behind him, "And that… odd lookin' feathered creature that resembles something straight out of a Jurassic Park movie, along with one of them extinct flyin' lizards from the dinosaur era!?" Spyro spiked his metallic purple feathers and released a threatening hiss, his stick aiming at Nigel. Nigel then widened his spiteful smile, "It sure looks like you've been busy meetin' new birdies and animals, blue and yellow son of that blue and yellow feathered scum known as Saturn…"

"Don't you DARE insult my father, you crested VULTURE!" snapped Enceladus volcanically, his wings shooting out but he barely managed to restrain launching himself at Nigel to slash the scornful smile off the horrible cockatoo's face. Stella and Soren rolled their eyes while Trixie began to tremble with rage. They clearly did not like this cockatoo insulting their friend's family, and Frodo, Ellie and Spyro and Garnet continued to glare at Nigel with disgust. Nigel, however, released a mocking laugh at Enceladus's temper.

"You sure are testy, ain't ya?" he crooned, "An' I sure hope you find me as frightening as you did when you were a cute lickle chick!"

At this, Soren and Stella stepped forward.

"Frightening!?" snapped Stella sarcastically, "From where we're standing, you look like a cockatoo that has been dragged through one of those spinning spinny things the human-familiar animals call a propeller…"

"Yeah, especially your crest," put in Soren. This stung Nigel like a scorpion sting, and Enceladus could see the cockatoo's hostility-laced scowl as he glared at the albino flying fox and her mate. Then Nigel rose out of the mud bath and sauntered towards the two flying foxes. Spyro ducked and aimed his stick at the hulking feathered beast covered in mud as he approached the group.

"So you think it's funny to poke fun at the most tragic event of my life at the talons of those two blue feathered slime-balls, eh, winged rat?" growled the cockatoo fiercely, "And you think I'm not frightening?" his scowl then melted to a mocking glare once again. Turning his back on the two bats, walking two steps from them and then turning to face them again, "Well, let's see, shall we?"

He then gazed menacingly at Stella and Soren, "What do you think of this?"

Then following this question, Nigel flared his crest, inflated his eyes out of their sockets and released an extremely loud screech. Stella and Soren flinched and screamed in horror while Trixie, Enceladus, Spyro, Ellie and Frodo flinched. Achilles and Olivia also screamed and hid in their parents' wings while Garnet dived into a patch of ferns nearby. Nigel then withdrew his terrifying appearance and resumed his mocking stance, giggling at the group's startled reaction.

"Just as I thought," crooned the cockatoo, "You lot are a bunch of cowards, as always, like those good-for-nothing, lousy prisoners I used to help smuggle out of Brazil, including that snivelling pigtailed Spix macaw and her little Lear's friend when they were young!"

And with that, he burst out laughing. Enceladus and company, however, were not amused. Then Stella and Soren's eyes travelled to Nigel's discarded tattered vest. They were not going to listen to Nigel's insults about their friends and as they gazed at the vest, an idea entered their head and they slowly slipped out of Nigel's range of vision as the cockatoo focussed on Enceladus.

"Speaking of smuggling, I heard that some kiddies have been snatched from some certain birds lately," he crooned. This hit an exposed nerve of the group and Enceladus and Trixie's faces fell as the memories of Mira, their daughter getting kidnapped by those smugglers, came flooding back. Spyro, Frodo and Ellie also bowed their heads as they felt the panful grief over the loss of Alegria, Pitaya and Sylvester and Altair well up within them as well. In their wings, Achilles and Olivia began to weep.

"Ah, I thought so as well," crooned Nigel as he relished the saddened faces of his most detested creatures on the planet, "I sure l-u-u-u-u-u-urve hearing stories of happy pretty bird families getting ripped apart and the resulting heartbreak that comes with it," he finished this sentence with a scoffing titter. Then Enceladus felt that enough was enough. Putting his grief aside, he glared at Nigel once again.

"We don't have time to talk with a former bother like you," he said, "We've got more important things to worry about," he then started to walk away, the others, including Garnet under Spyro's command, following him.

"Oh, yeah? Like what?" asked Nigel oily, pulling Enceladus and company's attention back to him, "Goin' out and findin' your lost kiddies or sommat? Yeah, that sounds like fun. It sure is laughable to see you pretty birdies so down in the dumps!" Nigel's face then twisted into a scowl, "It stinks to see you pretty birds so happy and full of life."

At this, Spyro stormed over to the cockatoo. As he approached the hideous parrot, his nostrils caught a whiff of smelly aroma emanating from Nigel's body. At this, the archaeobird's face twisted into a repulsed look. "Ugh, and I think YOU stink because it seems that you've not had a proper bath in perhaps _years_!" snorted Spyro in revulsion, "When was the last time you had one of those!?"

Nigel, at this, flashed the archaeobird a glare while Enceladus, Trixie, Frodo and Ellie wrinkled their beaks in revulsion at Spyro's question, dreading the answer while Garnet looked on at Nigel in amusement, hiss-laughs escaping his beak.

"You're probably the _smelliest_ cockatoo I had ever MET!" continued Spyro, his wing-claws on his hips in disapproval, much to Nigel's amusement but that smile was stripped after Spyro's next choice of words, especially as his snout-like beak widened into a mocking smile. "I think Blu and Jewel ought to dunk you into a pond of clean water, don't you think?" crooned the archaeobird, much to Enceladus's alarm. That did it. The trigger to Nigel's explosive temper in the form of the mentioning of even the names of Nigel's most DETESTED blue macaws on the planet sent hot rage burning through the cockatoo and turning his blood into pure magma.

"HOW DARE YOU MENTION THE NAMES OF THOSE TWO NEMESES, you PUTRID…" bellowed the cockatoo and with that, he crouched and launched himself into the air, his talons outstretched to slash Spyro but before his talons could make contact, a pair of macaw talons had darted in, seized the archaeobird by the shoulders and pulled him away in time, sending Nigel flying right into a patch of thorny vines while Enceladus dragged Spyro to a safe distance. Screeches of pain erupted from the cockatoo as he began to writhe in the pile of green snakes laced with needles only to get his wings, body and talons entangled into them and the needles to bite into his flesh. During this, Nigel shot Enceladus's group a volcanic glare.

"I'm gonna FLAY YOU, YOU GOOD-FOR-NOTHING bunch OF…" he bellowed and with that, a torrent of vitriolic threats and insults spewed from the cockatoo's beak like the venom of a spitting cobra. As these caustic words battered them, Enceladus, Spyro, Garnet, Frodo and Ellie, who had Achilles and Olivia (with their wings covering their ears to block out the acidic music) in their talons, scrambled to take to the air and beat a hasty retreat. Nigel continued hurling abuse at them and began to return to his mud puddle but as he did, he noticed that his green and yellow vest, which he had took off and put aside before plunging into the mud bath, had disappeared.

"WHERE'S MY VEST!?" bellowed the cockatoo. He got his answer when he saw two forms, one white and the other a golden orange with black sheets, hover nearby. At this, Nigel turned and saw two flying foxes hover in the air, the white one's feet clinging onto the thing he was looking for.

"Oh, we're sorry, looking for this?" crooned Stella mockingly.

"We thought you didn't need it," added Soren, "You'd probably look silly with this tatty thing on, anyway."

"HEY, GIVE THAT BACK, you pair of OVERSIZED… DOG-FACED…" bellowed Nigel and with that, the hulking cockatoo shook off the thorny snakes and began to chase after the two flying foxes, ignoring the pain of his pricked and jabbed talons, wings and torso. Soren and Stella, mischievous grins on their faces, then darted away with Nigel's vest in tow.

"If you want it, you'd better take off and get it," shouted Stella teasingly. Nigel, rage burning through him, opened his wings and tried to take off but because his feathers were so tatty, as always, he could not get airborne. Nigel's talons heaved the rest of his body off the ground and his wings flapped but the cockatoo plummeted back to earth again, landing on his front, much to the laughter of the two bats. Nigel tried again and the same thing happened. Tried a third time but failed at that as well, much to the flying fox couple's laughter. Then Nigel's eyes erupted into brown firestorms and he sprang to his feet. He then charged through the dense vegetation like an enraged bull.

"When I GET HOLD OF YOU TWO WINGED RATS," he bellowed, slapping every fern frond out of the way and dodging any stick and stone that came his way, "I'M GONNA HAVE YA FOR DINNER… ALIVE!"

Stella and Soren flashed a repulsed glance at the cockatoo when this treat reached their ears and continued flying on.

"Blu and Jewel weren't kidding about that cockatoo's disgusting nature," said Stella, "He's honestly sick in the head."

"Well, I'm not gonna let that stupid bird torturer threaten us OR our brightly coloured feathered friends," said Soren. Just then the sound of rushing water reached his ears, making the flying fox shoot a glance ahead. At this, an idea entered his head.

Nigel continued his relentless chase through the vegetation after the two flying foxes. Through the trees along the side, some feathered forms were flying. Enceladus, Trixie, Frodo, Ellie, Achilles and Olivia, and Spyro on his bat-bird Garnet were flying along, watching Stella and Soren in astonishment, especially as Stella carried Nigel's vest away.

"What are you two DOING!?" cried Enceladus. Stella and Soren, however, were too engrossed in the thrill of the chase that they did not hear him, much to Enceladus's frustration. Frodo and Ellie, however, were saturated with amusement at the whole chase and Achilles and Olivia, who flew alongside their parents, were giggling away at the whole scene.

"Mr Blu and Mrs Jewel are gonna go hysterical when they hear about this," tittered Ellie. Enceladus, however, was not amused, especially since Stella and Soren were playing with a highly dangerous beast of tattered white feathers that was Nigel. The chase continued right up to a river that ran through the forest, and Stella and Soren, with Nigel's vest in the former's clawed feet, flew right over it. With their mouths widened by mischief, Stella called out, "Come and get it, cockatoo!" and waved the vest in her feet to taunt Nigel as he exploded from some ferns bordering the river's bank. Nigel, with an enraged screech, spread his tattered wings and, with his eyes focussed on the only cloth that concealed the unsightly mess on his torso which still existed despite all these years, began to flap his wings madly in an attempt to take off. Enceladus looked on and knew what was going to happen next as Nigel launched himself into the air from a rock jutting from the bank. Nigel then attempted to fly at Stella and Soren to grab back his vest but, as always, due to his tattered wings, he began to plummet but not back onto solid ground, but into shallow water, just as he was within a metre from the flying foxes… and his precious vest. Nigel screamed and flapped madly to as he descended towards the river below, flapping like mad to stay aloft but to no avail. Stella and Soren, along with Enceladus, Trixie, Frodo, Ellie, Achilles and Olivia and Spyro and Garnet, watched on as Nigel finally plunged into the water in a massive splash. After the spray had subsided, Nigel's head rose out of the water, and then his body but because the suit of mud had been washed away by the rushing water, Nigel's tattered torso plumage was exposed. Spyro's beak then widened into a grin as the archaeobird watched Nigel gaze mortified at his waterlogged plumage, his crest drooping limply at the back of his head and his feathers sagging.

"That's what I'm talking about," he tittered, "A bath for that smelly cockatoo."

"Let's just get out of here," said Enceladus, desperation to put some distance between himself and his group and Nigel as soon as possible. At this, the blue-and-gold macaw and his hyacinth mate, the archaeobird on his bat-bird, the three Cuban macaws and Dominican green-and-yellow macaw and also the two flying foxes with Nigel's vest in their clutches, then began to make their way back to Tulio and Linda's cottage. Nigel then began to protest after them.

"Hey, give me back MY VEST!" he bellowed, his sodden crest feathers struggling to rise, "I NEED THAT!"

At this, Stella and Soren flashed a glance back at him and grinned.

"Buddy," said Soren, "Green and yellow doesn't suit you at all."

"Yeah, especially since you despise bright colours," said Stella. And with that, the two flying foxes disappeared into the green vegetation with Nigel's vest in tow, leaving Nigel to erupt into yet another temper tantrum, vitriolic words and curses erupting like magma from his beak while the cockatoo began to thrash and writhe as though he was having an electric shock, sending sprays of water flying everywhere.

Some time later, Nigel had managed to haul himself out of the river. His sodden feathers drooped and the humiliation resulting from Stella and Soren's taking of his vest burned within the cockatoo, and he was trembling with pure rage. However, that rage soon turned to horror when he heard a camera flash, followed by a "HAH-HAH!" at this, Nigel looked up and to his horror, he was confronted by a pack of small primates of a species familiar to him. All the primates had grey or brown fur with white tufts of fur on their heads. They were tailed but all of them were armed with human devices Nigel recognised as cameras and Ipods. And these little monkeys were snapping images of the poor, vest-less cockatoo and roaring with laughter. In desperation, the cockatoo, a horrified screech exploding from his beak, hastily dived behind a bush to conceal his tattered torso plumage as the marmosets continued snapping pictures of him and laughing.


	41. Chapter 40

**Chapter 40- deep regrets and an alarming discovery**

Evening had fallen over Rio and the jungle near it, and the sun was approaching its setting point. Somewhere else in the jungle but in a part outside the Blu Bird Sanctuary, beyond the fence enclosing it, a large group of various birds: macaws, parakeets, toucans other than the toco and keel-billed mixed species except a few but who aren't outright troublesome like the majority of the others plaguing the sanctuary, and other birds of various species, were continuing their usual activities. However, these activities were not as lively as they were when they lived inside the sanctuary. In fact, the atmosphere above the flock's temporary living area was saturated with despair, moodiness, irritability and disappointment, like a grey sky saturated with clouds with hardly any rays of sunlight shining through at all. The usual morning song 'Real in Rio' had not been sung for ages, and the samba spirit of the birds seemed to have fizzled out, screened completely and blocked by the dismal atmosphere hanging above the flock.

Amongst the birds as they continued to miserably carry out their usual activities of foraging and providing for their families or talking to each other, the dismal mood plastering their faces, a few certain toucans of the toco and keel-billed species, stood on a high branch and looked down at the misery plaguing the neighbours. Rafael stood with Tom, Diantha and Aurora, Rita, Carlos and several other toucans and a few toucan chicks, sorrowful looks plastering their faces as they watched the activities below them. Regret was thrown into the saddening cocktail in the facial expressions of Rafael, Rita and Carlos and the other toucans excluding Diantha and Tom as well; the regret of having so many chicks and not applying enough and sufficient discipline to them, leading to this enormous mess and the consequences that lay before their very eyes. It was clear that the phrase, 'What have we done' was visible in Rafael's mortified gaze. Tom and Diantha, however, were gazing at Rafael disgustedly, and Aurora was very saddened.

"Those residents had been forced to move out because of those arrogant relatives of ours refusing to control their chicks and stop having more broods, Rafael," hissed Diantha bitterly. She refused to call Rafael 'Dad', 'Father' or equivalent for the anger at him and his irresponsibility as a father was boiling within her and she was too ashamed to refer to Rafael as those words. Rafael flashed his enraged daughter and her mate a regretful look.

"I did say I'm sorry, you two," he murmured mournfully.

"It's NOT good enough!" snapped Diantha bitterly, a tear welling in her eye, making Rafael flinch, "You and Eva were the ones who allowed this problem to spiral out of control to the point of all THIS happening!" she gestured to the miserable birds as she said this. Carlos and Rita and the other toucans who had found sense just looked on and said nothing.

"All those birds have been put into a very difficult position because of the arrogance of our siblings and siblings-in-law which you have helped to grow," put in Tom, his gaze flashing briefly at Aurora as she continued to gaze miserably at the sorry scene, "They have been forced out of their homes… out of the Blu Bird Sanctuary… to live in this unprotected jungle with those poachers prowling around on the forest floor looking for some prized bundle of rare feathers to catch for the pet trade," Tom's anger boiled dangerously within him, "You REALLY HAVE caused everyone A GREAT DEAL OF TROUBLE, you IRRESPONSIBLE MORON!"

Rafael flinched as this scathing comment stung him like the bite of a tarantula.

"Tom, please don't call our father a moron," said Carlos.

"He tried his best to convince the rest of our enormous family to stop having kids but they just wouldn't listen to him," said Rita. Tom shot the two and their agreeing siblings and siblings-in-law a glare.

"I'm sorry but it's TRUE, Carlos and Rita," he retorted, "Your countless siblings and siblings-in-laws have followed your parents' example in breeding like those mammals with big ears and fluffy tails and has led to THIS MESS," he gestured with his wings to the scene below the toucans. Rita and Carlos gazed down at the dismal scenery of miserable birds and sighed. They hated to admit but they had also contributed to this mess as well. They had been having brood after brood and have only recently realised the number of kids they were having and had to painfully break up with their mates. The broken heart was still in shambles within Rita and Carlos and the damage was only added to by the consequences laid out before their eyes.

As Rafael and what's left of his family continued to grieve and wallow in their guilt, in another part of the jungle in which the residents had moved to, a certain male part-scarlet, part-green-winged macaw was also swimming through the river of dismalness and despair and grief. However, like Rafael, grief was also thrown into the horrible brew but it was not from having so many kids and not disciplining them. It was something else entirely. Sheldon stood outside a hole in the trunk of the tree where he had taken refuge after storming away from Blu, Jewel, Venus and Zephyr and the Chinesa Vista to move in with the evacuated residents of the Blu Bird Sanctuary. The poor ruby (scarlet/green-winged) macaw had been crying his eyes out for hours as well as having quite frequent temper outbursts and had been thrashing about and slapping things with his wings and feet like a chick throwing a temper tantrum. As a result, Sheldon's wings and talons were sore and his eyes were bloodshot. A maelstrom of rage, grief, heartbreak and confusion generated from Betelgeuse and Rigel going missing, Anastasia's scathing remarks and Io's possible breakup with him had been raging like a massive hurricane within Sheldon, leading to his violent outburst and chick-like tantrum but now he had calmed down after violently blowing steam until he could not release the pressure no more. During his violent outburst, the other birds had avoided him until he had calmed down but after Sheldon did so, the other birds still avoided him for fear that he may enter another outburst, keeping their chicks far from him. However, a certain toucan (not Rafael, Tom or Diantha, and certainly not of the toco or keel-billed species) had decided to talk with the ruby macaw having seen him have the meltdown.

After the maelstrom had subsided within Sheldon, the negative feelings continued to churn within him but not as severely. There was anger within Sheldon at what Sofia had said to him, Io, Mimas, Athos, Europa, Callisto and Byron and also at Io for believing those acidic comments, but there was also regret at his leaving Io and calling her, 'no longer his mate' as well as the sadness and grief over the loss of Betelgeuse and Rigel and the other chicks and Sandalwood and Acerola to the poachers. Sheldon's bloodshot eyes then travelled to some of the macaws that had taken refuge in some hollows in two or three adjacent trees and began to observe some macaw families (some of which were blue-and-gold, some of which were green-winged). Sheldon's heart began to churn and writhe as he watched the chicks snuggle into the wings of their mothers, as well as couples snuggling with each other in comfort. These observations added fuel to the fire of Sheldon's regret at yelling at Io and leaving her, and tears began to well in his already-bloodshot eyes. However, another part of him, the anger he held against Io for siding with Sofia, prompted Sheldon to turn his back on the macaw families and couples. The anger and grief then began to butt heads with each other inside Sheldon as he turned away from observing the macaw couples. Then the regret began to generate thoughts within Sheldon that he could not live with the scarlet macaw he loved but Sheldon, in his anger at that same macaw, began to try and suppress it.

'She believes Sofia, so why bother regretting leaving her?' he thought angrily. But another thought, generated by his regret, shouted, 'I shouldn't have left Io. What that stupid toucan (bleep) has said was absolutely NOT TRUE! And besides that, Betelgeuse and Rigel's going missing with the other kids including Sandalwood and Acerola was NOT OUR FAULT!'

It was though that the anger and regret were having an argument within him. As this argument played out within Sheldon, he released a groan.

"I can see you're very upset at what had just happened during the past few days, Sheldon," said a voice. At this, Sheldon snapped out of his grief and turned to the speaker which was a male toucan with black plumage, a bright yellow chest, and a pair of eyes enclosed in a lime green spec-like patch with a large maroon, black and yellow beak extending from below those eyes. Those eyes had a frown but sympathy was thrown into the gaze as well.

"Dino," said Sheldon in weary surprise. Then the chestnut-mandibled toucan which was indeed Dino, then stepped onto the perch beside him. Sheldon, along with Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto and Byron, Mimas, Athos, Jupiter, Ruby, and Oliver and Amalthea, had met this toucan and his family before during their trip to Rio and had talked with them, and Dino and his family were good friends with Jupiter and his family as well as Uranus, Neptune and their families. Sheldon tried to deny his grief.

"I'm fine," he said but Dino was not fooled so he shook his head.

"You're not at all fine, Sheldon," he said firmly, "In fact, far from it."

Sheldon sighed and bowed his head. "What are you doing here, anyway?" he asked in an edgy voice as though he was going to cry again, "I thought you were supposed to be with Gemma and your chicks Josephine, Dino Jr. and Raymundo."

"We've seen you have that outburst and meltdown a while ago," said Dino, "And also, Mars and Chiquitita have just dropped by to visit us to provide us with updates on the toucan problem and the progress of the human carers in catching them and reducing their population," Dino then breathed a sigh, "They have also told us what has happened between you and Io and also what led to you two to break up after a fiery argument."

At this, Sheldon's head shot up, especially at the mentioning of his mate's name. "Those two green-winged macaws have told you about our breakup!?" he snapped incredulously.

Dino nodded. "Apparently, you two have had a bitter argument because of what one of those horrible toucans have said about you two having kids…" as these words came out of Dino's mouth, another toucan, a black and white one with an orange and black beak, happened to come by and when he saw Dino talk with Sheldon, he stopped, perched and began to listen in on the conversation, his brown eyes laced with immense regret.

"Io believes that Sofia was right, Dino," snapped Sheldon, his rage threatening to explode again and making Dino flinch, but the chestnut-mandibled toucan kept his cool, "She said we were _stupid_ in having our daughters and that we shouldn't have had them!"

His breathing rate then accelerated and his eyes began to weep tears, before his body began to tremble like a leaf. Dino's glare gave way to firm but controlled anger.

"Let me get this straight, Sheldon," he retorted sternly and firmly, "When I heard from some of our city friends, among them the sons and daughters of the late Veggie and Catina, that you lot have had chicks, among them you and Io with your two daughters, I was very thrilled for you," Dino's eyes then rolled but then another voice came in from behind Dino, making him and the depressed ruby macaw turn and see another toucan, a black one with a reddish-cream front and colourful beak, accompanied by another toco toucan, fly in. The first toco toucan stood in the shadows and watched as the couple, which was none other than Diantha and Tom, fly in, stern looks on their faces.

"What that stupid sister of mine, Sofia, has said is A PILE OF JAGUAR DUNG!" shouted Diantha fiercely. As she and Tom touched down, Dino backed away, allowing the two toucans to approach Sheldon who was laced with surprise.

"Diantha, Tom," Said Sheldon, "What are you two doing here?"

"We'll explain that later," said Tom, "But for now, let's clear this big important thing up."

Sheldon, at this, felt like yelling at the two toucans to back off but his tongue stuck in his beak for he feared that he would offend these two toucan friends, the only close toucan friends out of Rafael and Eva's family he and the rest of Blu's group had besides Rafael and Eva themselves, and drive them away. Besides that, Diantha and Tom already had enough grief in their fruit shells as it was: both from the disgust of how things have turned out and also Gladion and Lillie's disappearance and Sheldon knew that he couldn't risk adding to the hurt the couple already had. Tom then started up the clearance.

"You and Io, first of all, shouldn't have broken up," said Tom, making Sheldon wince with guilt. This was echoing what his regret was shouting in his mind. "You two were very happy to pair up and have Betelgeuse and Rigel and so were the rest of us, including us two..."

"They're very good friends with our Gladion, Lillie and Aurora," said Diantha but her face fell as she mentioned two of her and Tom's chicks and sighed. Sheldon could see how his grief over the loss of Betelgeuse and Rigel was mirrored within Diantha and Tom's saddened gazes.

"But it's just unfortunate that your two daughters have gone missing alongside our son and daughter and also so many other kids including Sandalwood," said Tom firmly, before anger boiled within him, "But THAT was not your fault, or Io's fault, or our fault or the fault of any of the others. It was the stupidity of that WRETCH Marco and his mate and comrades that have caused that, leading to so many of our kids getting caught in those horrible traps."

Sheldon, at this, felt anger boil within him again. This time, the anger was directed at Marco and company, among them the spiteful Sofia, and their antics which led to so many of the chicks, Sandalwood and Acerola getting caught in nets and cages set up by the poachers outside the Blu Bird Sanctuary's fence. Images of the scornful glares on the toucans' faces, especially as they picked on the flying foxes, among then Stella and Soren, by calling them 'Cicatriz-bats', flashed in his head, alongside seeing the kids in those nets and cages, horrified looks on their faces. It was obvious that none of the birds in Blu's group, including Tom, had landed those kids into those traps and subsequently the poachers' hands. As this realisation dawned upon Sheldon, penetrating the thick cloud of anger he had at Io, grief came crashing down on him again. A loud and piercing screech saturated with remorse, regret and rage erupted from his beak and Sheldon began to break down again. Dino backed away, expecting Sheldon to enter another volcanic meltdown, but this meltdown was not as violent as the last one the ruby macaw had had. Then uncontrollable sobs erupted through Sheldon's beak. His wings flew to his eyes and tears began to spray everywhere. Diantha and Tom then came over to him and pulled him into a hug, tears also falling from their eyes. Dino and another toucan in the shadows, Rafael, looked on with sympathy as the trio remained in their embrace; Sheldon's sobbing launching into the air. As Sheldon continued to sob, the grief and regret at leaving Io also began to boil within him and Sheldon began to deeply regret breaking up with her. His love for her was still within him but it was buried under all the negative emotion Sheldon had inside.

 **Meanwhile, at Tulio and Linda's cottage**

The rest of the group had returned to their places of stay, the birdhouses built for them by Tulio and Linda to turn in for the night. Blu, Jewel, Carla, Bia and Tiago, together with Zephyr, Venus, Justin, Músculo, Charlotte, Matilda and Virgil; Mercury, Sapphire, Phoebe and Squaw'tagnan; Mars, Chiquitita, Phobos, Deimos, Estella and Alexandre; Jupiter, Ruby, Europa, Callisto, Athos and Byron and also Io; Saturn, Orquidea, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Titan, Iapetus, Porthos, Trixie and Brooke; Uranus, Esmeralda, Miranda and Aramis, Ariel, Umbriel and Benjamin, Titania and Ash, and Oberon; Neptune, Ultramarine, Violet, Triton, Iris, Indigo and Victor; Pluto, Lapis Lazuli, Charon, Neytiri, Blueberry and Aiden; Ceres, Cobalto, Azul and Fernanda; Roberto, Brisa, Jojo, Felix, Lavender, Garrett, Turquesa and Kira; and also Augustus, Melissa, Stella, Soren, Anabelle and Sebastian; Frodo, Ellie, Spyro and Marella, along with Eustace, Milo, Rosa, Clemont and Serena, were all tired from a hard day's work of helping Tulio and his team to catch the toucans, checking on the evacuated residents and also Rafael, Tom, Diantha and the other toucans who had sense, visiting Eva, Luna, Vincent, Eragon and Ganymede and Mimas at Tulio's Aviary and also looking after the remaining kids consisting of Sonia and Melody (Carla and Justin's remaining daughters), Einstein, Miles (the remaining sons of Bia and Virgil), Bartholomew (Tiago and Matilda's remaining son), Jason (Charlotte and Músculo's remaining son), Winona (Jojo and Kira's remaining daughter), Diego, Austin (both of Felix and Turquesa's sons), Lilac (Lavender and Garrett's remaining daughter), Katniss (Athos and Callisto's remaining daughter), Xander, Kayley (Alexandre and Estelle's son and daughter), Peter (Dione and Porthos's remaining son), Poppy (Titan and Brooke's only remaining daughter), Cressida (Tethys and Oberon's remaining daughter), Basil (Titania and Ash's remaining son), Perdita, Cecil (Benjamin and Umbriel's remaining daughter and son), Oceano (Azul and Fernanda's remaining son), Olivia and, Achilles (Frodo and Ellie's remaining biological son and adopted daughter), Ferdinand (Sebastian and Anabelle's remaining son and the only grand-pup of Melissa and Augustus) and Bambi (Spyro and Marella's remaining daughter and Andromeda and Eragon's only remaining grand-chick), along with Travis and Sunset's grandkids, Yolanda and Oscar, the daughter and son of Eustace and Serena, and Peach and Bruno, Rosa and Clemont's daughter and son. Eustace, Milo, Rosa, Clemont and Serena were also tired from helping Travis and Sunset, who have decided to remain behind at Basil, Velma and Tony's bat colony with Andromeda at the Pedra de Gavea cave to help them gather some food and to resume their usual nightly activities.

Cometa, Lightning, Spike, Velocity, Orion, Hermione and Zelda had decided to remain at the Control de Plagas Squad for they were too consumed by grief over the loss of Hunter and now Merlin to help with the tasks Blu had assigned the group, and Orion and Hermione were discussing about having another brood of chicks after the loss of their son Hunter, but not until the toucan problem had been sorted and until Sandalwood and the other kids had been found. Broccoli, Collette and Daisy the cats, and James and Ebony the greyhounds had decided to go out for a walk while Avellana, Rusty, Fido and Cleo had gone home to put the latter two to bed as night was approaching, so only Blu and company remained at Tulio and Linda's cottage for the night.

The entire group was having their evening meal or dinner. Eustace, Milo, Rosa, Clemont and Serena were feeding the twenty-plus remaining kids and also the cockatoos' own kids Yolanda, Peach, Bruno and Oscar by distributing fruit, insects and nuts, some they have foraged themselves, especially the insects, and the rest brought to them by Tulio and Linda, and the kids took them and ate them despite not being hungry due to the loss of their siblings still plaguing them. While the cockatoos fed the kids, Stella and Soren were chatting with some of the macaws, Carla, Bia, Tiago, Justin, Charlotte, Matilda, Virgil and Músculo, Jojo, Kira, Lavender, Garrett, Turquesa and Felix. For the first time since the disappearance of Sandalwood and his incident, they were laughing heartily.

"You should have seen that cockatoo's face when we snaffled his vest when we met him while we were searching for some toucans," guffawed Stella, "What was his name again, Nigel?"

"Yes," said Carla.

"What happened?" asked Bia.

"He tried flying after us to retrieve his vest but he fell into the stream below," said Soren with a wide smile, "After learning that that cockatoo cannot fly after that propeller incident."

At this, titters were emitted from Carla, Bia, Tiago, Justin, Charlotte and Matilda but Virgil, Músculo, Jojo, Kira, Lavender, Garrett, Turquesa and Felix were displeased.

"That cockatoo Nigel is bad news and extremely dangerous," said Virgil.

"Yes," said Jojo, "He has an extremely volatile temper."

"Last time some of us bumped into him during our previous trips to Rio," said Músculo, "He gave us a mouth full of abuse," he then directed a glare at Carla, Bia and Tiago, "During our trip to Rio with Zephyr and Venus and our mates Justin, Charlotte, Matilda and Virgil, these three insulted him and had it not been for the cage, he would have probably lashed at us and attacked us."

"Yeah, but it sure was funny seein' him fall into that bucket of blue paint durin' his temper tantrum," tittered Tiago smugly, the grief over Bellatrix's absence briefly forgotten, "He probably looked like one of us after those humans took him out of that paint."

"We were utterly shocked when he fell into that bucket but looking back now," said Justin, his voice broken as giggles threatened to escape his beak, "It sure was funny and hilarious."

"Our younger brother and sister, Azurite and Aquamarine," said Charlotte, "Also erupted into laughter when they saw that horrid cockatoo fall into that bucket of azure blue paint."

"It was good to cut that disgusting cockatoo down to size after what he did to us," hissed Bia spitefully, "In fact, I wouldn't mind shoving him into a bucket of blue paint again if we got the chance."

"We have to move on," rebuked Virgil, "What that cockatoo has done to us in the past is behind us."

"True that," said Carla, before her gaze turned to Stella and Soren, "But from time to time, it sure is nice to land that cockatoo in a humiliating situation."

"Uh, speaking of that," said Jojo, "While we were returning from Tulio's Aviary with Mom and Dad after helping some of Tulio's assistants haul a load of caged toucans into the Aviary, We did come across a bedraggled looking cockatoo who was desperately trying to hide behind some bushes with a bunch of common marmosets chasing after him with those human device things, laughing at him and snapping images. What were those thingies called again?"

"They're called cameras and Ipods," said Kira.

"That's it," said Jojo. Then Felix, who stood with Turquesa, nodded to Brisa as she talked with Roberto, Chiquitita and Mars. "Mom over there managed to stifle a laugh when she saw that cockatoo without his vest," he said, "In fact, Uncle Blu and Aunt Ju-Ju would have been sent into an enormous laughing fit if they saw that horrid cockatoo try to conceal himself from the bunch of marmosets."

"So he's got paparazzi chasing after him, eh?" asked Carla with a smile while Bia, Tiago, Justin, Charlotte and Matilda tittered but Virgil and Músculo, frowns on their faces just gazed at each other and shrugged.

"Paparazzi?" repeated Stella and Soren confused.

"A crowd of humans with cameras and things," explained Carla to the bats, before returning her gaze to Jojo, Kira, Turquesa, Garrett, Felix and Lavender, "And what happened after that? Did Nigel see you?"

"He did, yes," said Lavender, "However, we had to make a hasty retreat when he suddenly erupted into a violent temper outburst."

"Glad we were able to fly," said Garrett with relief, "Otherwise we would have been caught in that cockatoo's wrath."

Then Turquesa turned to Soren and Stella. "That's why we're a little displeased that you have messed with him, you two. Mom explained to us how dangerous he was."

"What did you do with Nigel's vest after escaping his wrath?" asked Tiago, his beak widened into a massive grin.

"We tossed it into a rubbish container humans call a trash can," said Soren, "Hopefully, that cockatoo will have a hard time finding it."

"Yeah," said Stella, her mouth widened into a grin, "Bright colours don't suit him at all, especially if he's gonna detest brightly coloured birds."

Titters rolled through the group. Then a pair of larger Spix macaws touched down, grins marking their beaks.

"So you've snaffled that hideous vulture-too's vest and tossed it, eh?" said Jewel, "Well, I'm very proud that you've showed that slime-ball Nigel what a pathetic worm he is."

"Yeah," put in Blu. Carla, Bia and Tiago smiled at their mother's acidic remark about her and her mate's most detested cockatoo in the world but Justin, Charlotte, Matilda and Virgil winced somewhat. They clearly did not like Jewel slandering that cockatoo who was not a bother to the group anymore, and Jojo, Felix, Lavender, Garrett, Turquesa and Felix thought it was pointless, and Stella and Soren gazed at each other and shrugged. Nearby, Jupiter, Venus, Zephyr and Ruby looked on with their faces laced with disapproval. These four shook their heads and tutted. Then Garrett gazed at the setting sun and the darkness of the night creeping in from the opposite direction.

"Anyway, I think it's time to put our kids and then ourselves to bed," he said, "We might have a busy day tomorrow."

"Yes, absolutely," said Blu as he released a yawn, "It's been a tiring day today."

Then something entered Jojo's head. "Um, Uncle Blu, Aunt Ju-Ju," he said. The two macaws turned to him.

"Yes, Jojo?" said Blu.

"We've just been to Tulio's Aviary and saw how many caged toucans there are," said Jojo.

"The medical room's getting a bit full," said Kira to her biological uncle and aunt.

"Tulio and company will sort that out," said Blu. He then flashed a glance at Tulio and his human companion Linda as they moved about in their cottage through their window, Linda feeding baby Tommy, Fernando watching TV and Tulio sorting through some papers.

"We did hear from a team of Tulio's assistants that the toucans will be allocated to other sanctuaries apart from the Sanctuary de Amazon in case they might compete with the animals living there," said Felix, but then his face fell, "But we have also heard them mention the option of… that word beginning with 'c' in helping to lower the toucans' population if there are too many to be sent to other sanctuaries…"

Blu and Jewel, along with Carla, Bia, Tiago, Justin, Charlotte, Matilda and Virgil, however, knew what Felix was referring to. It was the method Tulio dreaded performing most but since there were so many toucans ravaging the Blu Bird Sanctuary, if there were too many of them to be allocated, then that option might have to be taken. However, Blu knew that this last-resort option will have to be carried out. Blu then decided to put that subject aside.

"Well, thanks for the report, Jojo, Kira, Felix, Lavender, Turquesa and Garrett," he said, "Now you and the rest of you go and help Eustace and the other cockatoos put your kids to bed while Jewel and I leave to speak to Roberto and Brisa."

Jojo, Kira, Felix, Lavender, Turquesa and Garrett nodded and took off with Carla, Bia, Tiago, Justin, Charlotte, Matilda, Virgil, Músculo, Stella and Soren following while Blu and Jewel departed and made a beeline for Roberto and Brisa.

"I hope Broccoli and his sisters and James and his girlfriend aren't too long with their walk," said Músculo as the group flew along, "James and Ebony's club might be open tonight and Broccoli, Collette and Daisy's owners might be expecting them to return anytime soon."

"Oh, don't worry about our greyhound and cat friends," said Charlotte with a small smile, "Broccoli, Collette, Daisy, James and Ebony are sensible enough to know when they are needed home by their owners or at the Cats' and Dogs' club by their clubbers."

Músculo just gazed at Charlotte and followed her and the others to meet Eustace, Milo, Rosa, Serena and Clemont to put the kids to bed, along with many of the others, including Callisto, Europa, Byron and Athos.

 **Meanwhile**

Broccoli, Daisy, Collette, James and Ebony walked through the darkening streets of Rio. In the sky overhead, the darkness of the night continued to eat away at the light of day as the sun continued to sink towards the horizon. Soon, it will be disappearing under the horizon and the night's darkness will have consumed the last of the light of day. The streetlights were also coming on and the houses, shops and vehicles around the three cats and two greyhounds were beginning to be switched on to provide light for the humans walking around. As the five mammals walked along, Collette bore a worried look on her face.

"I hope Io is alright," she murmured worriedly, "We've just seen Jupiter and Ruby comfort her in one of the birdhouses before we left."

"That Sofia really has crossed the line, I can tell you," growled Ebony angrily, "I've really begun to dislike that toucan and her comrades now."

"Tell me about it," said James, "I'm beginning to despise those arrogant brats as well."

"Rafael and Eva ought to be ashamed," said Daisy. The other four, including Broccoli ahead, nodded in agreement. Broccoli was in front of his sisters and the two greyhounds, observing the gradual shift from the daytime activities to the night-time activities in the streets. Soon it will be dark in the city of Rio and he knew that the five will have to return home soon and James and Ebony's club was open tonight, and James and Ebony knew that their canine and feline clubbers will be gathering at their samba club for the night ahead. However, the concerns for their avian and winged friends including the flying foxes and their wellbeing and grief for their still-absent kids, among them Sandalwood, Sirius, Bellatrix and Spica, had clouded the two greyhounds' concentration on the timetable, especially after the fiery fall out between Io and Sheldon and their stormy departure, and Ebony and James weren't sure if they were up to the mood in running the club tonight. If so, then Pelusa the Shih Tzu and Nevado the white Persian cat will have to run it on their own until the greyhounds had kept their grief under control enough to concentrate on the clubbers. Avellana and Rusty who ran the dogs' ecology club had also been affected by the crises that were going on, and the worry for Blu and company had made running the club difficult as well. As a result, and with the burden of parental responsibilities regarding Fido and Cleo, their son and daughter, Avellana and her mate had closed their ecology classes until further notice, with a note explaining to their class members the reasons on the front of their tent where they gathered for the ecology meetings.

While the worries continued to plague Broccoli, Daisy, Collette, James and Ebony, the latter four busily discussing about heading home and to the cats-and-dogs' samba club, Broccoli's eyes sombrely continued to take in the surroundings and passing humans, both on the footpath or sidewalk and in their cars and other vehicles on the road. On a side road, stands selling various goods and fruit were closing down for the night as their owners hung down covers and prepared to return home. One or two dogs passed by with their owners who had them on a leash. They passed by Broccoli's group and said 'Hi' or 'Evening', to which Broccoli and the other four replied back. Broccoli sighed and pulled his gaze away from the closing stands. However, as he did, his brown eyes landed on something hanging out of a street trash can or bin while James, Ebony, Daisy and Collette continued talking. Curiosity welling within him, especially as he saw something familiar on the top page, Broccoli trotted over to the bin, reared onto his hind feet and pulled out the magazine that had caught his gaze. Collette, Daisy, Ebony and James saw Broccoli pull something out of the bin.

"Broccoli, what are you doing?" asked Collette slightly crossly.

"You know you shouldn't be digging around in street bins," said James, "You never know what dirt you may get your paws in."

"And your owners Susan and Lucy will certainly not be pleased if you go home with dirtied paws," said Ebony. Broccoli ignored them and began to look at the magazine. Curiosity also took hold of the other four mammals and they gathered around the tabby cat as he began to look through it. It was a science magazine and it had a familiar looking building on it, like the one at Susan and her family's cottage when Sandalwood and the others were visiting before his incident. Recognition also fired up within the cat's sisters and the two greyhounds.

"It's that Paradise Sanctuary place in Peru again," said Ebony, "Looks like they've released another article about their conservation area."

"Is this the latest science mag though?" asked Daisy. Broccoli checked the date of issue on the front page of the magazine and saw that it was. He confirmed to the other four with a nod.

"Yes, this is definitely the latest release of the science mag series alright," he said. He then put a paw to the page and turned it. James gazed at the darkening sky.

"We honestly shouldn't be out here too long," he said, "It's time we head back."

"Yes, our clubbers will be expecting us, as will Nevado and Pelusa," said Ebony.

"As will our owners," put in Daisy. Collette nodded in agreement. Broccoli, however, was too consumed by curiosity to listen though he was aware that it was getting late and that the mammals should head back. Around the group, humans and vehicles continued passing by, going either home or to various destinations. Broccoli then began to read the next page, which was about the Sanctuario del Paradíso and its progress when something caught his eye.

"We have rescued some macaw chicks of the very rare and critically endangered Spix, glaucous and Lear's species…" he said in a low voice. This made Ebony, James, Daisy and Collette stiffen.

"Read that again," said James urgently. Broccoli did so and repeated the text. He also read more of the text. "We have some macaw chicks of the very rare and critically endangered Spix, glaucous and Lear's species, as well as a Cuban red macaw chick and a Dominican green-and-yellow macaw chick, both of which are part of two species thought to have gone extinct in Central America in the last century…"

Daisy, Collette, Ebony and James exchanged glances and then turned back to Broccoli as he read on. "In addition, we have rescued a chick of a species of a living feathered dinosaur known as _Microraptor modern_ and a recently discovered purple-and-pink macaw…"

James and Ebony repeated the words by mouthing them. For some reason, those two words, along with 'Cuban red macaw chick and a Dominican green-and-yellow macaw chick' sounded familiar. As the two greyhounds and Daisy and Collette began to pinpoint the source of familiarity in their minds, Broccoli's eyes travelled to the picture section when his eyes landed on something.

"Is that bat one of the pups of Carla, Bia, Tiago and their company's flying fox friends?" he blurted out, drawing the other four's attention to the image. He then pointed to the picture of a bat pup. Ebony, James, Daisy and Collette gazed at the bat pup and saw that it had amber fur and black membranous wings. In the adjacent picture, the group saw a few blue macaw chicks. One of the chicks bore a striking resemblance to Bia but had bright blue feathers. Collette's eyes picked out the chick's facial markings and saw that they resembled Virgil's. Another chick resembled a darker version of Jewel with azure blue feathers while a third chick sported a pair of pigtail-like crests and bore a strong resemblance to Matilda. As the five cats and greyhounds stared at the image, recognition was boiling within them, and Broccoli frowned.

"Are those three the offspring of Blu and Jewel's two daughters and son and their mates?" he asked suspiciously.

"One of the chicks looks almost like Matilda," said James.

"That bright blue chick looks a lot like Bia except that it has facial markings like those of Justin and Virgil," said Collette, a paw pointing to said chick. James then gazed at a set of images taken of some chicks at various angles. One of the chicks looked like a scarlet macaw but had burgundy or brown upper wing coverts, a splash of amber on its nape as viewed from behind. Another chick was vivid green and yellow with red surrounding their eyes and some red on their wings and tails. A third had purple plumage with a pink front, aqua blue chest and tail tips and flecks of more aqua blue on its head, while the fourth bore a very strong resemblance to Spyro with metallic purple feathers but with metallic green patches strewn through its plumage. The three cats and two greyhounds exchanged shocked glances. They had seen a group of creatures of the final chick's species before, and Broccoli remembered talking to an amber furred flying fox pup about a magazine before he ended up grounded after an incident.

"We'd better take this back to Blu's group right away," said Broccoli urgently, "They HAVE to see this… NOW"

"But Broccoli," protested James, "They'll be turning in for the night."

Broccoli, however, didn't care. "Let's just return to Tulio and Linda's cottage with this magazine," he said, "I believe those chicks are three of Blu, Jewel, Venus and Zephyr's grandkids and that amber flying fox is the pup of Carla and company's flying fox friends."

And with that, the tabby cat darted off down the street in the direction of Tulio and Linda's cottage. Collette and Daisy followed as did Ebony and James. As they left, James flashed Ebony a glance.

"You go to our club and tell Pelusa, Nevado and our clubbers that I'll be very late, Ebony," he commanded, "And that I have an important issue to discuss with our bird friends."

Ebony nodded and departed from the group and in the direction of the cats and dogs' samba club while the other four dashed off to Tulio and Linda's cottage… and Blu and company's place of stay, the magazine in tow.


	42. Chapter 41

**Chapter 41- a violent attack from a flock of vengeful birds**

 **Meanwhile**

Blu and company had just finished their dinner and put the kids to bed and were preparing to turn themselves in for the night. The sun had almost completely set and the night's darkness had almost consumed the daylight. Bright speckles of stars were also emerging from the sun's glaring light while a partial moon hovered somewhere in the sky like a silvery bauble. The last of Blu's group had retreated into their birdhouses and hollows with Stella and Soren joining Augustus, Melissa, Anabelle, Sebastian and Ferdinand in their tree, seeing that there was no point in staying in the burrow beneath the tree due to Sandalwood's absence, after saying goodnight to each other and the others in Blu's group. The albino daughter and her mate snuggled up to Augustus and Melissa and also Sebastian and Anabelle sombrely as the grief over Sandalwood and Acerola's loss returned and overshadowed the comedic moments they had had in humiliating Nigel. In the birdhouses and hollows, the still-grief burdened bird families had settled down, the remaining kids having decided to sleep with their parents instead of in their own compartments.

In Bia's family's birdhouse, Bia snuggled sombrely against Virgil with her wings draping Einstein and Miles. The family missed Sirius greatly. It was like having a gaping hole in the family and this was mirrored in the other families that had lost chicks. Carla, Justin, Sonia and Melody felt incomplete without Spica; Tiago, Bartholomew and Matilda felt incomplete without Bellatrix and so on, but those who truly felt incomplete were those who have lost their entire broods or only sons or daughters to the poachers, such as Europa and Byron, and they were snuggled up in their birdhouses grieving their missing triplet chicks, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka; Neytiri and Charon who had lost both Denebola and Saiph; Aiden and Blueberry who had lost their only son Saiph, and Phoebe and Squaw'tagnan who had lost their only daughter Arcturus, and of course Stella and Soren who had lost Sandalwood. They had hoped that the kids hadn't been taken too far. From his birdhouse, Blu gazed sadly at the other birdhouses sorrowfully while Jewel settled down in her and Blu's nest behind him.

"The massive problem of the kidnapped kids' whereabouts certainly is burdening our offspring with grief, I can tell you Blu," said Jewel sadly, before her voice tone changed to one of smugness and satisfaction, "But at least those bratty toucans are getting caught by our human friends. Hopefully, the population will be reduced to a reasonable number so that the other residents can move back into their original homes without the worry of competition and trouble."

Blu sighed and retreated into the birdhouse and settled down beside his mate.

"I know my one and only precious gemstone," he said sadly and tiredly, "At least the Linda's orange bat colony's toucan problem has been removed and that they've got some helpers," he thought of Andromeda and Rouge, Travis and Sunset. Because Andromeda had opted to help the orange bats and Eragon was still at Tulio's Aviary, Spyro, Marella and Bambi will have to spend the night by themselves in the coming few nights. Jewel nodded in agreement and prepared to snuggle up beside her mate. In the other birdhouses, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Ceres, Pluto and Roberto also prepared to do the same with their mates Sapphire, Zephyr, Chiquitita, Ruby, Orquidea, Esmeralda, Ultramarine, Cobalto, Lapis Lazuli and Brisa though Jupiter and Ruby had a very depressed Io with them and Neptune and Ultramarine had Violet, their youngest daughter, with them.

In Jupiter and Ruby's hollow, Io was staring into the night and the almost complete sunset, tears falling from her eyes. Like Sheldon, grief and regret was boiling within her. Out of all the birds and the flying foxes, Io felt the worst. Not only was the gaping hole caused by Betelgeuse and Rigel's disappearance painfully existed within her, but also the absence of Sheldon as well. One thing was repeating in her heartbroken mind: 'What have I done?' after all, Io had been the one to drive Sheldon away. Sofia's scathing remarks had stretched Io and Sheldon's relationship to its breaking point, and Io, due to the combined rage and heartbreak caused by the trauma of seeing her daughters Betelgeuse and Rigel caught in that trap alongside the other missing kids thanks to the attack of Marco, Sofia and their comrades including Anastasia and Marcel, Marco and Sofia's mates respectively, along with Ganymede getting hurt during the subsequent skirmish with the poachers and the crows and dogs and their successful fleeing with their loot in tow, and now Sofia's acidic remarks, had been pushed over the edge to the point of taking it out on Sheldon. She had not been in the right frame of mind to help in the tasks and had to stay behind with Ónix the red-tailed black cockatoo to look after her while Jupiter, Ruby, Byron, Athos, Callisto and Europa were out helping to catch the toucans. Now Io was racked with regret at driving Sheldon away, especially as Jupiter and Ruby had explained to her that it was not her and Sheldon's fault, or anyone else's fault for that matter that Sandalwood and the other kids have gone missing. As Io's mind continued to flail like a fish caught in a net in the chaotic current of grief and regret, flashbacks of her happy life as a mother before the incident then began to play in her head.

The hatching of Betelgeuse and Rigel with Sheldon by her side and with Jupiter, Ruby, Europa, Byron, Ganymede, Mimas, Callisto, Athos and the other macaws and friends including Stella, Soren, Sebastian, Luna and Anabelle looking on flashed in the depressed scarlet macaw's mind, followed by the flashbacks of seeing the two girls learn to fly and then subsequently seeing both girls play with the other chicks, among them some Spix macaw chicks, and some flying fox pups, laughing heartily, and also, when Io, Sheldon, Betelgeuse and Rigel posed for a picture before Lucy who snapped a picture of them with her Ipad. As these memories played in her mind, Io's eyes began to weep, her emotions began to boil and overflow and eventually, she began to break down once again. Her face buried into her wings and sobs began to escape her beak. Io felt so depressed that she felt she couldn't live for much longer.

"I'm sorry Sheldon," cried the scarlet macaw, "I'm truly sorry for taking my anger out on you. I just want you back. Please come back…" and with that, she entered another uncontrollable sobbing episode. Her sobs roused the attention of Jupiter and Ruby and they looked on sympathetically, especially as Sheldon's name continued to escape her beak in broken fragments, and as she gazed tearfully into the night and wishing that he were flying towards the hollow.

"I know how it feels to deeply regret driving away the one you deeply love," said Jupiter in a low voice to Ruby, "I remember this happening once to Zephyr and Venus before they had Justin, Charlotte, Matilda and Virgil when some jealous and spiteful green-winged macaws gossiped about them in an attempt to tear them apart but when they were given a good talk and those macaws were dealt with, both Zephyr and Venus deeply regretted and made up."

"This could be the initial step to our daughter and half scarlet son-in-law's road to making up," whispered Ruby hopefully. Jupiter nodded in agreement and continued to watch Io sob her eyes out, before finally rising and going over to her to comfort her. As he approached her, Io heard him but she did not turn to look at him.

"You and Ebony were right about Sofia's spiteful remarks being a pack of lies," she sobbed in a broken voice, "It wasn't Sheldon's fault at all and it wasn't stupid of us to have Betelgeuse and Rigel in the first place," Io's emotions then finally erupted, "Oh, how I wish I hadn't said those horrible things to him!"

And with that, Io began to break down hard. Jupiter came up to her and pulled his daughter into a hug. Ruby came and joined the hug.

"There, there, Io," said Jupiter gently, as Io sobbed in both her parents' wings, "We all say things we regret."

"Yes, even the best and truly devoted couples sometimes have arguments, sometimes even heated arguments," said Ruby. Io then tearfully gazed at her parents. "Will Sheldon forgive me?" she asked.

"I'm sure he will," said Jupiter, before his gaze hardened with determination, "And after we've dealt with the toucan problem and the problem with the poachers, we'll resume searching for Sandalwood and the other kids," Jupiter sighed. 'We've just GOT to find them,' he thought, 'We've just GOT to'. He could not bear to see his daughters and son and their mates, and also the others, grieve the loss of their chicks and pups for much longer and Jupiter and Ruby vowed to find those missing kids even if it meant searching all over the world. Jupiter and Ruby continued to comfort Io as she continued to sob and weep. However, that moment was about to be shattered.

While the scarlet mother, father and daughter continued to remain in their family embrace, the daughter still weeping and gaining control of her sobbing, a shout was heard from outside, yanking the trio's attention to outside. Jupiter glared suspiciously outside but then a bump sounded against the tree trunk, making him, Ruby and a tearstained eyed Io flinch harshly. Ruby's face twisted into a scowl.

"Now what!?" she growled under her breath. Jupiter then annoyingly stormed towards the hollow entrance. Io attempted to follow but Ruby prevented her.

"Stay here, Io," she said firmly, "Let Jupiter investigate."

Io reluctantly obeyed her mother's command and stayed by her side and watched as Jupiter angrily but cautiously approached the hollow entrance. In Bia and her family's birdhouse, Bia, Virgil, Einstein and Miles were also made aware of some shouts from outside, followed by a pump as something struck their birdhouse. The four Spix macaws flinched and the two chicks cowered in Bia's wings.

"What's that?" asked Bia timidly to Virgil. Virgil, at this, flashed Bia a concerned glance.

"Stay here with the boys, Bia," he said and cautiously began to approach the entrance of the birdhouse like how Jupiter did in the hollow. In the other birdhouses and hollows, the other macaws, and also Augustus, Spyro and the other flying foxes, archaeobirds and bat-birds were roused by shouts and noises of something hard against the sides of the birdhouses and hollows. The shouts also increased but those shouts were not laced with kindness or sympathy. They were saturated with the complete opposite. Augustus then commanded Melissa to stay with Stella, Soren, Sebastian, Anabelle, Ferdinand, Spyro, Marella, Bambi and the bat-birds while he went to investigate. Ferdinand timidly cowered against his mother's breast as Anabelle watched Augustus as he, while hanging from the branch by his feet, slowly creep towards a cluster of leaves. Augustus slowly parted some leaves with a membranous wing and looked out at the sources of the shouts but the moment his eyes landed on them, his heart sank and his blood froze. The same was repeated for Virgil, Jupiter, and also Zephyr, Sapphire, Mars, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Cobalto, Pluto and Roberto and Justin, Tiago, Jojo, Felix, Lavender and the rest of the group as more and more bumps sounded against their birdhouses and hollows.

Hovering near the trees and birdhouses where Blu and company stayed was a flock of black birds with white or cream-red fronts and large orange and black, lime green and magenta or mixed coloured beaks. From those beaks erupted shouts saturated with pure acid, malice and corrosive venom far more poisonous than any snake venom or other acid while the eyes above the beaks were flooded with a highly acidic, vitriolic brew of pure hatred, rage, scorn, malice and other negative, malicious words that would take too long to list, as they glared at the birdhouses and hollows and their occupants. In the talons of those birds was a large leaf bag and out of the leaf bag came hard, grey things which were taken out by more talons and hurled at the birdhouses and hollows along with the snake venom of abuse from the owners' beaks.

From his birdhouse, Tiago picked out some familiar birds but the moment he did, hot fear tore through him.

"Marco, Sofia, Anastasia, Marcel…" he murmured. Behind him, Matilda and Bartholomew who cowered together also shuddered. They knew those names meant one thing…

The birds, which were indeed Sofia, Marco, Anastasia, Marcel and many of their comrades, continued hurling a huge torrent of venomous abuse at Blu and company while throwing more stones at the birdhouses and hollows. Jupiter looked on with a stunned look on his face but what came out of one of the toucans' beaks made his blood freeze, alongside the blood of the birds who had remaining kids.

"WHERE ARE YOUR WORTHLESS KIDS?" bellowed one of the toucans, one of Sofia and Marco's siblings. Tiago flinched and jumped back into the birdhouse while Matilda huddled the frightened Bartholomew closer to her. "SEND 'EM OUT RIGHT NOW SO THAT WE CAN KILL 'EM!"

"YEAH, ESPECIALLY AFTER WHAT YOU GOOD-FOR-NOTHING THIEVES HAVE DONE TO OUR KIDS!" shouted another toucan. In his and Jewel's birdhouse, Blu felt threatened, the safety of the other kids flaring within him. Jewel then stormily stomped over to the entrance and peered out but her fury turned to horror when she saw one of the abusive toucans, Marcel, boldly fly towards one of the birdhouses which she recognised as Carla and Justin's birdhouse and, with his beak spewing venom and without hesitation, began thumping his talons and flapping furiously against the wood of the birdhouse in an attempt to break into Jewel's daughter and son-in-law's birdhouse.

"BRING OUT YA DAUGHTERS YA FAT (Bleeps)!" bellowed the spiteful toucan as he continued beating the birdhouse with his talons. Inside, Carla flinched at the scathing word and huddled the frightened Sonia and Melody closer to her while Justin screeched, "GO AWAY!"

Marcel, however, released a devilish laugh and continued to force his way into the birdhouse which was shut off at the entrance. Then the other toucans approached the other hollows and birdhouses and began to viciously beat their wings, beaks and talons against them as well, shouting at the terrified birds within and striking fear and terror into the chicks. Augustus saw two of the toucans fly in his direction, one of them armed with stones. Alarmed, he turned to Melissa and the others and the archaeobirds.

"Get Ferdinand, Bambi and the bat-birds outa here, now!" he commanded. Without a moment's delay, Melissa, Soren and Stella, Sebastian and Anabelle, with Ferdinand clutched to her breast, all dropped into flight while Spyro and Marella began to order Bambi and the bat-birds out of the nest. As the bat-birds and the flying foxes hastily departed, a stone flew in and almost struck Anabelle in the back, making her shriek and Ferdinand to clutch to her breast in fear. Augustus, terror flaring within him, flashed an alarmed look and saw the two toucans as they glared maliciously at the group, venom spewing from their beaks. Then one of the toucans lunged forward and viciously tackled Soren in the back, sending him into a clumsy flutter while the other continued hurling stones at the others. Augustus and Melissa, a furious hiss escaping their mouths, then lunged at the two toucans and slashed their faces with their foot claws, making the toucans throw their heads in the direction of the claw swipes, before retreating after the others. However, their defensive attacks did not deter the toucans and one of them, the male, retaliated by jumping onto Augustus's back and tearing out some of his head fur while the other chased Melissa.

"DAD!" cried Stella. Then Sebastian flew in and tried to ward off the toucan attacking Augustus and tearing out his head hair but the toucan lunged at him and head-butted the albino bat square in the chest.

"(bleep) off, ya white lab-rat with wings!" bellowed the toucan maliciously as he did it and watched Sebastian plummet towards the floor, his wings clasped to his chest and his face twisted in pain. However, Soren swooped down and caught his albino brother-in-law just before he slammed into the ground before retreating after the others. Augustus, with strands of hair falling from his head, then hastily retreated as the two toucans continued to hurl abuse and stones at him.

While Augustus, Spyro and the others made a hasty departure from their tree, Jewel had launched herself at Marcel as he continued threatening Carla and tackled him away.

"YOU LEAVE MY DAUGHTER AND HER FAMILY ALONE AT ONCE, you INSOLENT MENACE!" she bellowed and with that, she began to unleash her fury on Marcel by viciously slashing her talons and biting him. Marcel screeched and tried to defend himself but Jewel's talons slashed over his wings and tore out some feathers. Then suddenly, an extremely loud screech exploded behind Jewel and before she could stop and think who that was, a black and reddish comet shot in and tackled the Spix macaw away.

"YOU leave my mate alone, you (BLEEP)!" bellowed Sofia as she knocked Jewel away from Marcel. Jewel went careening towards the tree trunk above Carla's birdhouse and slammed into it. Blu and some of the others flinched in horror as they watched the Spix macaw then flop down limply onto the roof of the birdhouse. Horror tearing through them, Blu, along with Zephyr, Venus, Roberto and Brisa, flapped like mad out of their hollows and birdhouses and shot over to Jewel.

"JEWEL!" cried Blu as he touched down beside his limp mate. Marcel and Sofia looked on with unsympathetic glares as Jewel's limp body became swallowed up by five more Spix macaws. Zephyr picked up Jewel's head and upper body and felt her pulse. Luckily, and to the especial relief of Blu and Roberto, Jewel still had a pulse and was breathing.

"She's unconscious, but she's okay," said Zephyr. Suddenly, a grey missile flew in and slammed against the tree trunk, narrowly missing Venus and Roberto by centimetres. In their alarm, these two, along with Blu, Zephyr and Brisa, shot the throwers of the stone an alarmed look, Roberto with his crest feathers spiked wildly all over the place. Three toucans had flown in and were now throwing stones at the group. Venus then flashed a fiery, outraged look at Marcel and Sofia as they looked on with mean grins on their beaks but Zephyr tapped her on the back of the head, especially as he saw more toucans bang and beat on the other birdhouses, spewing acidic threats at the birds within.

"You go round and evacuate everyone while we take Jewel to safety!" commanded Zephyr. Venus, without a second's delay, nodded and took to the air with Brisa following while Blu, Zephyr and Roberto carried the unconscious Jewel away, Blu deflecting some of the stones flung by the toucans with his talons to protect his limp mate and two friends, but not without extreme pain as he kicked the hard things away and his face twisted. In the cottage, Tulio and Linda continued their usual activities when Linda heard the sounds of frantic squawking. At this, she stopped feeding Tommy and paused to listen. Tulio and Fernando had also heard the sounds of screeching and squawking.

"What in the world?" she whispered.

Back outside, chaos had erupted. After helping Zephyr and Roberto carry Jewel away, Blu returned to help Venus and Brisa evacuate the group as the group of toucans launched their assault full throttle. Screeches of acidic threats erupted like a volcanic plume into the night air and bangs and slams from talons, stones and beaks beating on wood continued to echo. Blu tackled the toucans trying to force their way into Carla's birdhouse and began to help Carla and Justin, who had an extremely terrified Melody and Sonia clutched in their talons, to escape. The oldest daughter of Blu and Jewel and her mate then hastily emerged from their birdhouse and took to the air. When a vermillion, yellow and turquoise blur came in and helped to ward off the toucans as they tried getting at Sonia and Melody.

"Follow Iapetus, Rhea, Io and Ruby!" commanded Jupiter as he helped Blu deal with the marauding toucans. Carla nodded and began to leave with Justin, Sonia and Melody in the direction of two blue and yellow and two red forms hovering in the air. Stones flew at Carla and company but Justin handed Melody to Carla and began to deflect the projectiles threatening to hit his mate and his two remaining daughters. One stone flew in and slammed into Justin's head, throwing his head into a brief daze.

"JUSTIN, come ON!" bellowed Carla. Shaking himself to recover, Justin rocketed after his mate and daughters as they flew towards Ruby, Io, Iapetus and Rhea hovering in the air.

Nearby, Brisa and Venus helped Bia and Virgil carry Miles and Einstein to safety from their birdhouse. However, the toucans, among them Marco, managed to fight their way past the two Spix macaws and attack Virgil and Bia, laughing devilishly. Virgil, the instinctive urge to protect his mate and sons taking control, his eyes blazing blue-green fire and his electric blue feathers spiked out like a pufferfish's spines, retaliated full force and entered into a savage aerial catfight with Marco. Black and electric blue feathers and some drops of blood flew everywhere as the Spix macaw and toucan slashed their talons over each other, screeching loudly and wrathfully. While Virgil engaged Marco in combat and Brisa and Venus were occupied with some more toucans, Marco's mate, Anastasia, lunged at Bia who held Miles and Einstein in her talons. Bia let loose a frightened scream and began to try and get to safety but Anastasia viciously tackled into her, making her drop Miles and Einstein.

"BIA!" cried Virgil as he held Marco by the throat with his talons while Marco continued dolling out slashes in an attempt to slash his opponent, his brown eyes ablaze with firestorms. Miles and Einstein went plummeting from Bia's talons and down toward earth, screaming and flailing. Anastasia, an evil grin on her face then swooped down to seize to the Spix macaw chicks but she was suddenly intercepted by a blue comet. Blu had come in and had tackled Anastasia away, much to the toucan's shock. After sending Anastasia into a clumsy flap, Blu swooped down and seized his two grandsons before surging back up towards Bia and Virgil just as Virgil had slashed Marco across the wing and crippled him enough to render him unable to fly properly and as Venus and Brisa had managed to ward off the toucans.

"Here, get these two to safety QUICK!" commanded Blu to Bia and Virgil. Bia seized the extremely frightened Miles and Einstein and charged off after Ruby and Iapetus who waited in the air, Virgil, who was covered in a few bleeding scratches and torn out feathers, following.

Nearby, Mars and Chiquitita had helped Tiago and Matilda to safety with Bartholomew but one of the toucans had viciously attacked Matilda and had stolen the chick. Matilda tried flying after the toucan but was pelted by rocks.

"Matilda, come ON!" shouted Mars, his eyes tight shut as rocks flew at his face and upper body while Chiquitita shot off after the toucan who made off with a screaming Bartholomew. The toucans throwing the rocks continued spewing acidic abuse at the group as Matilda was forced to retreat after Tiago. After successfully rescuing Tiago and Matilda from their birdhouse, Mars moved on Charlotte's family but Charlotte and Músculo had already lost Jason, one of the toucans having managed to kidnap him, and Músculo had been slashed on the wing. Unable to carry her burly mate due to his weight, Charlotte shot Mars a terrified look.

"I'll carry him to Iapetus and Rhea while Chiquitita rescues your son," commanded Mars, "You get yourself to safety."

Charlotte, tears of terror and heartbreak leaking from her eyes, obeyed and shot off in Ruby, Iapetus and Rhea's direction while Mars seized Músculo, who clasped his slashed wing and was bleeding, and followed.

Mercury and Sapphire, along with Phoebe and Squaw'tagnan, had managed to escape from a volley of rocks and acidic words of abuse thrown at them by another group of toucans, among them Miguel. As the four Lear's macaws made their hasty retreat, Squaw'tagnan was struck on the wing by a rock but Sapphire had seized her son-in-law before he could plummet. After seizing her daughter's mate, Sapphire flew after Mercury and Phoebe.

"WHAT IS GOING ON!?" bellowed Squaw'tagnan as he grasped his struck wing in agony, "We did NOTHING TO PROVOKE THEM!"

"Let's just GET TO SAFETY!" retorted Sapphire, her eyes screwed shut as more stones flew her and her son-in-law's way. Hastily, Sapphire, with Squaw'tagnan in her talons, flew off after Mercury and Phoebe. Nearby, Phobos, Deimos, Alexandre and Estelle rocketed after Ruby with Xander and Kayley in their talons but Deimos was knocked into Estelle by a toucan who tackled him into his sister-in-law. Jolted by the impact from Deimos, Estelle lost her grip on her son and daughter but Phobos flew in and managed to seize Xander. However, Kayley was seized by a toucan and carried off, screaming in fright. Phobos, fury exploding within him, then handed Alexandre Xander and began to rocket off after the toucan despite the risks.

"Phobos, get back here," barked Alexandre, "Phobos? Phobos!? PHOBOS!"

However, his smaller brother did not hear and continued chasing after the toucan who had Kayley, screeching all kinds of vitriolic threats at Kayley's kidnapper, something he would never, ever do and that his parents would have cuffed him if he ever said those things as a chick. Seeing that there was no point in calling Phobos back and seeing that his mate needed help in carrying Xander to safety, Alexandre retreated after her and Deimos. Jupiter was flapping from one hollow or birdhouse to the next helping the others get to safety and deflecting the flying rocks flung by the toucans. He helped Byron, Europa, Callisto and Athos (who had a terrified Katniss in his talons), out of their birdhouses or hollows while helping to fend off the marauding toucans before turning his attention to Saturn's family.

Saturn and Orquidea were helping Enceladus and his hyacinth mate Trixie into the air from their hollow while at the same time fending off more attacking, venom spewing toucans when Saturn's gaze caught sighed a glimpse of a pair of familiar humans in the garden, alongside two familiar shouts of horror that were picked up by his ears. At this, the blue-and-gold macaw flashed those humans a glance and saw, to his surprise and horror, Tulio and Linda standing there, mouths wide open and eyes inflated with sheer disbelief. However, the two humans found themselves under attack by some of the vicious toucans and they began to flap like a flock of magpies around the head ornithologist and his wife's heads and upper bodies and landing slashes and bites on them. Curses and shouts erupted from Tulio and Linda as they covered their heads with their hands. Saturn flashed Orquidea a look as she helped Titan, Brooke and Poppy out of their hollow with one of the toucans trying to attack Brooke who carried Poppy, who was extremely petrified, in her talons.

"I have to help Tulio and Linda!" he barked and with that, he rocketed off and swooped down towards Tulio and Linda, leaving Orquidea to rescue Porthos, Dione and Peter. Dione managed to escape with Peter in her talons, narrowly escaping a volley of flying rocks and a tackle from a toucan but Porthos was clawed across the chest, before being subsequently battered by a large beak from a toucan to the face. Dazed, Porthos plummeted towards earth but he was seized immediately by Titan and Ariel and then carried to safety.

Nearby, Jojo and Kira made a hasty retreat with Winona with Blu helping to deflect the rocks thrown by the toucans but one of the rocks managed to fly past Blu and strike Kira in the back, much to Blu's horror.

"KIRA!" cried the Spix macaw but a lush blue blur shot in and caught Kira before she could go plummeting to the ground. Roberto then flashed Blu a look. Blu nodded in thanks and continued deflecting the flying rocks, while Roberto took Kira and Jojo, who had Winona cowering in his talons, to safety. Felix and Turquesa escaped with the former carrying Diego in his talons and the latter with Austin while Lavender, Garrett and Lilac escaped. However, one of the toucans tackled Turquesa and made her drop Austin. Then the toucan seized Austin and rocketed away. Turquesa went to give chase but she found herself confronted by a wall of toucans, all with pure malice and insanity saturating their glares and their talons armed with more rocks and sticks.

"THIS IS FOR OUR MANY, MANY KIDS, you GOOD-FOR-NOTHING (bleeps)!" snarled one of them and with that, they surged forward and attempted to beat Turquesa with the rocks and sticks but a green, blue, red and yellow blur shot in and nabbed her out of the volley's way just in time. Esmeralda had flown in and had rescued Turqeusa and despite her protests, began to carry her to safety. Uranus helped Titania, Ash, Miranda, Aramis, Umbriel, Benjamin, Tethys and Oberon out of their birdhouses and hollows as well but a massive wave of toucans flew in and attacked the group. Titania and Ash were violently struck by large orange, black, lime green and magenta beaks and Basil was stolen away; Benjamin, his green eyes he had got from Felipe blazing fire and his beak releasing volcanically wrathful screeches lashed at more toucans as they tried attacking Umbriel as she tried to carry Perdita and Cecil to safety but one of the toucans managed to pluck Cecil out of the great green macaw's talons and flee, an evil cackle escaping its large beak; Aramis was narrowly struck by a stick from another toucan but he managed to escape with Miranda, and Uranus faced a massive volley of stones, sticks and talon slashes as he tried protecting his family and buy them enough time to escape.

Nearby, Azul and Fernanda, together with Ceres and Cobalto, Ellie, Frodo, Pluto, Lapis Lazuli, Charon, Neytiri, Blueberry and Aiden, desperately tried to escape the marauding toucans with Oceano, Olivia and Achilles in tow but Azul and Fernanda were attacked and Oceano was taken; Ellie was clawed across the back and Achilles was snaffled; and Charon and his family were violently attacked. Crow-like cackles erupted from the toucans as they viciously attacked the glaucous macaws. Pluto and Lapis Lazuli began to ward o0ff the toucans by swiping them with their wings and lashing their talons at them.

"I KNEW it would COME TO THIS EVENTUALLY!" bellowed Lapis Lazuli as she knocked a stick-armed toucan away with a wing.

"THEY'RE OBVIOUSLY OUT FOR REVENGE AGAINST US TAKING THEIR CHICKS!" barked Pluto as he dodged a swipe of a stick wielded by another toucan. Suddenly, a scream erupted from behind the couple, but it froze their blood into ice.

"NEYTIRI!" came Charon, Aiden and Blueberry's voices at the same time, alongside the anguished cries of Ellie and Fernanda as they looked for their missing chicks. At this, Pluto and Lapis Lazuli snapped round and when they saw a familiar glaucous macaw with her crest feathers tied in a plait fall, one wing clasping her other wing and her face twisted in sheer agony, horrified gasps were drawn in through Pluto and Lapis Lazuli's beaks. Pluto swooped down after Neytiri while Lapis Lazuli began to help the others to safety. As Pluto caught Neytiri in his talons, the glaucous macaw released a screech of agony.

"MY WIIIING!" she bellowed. Pluto, at this, began to try and check Neytiri's wings but a another volley of stones flew at him, alongside a massive torrent of venomous abuse from a flock of orange, black, lime green and magenta beaks, he had no choice but to take Neytiri to safety.

"We'll check your wing later," said Pluto and with that, he retreated with Neytiri carefully in his talons after the others.

Nearby, Neptune and Ultramarine were struggling under another violent storm cloud of toucans. Some were on the massive hyacinth macaws' backs and strangling them, cackling evilly while some of the others attacked the pair from the front. While Neptune and Ultramarine struggled with the toucans, Triton, Iris, Indigo, Victor and Violet began to fly to safety. However, Triton lost his bandana in the process, having been seized by one of the toucans as it attempted to bite him only to grab his leaf bandana and then yank it away, exposing his damaged left facial side, the permanent souvenir Triton had been forced to bear since the Battle for the Sanctuary de Amazon with the colony flying foxes when protecting Sebastian, Stella and Luna when they were young. However, he was too consumed with alarm and the safety of himself, Iris and the others to care and began to help them escape, especially young, and an extremely terrified, Violet.

"Look OUT!" cried Indigo. At this, the other four hyacinth macaws all looked up and to their horror; they saw a group of five toucans swoop down on them in a V-shape, their claws poised for attacking. At this, Victor took off his fruit shell hat and tossed it at the leading toucan. The fruit shell struck the toucan square in the face and sent him into a tailspin, colliding with the other four toucans and sending them into a disoriented flight. Indigo, Victor, Violet, Triton and Iris all scattered as the five toucans dropped chaotically past them before regrouping. Then the five retreated with Neptune and Ultramarine, her face bearing a nasty scratch, following and their pursuers chasing them, torrents of acidic abuse spewing from their big, colourful beaks at the hyacinth macaws and more stones flying from their talons.

The chaos continued to rage. The toucans even went for Tulio and Linda's cottage and began to throw stones at the windows like maniacal vandals, cackles escaping their beaks. Inside, Fernando huddled Tommy to his chest and cowered in a corner well away from the chaos. Tulio and Linda had commanded Fernando to look after Tommy while they went out to see what was going on. The young man gasped and huddled Tommy closer to him as a stone flew through the window and smashed it, sending shards of crystalline glass showering all over the kitchen floor and the carpet like ice shards. Terrified and fearing for the safety of his baby adopted brother, Fernando hastily stood up and dashed off for the hallway and then the room under the staircase where he bolted himself and Tommy from the chaos, especially as some of the deranged toucans forced their way into the cottage and began to ransack the place, throwing more rocks and fruit all over the place.

Outside, Tulio and Linda continued swiping sticks and their hands at the marauding toucans, but the toucans continued their relentless attack. One toucan swooped in and seized Linda by the ponytail while another stole her glasses, much to her outraged chagrin.

"Where's my cellphone!?" bellowed Tulio as he covered his face with his arms as more toucans tried biting and clawing at his face, receiving a great deal of scratches to the skin on his arms as the big-beaked birds continued flapping madly all over him and Linda. Nearby, Saturn began to help ward off the toucans from Tulio and Linda with Blu coming in to help. When Blu saw that Linda was struggling to see and that her glasses had been stolen and that her arms were flailing in the air as his human companion struggled to see, the toucans savagely flapping around her head, he turned to Saturn. "You find Tulio's cellphone while I help Linda."

With that, Blu took off to help Linda while Saturn darted off to find Tulio's cellphone. However, he had in mind to check on Fernando and Tommy first. Back in the air, Roberto and Brisa flew up to Jupiter and Ruby.

"Okay, everyone's out," said Roberto. However, Charon noticed that a certain group of birds was missing.

"Where are the COCKATOOS!?" he barked. At this, Jupiter, Ruby, Roberto and Brisa's bloods turned to ice. Eustace, Milo, Rosa, Serena, Clemont and Yolanda, Bruno, Peach and Oscar! Those cockatoos were still trapped in their birdhouse, the toucans trying to force their way in to attack them. As the toucans continued spewing abuse from outside, Eustace, Serena, Yolanda and Bruno huddled together as did Clemont, Rosa, Peach and Oscar and Milo. Their crests were all fully fanned out and their eyes were inflated with fear, and they were all too frightened to come out. Outside, Jupiter and Ruby flew in and managed to locate Eustace and company's birdhouse but it was swallowed up by as black cloud of feathers with colourful beaks and fronts spewing abuse and desperately trying to force their way in. horror flaring within him, Jupiter surged forward when Ruby let loose a horrified gasp.

"JUPITER!" she cried. At this, Jupiter turned and followed his mate's horrified gaze and when his gaze landed on what his mate had saw and screeched at, his blood froze into liquid nitrogen.

One of the toucans was flying towards Eustace and company's birdhouse with a stick but a glowing orange, flickering ball was on the end of it, his face twisted into a murderous look. Jupiter immediately recognised the glowing ball on the end of the stick. Andromeda and her clan sometimes carried sticks with those balls on the end during their night patrols but they were always, always, ALWAYS careful not to drop those sticks or let them come into contact with any of the vegetation or else disastrous consequences could result, and Jupiter knew all too well of the devastation it caused for the bird tribes, clans and groups in the Sanctuary de Amazon and also the flying fox colony. Jewel, Zephyr and Brisa, along with Tornado and Gael, the late parents of Zephyr and his sister, had been torn from the Spix macaw tribe by it, as had Ruby, Chiquitita and several other birds… and Venus had almost died in the most recent one. Snapping out of his horror, Jupiter surged towards the toucan with the stick and glowing orange ball but found himself blocked by some more of the toucans while Ruby was forced back by more of them. Desperation volcanically igniting within him, Jupiter peered through the gaps of the marauding toucans as they began to lash their claws at him to drive him back, Jupiter saw the glowing orange ball fly towards the birdhouse containing Eustace and the others and approach the roof of the birdhouse, the other toucans cackling evilly. The moment that orange ball made contact with the wood, the ball spread up the roof as though it were petrol; a flammable liquid Jupiter had seen before and knew caught fire easily. Outrage firing up within him like the lightning storms in the Great Red Spot, a stormy feature of his namesake planet, Jupiter barged through the toucan wall, sending the flock flying everywhere like leaves, and surged towards the ignited birdhouse of Eustace and company. As soon as he was close, the heat from the fire as it consumed the roof of the birdhouse stopped him in his tracks, alongside the horrified screeches of the cockatoos within. It was like hovering before a furnace but Jupiter was not going to let this fire burn Eustace and the others alive. After spotting a way in, the muscularly bolt vermillion scarlet macaw charged in. From the ground, Blu, as he helped Linda who was battered and bruised and struggling to feel her way due to her short-sightedness, to safety, looked up and to his horror; he saw a fireball emanating from one of the birdhouses. Then after a few frantic minutes, Jupiter kicked open the door to the main entrance of the birdhouse and, with young Oscar and Bruno in his talons, rocketed out with Eustace, Milo, Rosa, Selena and Clemont who carried Yolanda and Peach in their talons in tow before a piece of flaming wood crashed in front of the main entrance and closed it off completely. The toucans looked on in utter shock.

Jupiter then handed Oscar and Bruno to the adult cockatoos and barked at them to fly to safety. Milo, who was badly shaken along with the other cockatoos from almost getting burned alive, nodded, took the young boys and rocketed off after the rest of Blu's group while Jupiter turned his attention to Tulio and Linda but he had a massive storm of wrath raging within him as he glared viciously at the toucans. Setting Eustace and company's birdhouse alight had been the last leaf. Inside the cottage, many of the toucans continued their rampage through the rooms, throwing rocks and screeching as well as knocking off plates, cups and vases over or off the worktop, sending them crashing to the floor and smashing into pieces. Saturn hid under the table, a horrified look on his face as the toucans continued destroying and ransacking Tulio and Linda's cottage. He could not find Fernando and Tommy anywhere but Saturn had assumed that Fernando had retreated to upstairs but he had found Linda's cellphone, also called a mobile phone, in Linda's handbag, the first place that had come to his mind. As he watched the anarchy continue to rage through Tulio and Linda's kitchen and living room before gazing at the shattered window, the blue-and-gold macaw prepared to shoot outside and to Tulio. Then when the opportunity came, Saturn wasted no time and shot like an aqua blue and yellow rocket, the cellphone in his talons, towards the hole in the window while all the raging toucans' backs were turned to him. He narrowly escaped getting hit a flying cup but he still continued his rush form the window. As he approached the broken glass, Saturn folded his wings and charged right through it to avoid catching his wings on the extremely sharp ice-like shards of broken glass. However, Saturn felt something slash his left talon as he emerged from the house, followed by a searing pain from that talon. At this, the blue-and-gold macaw's face twisted and he stifled a screech of agony, and flopped down onto the grass. As Saturn rolled over, he gazed down at his left talon and to his horror; he saw that it was bleeding, the blood gushing from a gash in his foot. Saturn then deduced that he must have caught his foot on one of the glass shards on his way out through the window, but he had Linda's mobile phone clutched in his other talon. Suddenly, he heard Jupiter's voice.

"Saturn!" called the scarlet macaw. At this, Saturn looked up painfully and saw a pair of scarlet macaws and a Spix macaw touch down but when they saw that Saturn was wounded, horror flashed on the three's faces.

"Oh, no, SATURN!" barked Ruby and with that she, Jupiter and Blu rushed over to him. Saturn, despite the extreme pain from the slash on his left talon, He extended his right talon to Blu and handed him the phone.

"Get this to Tulio, quickly!" he managed to say. Blu, at this, seized the phone and rushed over to Tulio who had managed to take cover under a tree from the attacking toucans while Jupiter and Ruby began to move Saturn to safety before any toucans could find him, Ruby desperately trying to look for a leaf to quell Saturn's bleeding foot.

 **A few minutes later**

Broccoli, Daisy, Collette and James continued to shoot through the street towards Tulio and Linda's cottage, the magazine they had found containing pictures of some of the missing kids, among them Sandalwood, Sirius, Sylvester and Altair, in the Paradise Sanctuary part of it, in their clutches. James ran along ahead due to being a greyhound while Broccoli, Daisy and Collette charged at high speed behind, Broccoli carrying the mag in his mouth.

"We're almost there," shouted James at the front. This propelled the three cats behind the greyhound to run even faster. They were clearly very desperate to get to Blu and company pronto. However, they were in for a nasty surprise. As the familiar vicinity of Tulio and Linda's cottage and garden melted into view, James screeched to a halt. Broccoli, Collette and Daisy, seeing that their greyhound friend had abruptly stopped, also screeched to a halt, narrowly avoiding crashing into James's back. Then the three cats came to the front of James but they saw that the greyhound's eyes were bulging and his mouth was open in disbelief. The colour of the skin under the greyhound's facial fur had also drained to a deathly pale colour.

"James?" asked Collette but as she, Daisy and Broccoli, his mouth grasping the rolled up magazine, followed James's graze, their hearts plunged into freezing water.

"Good grief! What on EARTH had happened there!?" barked Collette in disbelief. Daisy, James and Broccoli were too saturated with flabbergast to even speak. Gathered before the greyhound and three cats was a fleet of vehicles; some with flashing blue lights. One of the blue-light bearers was a large red truck with a ladder on its top and bright colours marking its side. From this truck extended a pipe and the end of the pipe was held by a person dressed in brightly coloured clothing, a stream of water gushing out of its mouth at the trees from which smoke billowed. Near the red truck were some other trucks which Collette, Daisy, James and Broccoli identified as vans from Tulio's Aviary and an insurance truck. However, their eyes were on the smoke billowing from one of the trees and the jet of water flying towards it.

"Tulio and Linda's cottage has had a fire!?" shouted Daisy incredulously, having managed to form words. James, Collette and Broccoli did not reply. Instead, these three's legs sprang into action and the two cats and greyhound sped off, dread volcanically erupting within them. Dust was kicked up by the three animals' scrabbling paws as they launched into a frantic run, leaving behind Daisy who was late to start.

"Hey, you three, WAIT FOR MEEEEE!" screeched the caliby cat and with that, she charged off after her brother, sister and the greyhound.


	43. Chapter 42

**Chapter 42- the investigation part 1**

Broccoli (who carried the rolled up mag in his mouth), Collette and James all screeched to a halt, Daisy arriving moments later but as the three cats and greyhound stopped and gazed at Tulio and Linda's cottage, immense horror tore through them. Tulio and Linda's cottage was a disaster zone and looked as though a bomb had been detonated within it. The majority of the downstairs windows, those leading to the kitchen and living room, were smashed with shards of glass lying scattered all over the concrete floor and grass like sharp ice shards. Amongst the shards of glittering glass, grey lumps of rock lay scattered. Inside was much worse. Broken fragments of porcelain and glass from smashed cups, plates and vases littered the floors of the kitchen and living room and piles of dirt with plants sprouting from them lay in a mess by their broken containers. Nearby the ransacked cottage, in the trees, the birdhouses and hollows where Blu and company stayed looked a mess. Some of the birdhouses bore dents where rocky projectiles had struck but one particular birdhouse, the one Travis and his family stayed in during sleepovers with Blu and his family, was blackened to a charred pile of smoking wood, and was the part that had been on fire, especially based on the glowing orange lines marking the some of its corners and a few small flames dancing lazily in some parts of the construction. Broccoli, Daisy, Collette and James gazed at the pile of charred wood that remained of the cockatoos' birdhouse as a shower of high-pressured water gushed from the pipe held by a fireman as he dowsed the remains of the flames with the hose, before turning their attention to the humans.

The garden was dotted with workers dressed in the uniforms worn at Tulio's Aviary, net guns held in their hands and their eyes scanning the scene for any toucans. The team of firefighters stood by their fire engine operating the hose and the vehicle and checking that the fire hadn't spread while a group of humans from an insurance company inspected the damage to Tulio's Aviary and the birdhouses to determine which parts needed replacing. The three cats and greyhound's disbelieving eyes then found a group of familiar humans. At this, a horrified gasp entered Daisy's mouth.

"Tulio, Linda, Fernando, little Tommy!" she shouted and with that, she dashed off towards the four said humans, Broccoli, James and Collette following. As the quartet screeched to a stop near Tulio and his family, they saw that the lead ornithologist and his wife were being treated by some first-aiders from Tulio's Aviary for a number of scratches strewn over their faces, arms and upper bodies. Linda was missing her glasses and had two claw marks running dangerously close to her left eye, right through where her eyebrow would be. Linda, alongside Tulio and Fernando, were badly shaken and little Tommy was crying in Linda's arms, his mother trying to soothe and calm him, having been frightened by the nightmare Broccoli, Daisy, Collette and James were determined to find out.

"Looks as though Tulio and Linda had been in a fight with a bunch of cats," said Collette, commenting on the two humans' scratched appearances, before her gaze turned to Fernando and Tommy, "And those two looked like they had had a narrow escape from a bunch of intruders."

As she said this, Broccoli (his mouth still grasping the mag) felt his left-hind foot land on something. At this, the tabby cat turned and looked under his foot to see a sliver of black in the grass. A suspicious frown came upon his face and one of his paws went to pick up the thing. James and Daisy looked on in utter disbelief.

"Who in the world would DO THIS to Tulio and his family?" asked Daisy in a fragmented voice as the shock threatened to overwhelm her. Next to her, Broccoli glared at the sliver of black in his paw and saw that it was a feather.

"I don't know," said James, a look of outrage flaring on his face, "But whoever has done this is gonna be in a massive HEAP of trouble, I can tell you!"

"Where are Blu and the others?" asked Collette. Broccoli continued examining the black feather in his paw and began to pinpoint its source. He ruled out Ónix the red-tailed black cockatoo for Broccoli remembered that he was at his owner's house. He also ruled out Rafael, Diantha and Tom for they had moved to the place where the majority of the Blu Bird Sanctuary residents had evacuated to, to escape the rambunctious toucans. _Rambunctious toucans._ As those two words repeated in Broccoli's mind and changed his suspicious glare to an infuriated one as he continued examining the black feather, Daisy's voice snapped him back to reality. At this, the tabby cat shot his sister a look as she began to frantically search for a certain group of birds.

"Blu, where have you gone?" called the caliby cat. Collette and James were also searching around the vehicles and the humans for Blu and company and shouting their names as well. Dropping the feather and grasping the precious mag and its important information, Broccoli darted off after the other three to help in the search while Tulio, Linda and Fernando began to explain to a group of Tulio's Aviary employees what had happened when asked by one of them. At this, Broccoli stopped and began to listen.

"W-w-we were attacked b-b-by a fl-fl-flock of t-t-t…" stammered Tulio as the shock from the ordeal interfered with his ability to form words. Broccoli called for James, Collette and Daisy and they came in to listen.

"Toucans," said Linda, completing Tulio's sentence. As this word reached the ears of the three cats and greyhound, a massive flash of horror and outrage tore through them.

"TOUCANS!?" repeated Collette incredulously.

"Why would they attack Tulio and Linda?" asked Daisy in equal disbelief. Broccoli, at this, dropped the magazine into his front paws and began to speak. His eyes were blazing brown fire and his fur was bristled with pure outrage.

"I KNEW it!" he snarled, "I KNEW those ROTTEN BRATS would cross the line and unleash their wrath on Tulio and his family."

"How do you know?" asked James. Broccoli then glared at him but as he did, a flash of worry fired up in his mind as he remembered a group of certain animals. "Blu and company," he said, "I wonder if those wretched toucans have come here and have caused this mess," Broccoli's gaze examined the destroyed birdhouses, including the charred one, and the smashed windows of Tulio and his family's cottage, as well as the cuts and bruises marking Tulio and Linda's face and arms, and the shaken looks on Tulio, Linda and Fernando's faces and the frightened cries of Tommy in Linda's arms, "Forcing Blu and company to evacuate."

As he said this, James's ears picked up what Linda said next.

"Blu and Saturn and some of the other birds staying in the birdhouses by our cottage came to help us ward off those vicious toucans," said the red-haired lady, her baby Tommy in her arms. Daisy, Collette and Broccoli cocked their ears to listen to these words, "However, the blue-and-gold macaw, Saturn, when he went to fetch my cellphone for Tulio, he somehow cut his leg on, I believe, a sharp shard of glass…"

At this, immense shock tore through the greyhound and three cats and the four winced at the pain Saturn must have faced.

"I hope he's not injured something important in his leg," murmured Collette to the other three.

"…However, Susan, Lucy, Jack, Jill and Bernardo have arrived and have rushed Saturn to Tulio's Aviary now with Blu going along with them…" continued Linda. A determined frown was thrown onto Broccoli's face.

"That's where we're going," said the tabby cat firmly, "If Blu and Saturn have gone to Tulio's Aviary, then the majority of the others will have gone there too, possibly including Jewel."

"But Broccoli, you know we're not allowed in that building," protested Collette.

"Yeah, especially cats," said Daisy. However, Broccoli, the magazine in his front paws, shot his sisters and James a glare.

"That may be true but Blu and the others MUST see these images in this mag," retorted Broccoli, "Especially Carla, Bia, Tiago and their mates and those flying fox friends of theirs."

And with that, the tabby cat darted off.

"But I still don't think it's a good idea!" protested Daisy as she and Collette dashed off after their brother. James threw on an agreeing glare as he overtook the caliby girls.

"If we don't get that mag to Blu and the others," he said firmly, "They'll NEVER see where their missing kids have been taken to at all."

And with that, he charged off after Broccoli. Admitting defeat and remembering how important it was to show Blu and the others the magazine's pictures, Collette and Daisy followed.

 **Meanwhile**

It was night-time in Iquitos, Peru and like in Rio; the night-time activities in the Milky Way-like city (flooded with artificial lights) were happening with people on nightshifts or just going out for the night. In the Sanctuario del Paradíso, both in the indoor artificial jungle and in the outside regions, the daytime animals had pretty much gone to bed while the nocturnal animals were preparing for their nightly activities. In Dundee and his community's artificial jungle compartment, quite a lot has happened between the second confrontation with Dalek and now. Lusamine and her group of lizards, primates and fruit bats had been confronted by Dundee, alongside their parents, with Olympia the cassowary, Mina the Tasmanian devil and Petunia, Vega, Deneb, Gertie, Lillie, Mira and Fomalhaut, gathered with a number of other animals. Gladion, who had suffered a broken wing, and Polaris had been carried to the medical zone by kiwis Flax, Harakeke, echidna Kiara and platypus Reepicheep, who had rounded up Lusamine and company's parents to come and see Dundee and his inner circle animals. Greg, Sardonyx, Shade and Sadie were also there, having heard what had happened.

During the confrontation, Lusamine and her gang tried their usual tactic in making up a half-truth to get out of trouble and direct the blame at Petunia, Polaris, Vega, Deneb, Gertie, Gladion, Lillie, Mira and Fomalhaut, with their parents backing them up by saying that they (their sons, daughters, nephews or nieces, depending on their relation to Lusamine and company) would never cause other kids trouble, much to Lillie's outrage. However, unlike last time involving Sandalwood and the others who had wandered into the Compartment of the Carnivores to escape Dalek previously, the tide began to turn in Gladion and Lillie's favour. Mina had come forward and had explained that she and her pups/joeys had seen the whole thing from a distance, especially how Dalek had suddenly appeared out of nowhere when 'that green faced blue-and-gold macaw' as she called Mira for she didn't know or had forgotten her name, shouted at Lusamine and savagely went for Gladion's group. This had shocked Greg, Shade and Sadie and also Sardonyx. Once Mina's witnessing had reached the inner circle animals' ears, Dundee had made the final decision: to ground Lusamine and her gang and confine them and their parents to their area. He had also commanded the parents to discipline Lusamine and company. After this, three chimps came in and led Lusamine and company and their parents but on the way out, Lusamine and company had shot and Petunia, Vega, Deneb, Gertie, Lillie, Mira and Fomalhaut a bitter glare, obviously indicating that they were planning on getting revenge on the group at some point in the near future. After Lusamine and company had gone, Dundee had also lifted the grounding penalty on Sandalwood and the others, including Atreyu, Finnick, Tiana and Jacques for he believed that Dalek had attacked them without provocation as well, much to the immense joy of Lillie and the others, and Sardonyx had planned to talk to Sandalwood and the others tonight about the nature of Dalek and about her tussle with the chameleon before the kids' bedtime. When the news of the grounding had been lifted had reached the ears of Sandalwood and company and also Atreyu and the other three penguins, they felt a surge of joy.

It was nearing bedtime for the young animals, and parents were calling them to their burrows, trees and hollows. While all this happened, Sandalwood stood with Lillie, Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix and Petunia, their saddened gazes on Gladion in the medical zone, his broken wing being set in a cast by a group of bizarre looking mammals with reddish fur. These mammals looked like racoons but also seemed to share some traits with cats. Connie, Shade and Sadie's daughter, and Greg and Sardonyx's sons Steven, Lars and Kevin, had noted to Sandalwood, Lillie, Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix and Petunia that these mammals were called 'red pandas', and like Mulan's species, the giant panda, and orangutan, which was Wally's species, originated from Asia. The group of red pandas were medically trained and helped to treat basic injuries like cuts, bruises and broken limbs, and they were assisted by several animals, among them a couple of lizards of another rare species but not of the species of the mischievous group of bright green lizards led by the patriarch Ronno, and Bellatrix thought she had spotted a quoll, another mammal native to Australia, among the group as well. The quoll, along with a proboscis monkey and two lizards, were caring for Polaris who had regained consciousness, and treating her injuries as well.

"Gladion's not gonna be able to fly for weeks now," murmured Lillie sombrely, "I can't believe that chameleon had the audacity to injure him like that," she felt a spark of hot outrage course through her as she thought of the sci-fi peppershaker-like alien hat-wearing chameleon and his flinging of Gladion hard into a tree trunk as he tried to protect the macaw chicks with his tongue as she said this.

"That chameleon has damaged the wings of other birds before," said Steven, "Most of the victims being parrots." As the scarlet chick said this, Sardonyx was flying over to the group.

"What's it with that chameleon and the parrots anyway?" asked Sirius angrily.

"We have been told of three other incidences involving that chameleon hurting other parrots," said Sandalwood, "All involving a hyacinth macaw, that yellow-crested cockatoo and the two kakapos, by Atreyu last night."

"But to hear that Sardonyx had been attacked by that chameleon unprovoked," said Bellatrix, "I'm still surprised."

"I'm afraid that's true, little blue macaw, um… Belle was it?" said a voice. At this, Steven, Connie, Lars, Kevin and Sandalwood, Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix and Petunia all turned and saw an orange scarlet macaw, a large patch of growing feathers marking her torso, touch down and walk over to them.

"My name's Bellatrix," said Bellatrix as Sardonyx joined the group, which she smiled and nodded as she stood corrected. The chicks, Sandalwood and Connie then turned to the scarlet macaw as she gazed at Sandalwood, Lillie and the four Spix macaw chicks and also Steven and his brothers.

"It's time for bed," she said gently, before turning to Connie, "The same goes for you as well."

Connie nodded and darted off to a rock to take off and fly to her little group's tree where Shade and Sadie and the other bats were waiting. Sirius, Bellatrix, Spica and Petunia also took off and left for the hollow with Steven, Lars and Kevin while Sandalwood left with Sardonyx to the foot of the tree where he slept.

"So was your tussle with Dalek unprovoked?" asked Sandalwood, "Did he just jump out at you while you were foraging?"

"Yes," said Sardonyx sadly, "That chameleon has always jumped out at parrots in an unprovoked attack. The same was true for that hyacinth macaw, the two adolescent kakapos and Claude the yellow-crested cockatoo," she shot the Brazilian flying fox pup an apologetic look, "That's why I doubted Lusamine and her gang's story that you deliberately provoked that chameleon and Dundee's subsequent grounding of you, Atreyu, Finnick, those two chinstrap penguins and the others who had escaped into Carnassial's grounds. I came to the conclusion that it was an unprovoked attack since some of you are macaw chicks, with the macaw being a type of parrot, Dalek's most detested type of bird."

"We had nowhere else to go and we had no idea of where to run," said Sandalwood, "Since we're still new here. And besides that, we didn't know that we had entered the Compartment of Carnivores until we met that horrible gang of caracals and servals…"

Sardonyx sighed. "I know," she said. Sandalwood's head then tipped to one side. "Why does that chameleon despise parrots, anyway? Did he intentionally force Claude and the two kakapos into the Compartment of the Carnivores to get killed?"

Sardonyx gazed at the pup and shrugged. "I don't know the answer to both those questions, I'm afraid," she said, much to Sandalwood's disappointment, "We believe that the demises of both Claude and those two kakapo adolescents had been purely accidental. Dalek just happened to chase those three parrots into that highly dangerous area and they were found to have been eaten by Carnassial and his gang…"

Sandalwood gazed at the orange scarlet macaw with an unconvinced look. Based on his forced entry into Carnassial's grounds through that hole in the barrier mesh alongside Atreyu, Finnick, Tiana, Jacques and some of the macaw chicks including Sylvester, Sirius, Bellatrix and Spica, and also Altair the archaeobird by Dalek when he chased them and how they were almost eaten alive by Carnassial and his savage gang of caracals and servals, Sandalwood had begun to think that Claude the yellow-crested cockatoo and the two kakapo adolescents might have been forced into the Compartment of the Carnivores by that same chameleon as well, especially based on the fact that a pile of feathers of all three of those birds had been found in Carnassial's zone, indicating that they had been eaten. As these two incidences as described by Atreyu echoed in his mind, suspicion began to well within Sandalwood as the burning question of Dalek's intentions of forcing him and his group into Carnassial's grounds returned: 'What if those intentions had been _deliberate_? What if he had intended us to fall into the claws of that caracal and his gang to be eaten, especially the macaw chicks?' however, he put this thought off as Sardonyx told him that it was his bedtime. Reluctantly, Sandalwood followed Sardonyx to the foot of the tree where the other bats slept and entered the hole, bidding Sardonyx goodnight before Sardonyx herself left for her hollow and the other macaws including Greg and her sons.

 **Later**

The nocturnal animals of the artificial jungle went about their nightly business while the humans who worked on nightshift in the conservation area were at work. A trio of humans, all equipped with cleaning apparatus and bags of animal food such as meat packed into a four-wheeled thing they called a trolley or cart, went up to one of the doors leading to Dundee's artificial jungle and opened the first door, entering a pocket between that door and another and pulling the trolley in with them. This pocket was intended to prevent birds and bats from flying out of the compartment whenever the humans entered or exit the jungle. As the three humans then closed the door behind them and turned to open the second door, movement shifted a few leaves of a shrub growing nearby. Three pairs of eyes gazed at the humans as they opened the second door to enter the compartment itself. The three pairs of eyes belonged to a trio of triplet scarlet macaws, but Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka were not alone. Several more eye pairs peered from the shadow under the shrub's tight cluster of branches and leaves and gazed in parallel to the trio's eyes at the humans as they then closed the door after pulling in the trolley loaded with equipment and food, locked it and proceeded into the compartment with some sort of bottles and cloths in their hands, leaving behind the trolley or cart. One of the eye pairs belonging to Alnitak then locked onto the wheeled object.

Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka had sneaked out of the hollow as soon as everyone else, including the adults, had gone to sleep, the intentions on investigating the other rooms of the conservation area to answer some burning questions compelling them to do so. However, the triplets had become accompanied by several others. Betelgeuse and Rigel, Adenine and Guanine, Saiph, Arcturus and Bellatrix, Pitaya and Alegria and also Lillie, Altair, and Acerola, all of who had opted to join the investigation, had all sneaked out of the hollow and Acerola from her branch and tree where the other flying foxes except Sandalwood slept and had met together under the shrub, staying out of sight of the nocturnal animals. As Alnitak gazed at the trolley and at the three humans as they set to cleaning the mesh near the double doored pocket entrance to the compartment, he turned his gaze to the other fourteen.

"Alright, as soon as those three humans are a good distance from that trolley thingie, we make a beeline for that thing as fast as possible, okay?" he spoke in a low voice, "We must not stop until we are aboard that trolley, or else some of those night-time animals could spot us and alert the leaders."

"Okay," whispered the others. Then Alnitak returned his gaze to the trolley.

"Right, here we go," he said, his gaze also observing the proximity of the humans to the trolley. Alnitak waited for the three humans to move a suitable distance away from the trolley and as soon as they were a good distance away, he nodded to the others. Without a second's hesitation, the shrub's leaves shook somewhat and one shadowy comet after another dashed across the clearing and dived amongst the equipment of the trolley. Mintaka went first, followed by Alnilam, then Alnitak, Guanine, Adenine, Betelgeuse, Rigel, Saiph, Arcturus, Bellatrix, Acerola, Pitaya, Alegria, Lillie and then Altair, who glided across the clearing by jumping off a higher branch of the shrub and landed on the top level of the trolley. As the fifteen zoomed across the clearing and dived amongst the equipment of the trolley one by one, another pair of eyes gazed at the action from the shadow of a large tree. The owner of the eyes, a flightless aquatic bird, then darted from out of the shadow of the tree and hurried over to the trolley.

In the trolley, Altair climbed onto the lower level and joined the others in the group. Alnitak then peered out from behind a bucket and a stick thing ending in a cluster of bristles humans called a mop and gazed at one of the humans as he or she continued to clean the barrier mesh dividing the compartment from the human observation paths while the others hugged the shadows. Their hearts were beating with trepidation and their muscles felt weak from the shuddering nerves for the group feared getting spotted. Alnitak ducked back behind the bucket.

"Right, all we have to do is wait for those three humans to return and push this trolley thingie back through that double door," said he to the others, "And as soon as we are outside, we're gonna have a look round."

"We'll start with the room where Altair and Alegria here, I, and Sylvester had had our pictures taken," said Pitaya, "There are around five doors and rooms besides the one in which we had been taken to shortly after our arrival here."

"Do you think we should split up and examine all the rooms at the same time?" asked Bellatrix. Alnitak gazed at the pigtailed Spix macaw.

"It would be better than examining one room at a time," said Acerola, "One, it will save time and too, we'd be less likely to be spotted…"

"And thirdly, we'd gather more information more efficiently and quickly," added Betelgeuse. Nods rolled through the rest of the group, making Alnitak gaze at them as he thought this over. After a few seconds, he agreed to it. "Okay, but as long as we're careful," he whispered, "The last thing any of us need is getting spotted and us landing in proper trouble with Dundee."

The others smiled and nodded in agreement. However, after the agreement had been made, the group was made aware of something moving on the trolley. At this, the fifteen birds and flying fox pup froze and shoot alerted gazes this way and that.

"What was that?" asked Alnilam. Then Rigel's wing went to her face in frustration.

"Don't tell me we've been spotted, have we," she muttered.

"I hope not," muttered Alnitak indignantly, "We really wanna investigate the Sanctuario del Paradíso's possible ties with the two sanctuaries in Brazil, including the Amazon one."

A suspicious frown formed on his face as he recalled what Capella, Achernar and Antares had told him about some of the human carers talking about the Blu Bird Sanctuary and the Sanctuary de Amazon in the morning while they were deshelling nuts. However, that suspicious frown was wiped from his face and at the same time, Alnitak's insides flinched as though they had been shocked by electricity when a voice said, "Alegria, guys?"

The other chicks and Acerola also flinched harshly and shot startled glares at the speaker but when they realised that it was only a grey penguin chick with blue eyes, and a black and white head, but the chick's blue eyes were laced with curiosity and suspicion.

"What are you lot doing on this trolley?" asked the penguin chick. Alnitak took a moment to calm his breathing before turning to the chick.

"Atreyu," he said with a frown.

"What are you doing here?" asked Alegria. At this, Atreyu climbed onto the level of the trolley.

"I'm the one who should be asking you lot that question," he replied, "Don't you know that we shouldn't be hitching a ride on this trolley for one and be in bed for another?"

"We couldn't sleep," replied Acerola, "Something is troubling us."

"Oh," said Atreyu with a frown, "And what that might be?"

Alnitak and his group exchanged glances as they pondered over this question. How were they going to answer this? Will Atreyu understand their motives and suspicions regarding the human carers' ties to two Brazilian sanctuaries? Then after discussing this over, all fifteen gazed back at the emperor penguin chick.

"We're, um…" began Betelgeuse uneasily, "Gonna… investigate how those humans carers know about the Blu Bird Sanctuary and the Sanctuary de Amazon in Brazil."

"Our home areas that are also nature reserves," said Rigel.

"Oh, you mean your home country, and that sanctuary some of you told me and Finnick was set up outside Rio de Janeiro?" asked Atreyu. Alnitak's group nodded. Then Adenine stepped forward to explain more.

"But some of us happened to overhear some of the human carers her talk about those two sanctuaries and discuss bringing in some adult specimens of the Spix, glaucous, Lear's, Cuban red, Dominican and purple-and-pink macaws and archaeobirds here," said the colourful Catalina macaw, "Since Sirius and the other Spix chicks, along with Saiph and his cousins," he nodded to Saiph, "And Arcturus and the other rare chicks, "are too young to have kids of their own."

"We know that the human carers want to establish a population of those bird species here," said Saiph, "But the only places where breeding individuals of those species are available are the Blu Bird Sanctuary near Rio de Janeiro, and the Sanctuary de Amazon in the Amazon Rainforest."

"Which is technically our birthplace," put in Arcturus, "And since we chicks would take years to reach maturity and breeding age."

Atreyu listened to the answer from Alnitak's group. "Maybe the human carers want some adult macaws to produce more chicks here," he said, "If they've got that goal in mind to establish a small flock of Spix, glauco and whatsoever other rare macaws here," his eyes gazed at Bellatrix, Saiph, Arcturus, Alegria, Pitaya and Altair as he said this, "Then you shouldn't be surprised that the human carers are seeking to bring in some adult individuals here."

"We also saw some of those human carers who were talking about those two Brazilian sanctuaries have disgruntled, disappointed and impatient looks on their faces," said Rigel, "Which is another reason why we want to investigate."

Atreyu's shoulders rose as he shrugged and then fell again. "Maybe they're disappointed because all they've got of those rare macaw species and that bizarre four-winged 'lizard-bird'," his gaze rested on Altair as he said this, "Are young chicks who are too young to breed?"

"That's true," said Altair, "But we believe that there may be something else behind that motivation to bring back some adults," the archaeobird's gaze hardened, "And we wanna know what that is."

Atreyu gazed at the four-winged feathered creature. Suddenly, footstep sounds reached the group's ears, jolting the group back to reality.

"(Gasp), one of the humans is coming," said Alnitak. With that, the group of sixteen birds and Acerola all dived into hiding amongst the equipment, Atreyu doing the same, for he was curious about what sort of investigation Alnitak and company were about to go on. The human, who was a man, then came back to the trolley. He was whistling a tune to himself as he worked and had returned to fetch the bags of meat for the few carnivores that lived in Dundee's compartment. As he moved the bags of meat from the lower trolley's level, Alnitak and company huddled together to prevent being seen. The man placed the meat aside and then turned to his colleagues. Betelgeuse then translated his words as he spoke. At this, she turned to the others and said, "He's gonna leave with this thing through the double door."

"Alright, get ready," said Alnitak and with that the group began to grasp whatever firm object they could find to avoid falling out. Atreyu shuddered as he did the same.

"I'm not sure about this," he murmured. Then the trolley jerked as the group felt it move; the man was pushing it along. Acerola peered out from behind a bucket and saw the first door of the double door pocket approach them.

"Here we go," she whispered. Alnitak and the others prepared to disembark.

"As soon as we're out," he whispered to the others, "We jump off the trolley."

Alnilam, Mintaka, Adenine, Guanine, Betelgeuse, Rigel, Saiph, Arcturus, Bellatrix, Altair, Lillie, Pitaya and Alegria all nodded. Their nerves and hearts were shaking and beating with trepidation, and that nervousness's fire was raging higher as the man reached for the door's lock, unlocked the door and opened it before pushing the trolley into the pocket and shutting the door. The process was repeated with the other door and within minutes, the man and the trolley, with some unsuspecting stowaways hiding amongst the equipment, was outside the compartment. However, as the man closed the door, he did not see a floating dome dart out of the door, narrowly missing getting caught in the door as the man closed it. Then the floating hat dived behind a protrusion in the solid concrete base forming the basin in which the artificial jungle was grown in, and peered out. The hat was on something but that something was invisible. A pair of eyes glared menacingly from an invisible face at Alnitak and company as they hastily disembarked the trolley and hid amongst some more buckets, Atreyu following. An acidic hiss of pure hatred emanated from a mouth below the eyes as the owner's eyes watched Alnitak and company then sneak away.


	44. Chapter 43

**Chapter 43- the investigation part 2; startling discoveries**

As soon as Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka the triplet scarlet macaws, Adenine and Guanine the Catalina macaws, Betelgeuse and Rigel the three-quarter scarlet macaw sisters, Saiph the glaucous macaw, Arcturus the Lear's macaw, Bellatrix the Spix macaw, Acerola the flying fox and Sandalwood's cousin, Altair the archaeobird, Lillie the toucan, Pitaya the purple-and-pink macaw and Alegria the Dominican green-and-yellow macaw, together with Atreyu the emperor penguin had disembarked the trolley and had hid amongst the buckets, they prepared for the next step of their investigation, flying to the rooms Alegria, Altair, Pitaya and Sylvester had seen earlier when they had been taken away to have snapshots taken of them at various angles. However, the group was unaware that they had a follower stalking behind them. Lillie and Pitaya, along with Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka, then peered out from behind one of the buckets and saw a few pairs of legs pass by as humans walked past their hiding place, talking and wittering.

The human zone consisted of a system of paths that ran through the two enclosed artificial jungles and Alnitak and company were amazed at how big those jungles were. The human zone was the only place in the jungle area of the Paradise Sanctuary to be lit at night. The jungles were dark further away from the steel mesh, intended to provide the animals with plenty of darkness to allow them to sleep and the nocturnal species to go about their nightly business. Both jungles were separated from the human zone by large steel meshes and Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka, Lillie and Pitaya gazed at the mesh and the space beyond that mesh that receded into blackness due to its massive size.

"That must be the Compartment of the Carnivores," said Alnitak in a low voice. This dreaded name sent shivers down the spines and skins of Acerola, Alegria, Bellatrix, Saiph, Arcturus, Pitaya, Atreyu and Altair as they remembered almost meeting their demise at the clutches of that horrible caracal and his gang of other caracals and servals. Alegria flinched at the flashes of menacing feline eyes that burned with pure hunger, the sharp claws and also the screams of her adopted brother Sylvester when Carnassial almost ate him alive. The others that had also been in the compartment also flinched at the memories of seeing a gang of sandy brown cats with lynx-like tufted ears, and golden pelted cats decked out with black spots and their menacing, hunger burning eyes.

"Please don't mention that horrible place's name;" murmured Atreyu, "You're bringing back bad memories into our heads."

"Yeah, especially when those horrible wildcats chased us," put in Lillie. Alnitak shot the penguin and toucan chicks and the others an apologetic look before pulling his attention back to the task. He watched for a gap in the passing humans. As he did so, Betelgeuse and Rigel, who remained hidden at the back of the group, thought they saw a small streak of metallic brown move out the corner of their eye through the flurry of human legs. However, when the sisters turned to see the streak, they saw nothing, so they turned their gazes back to the others, but it made the sisters' nerves shudder and Betelgeuse's pineapple stalk-like crest feathers stand on end similar to how Roberto's mop-like head feathers did whenever he got frightened or angry. Nervously, Betelgeuse and Rigel prepared for the next move. Then as soon as Alnitak had spotted a large gap in the flurry of human legs, he uttered, "Go!" and with that, sixteen bundles of red, orange, yellow, green, teal, blue, grey, navy blue, black, purple, pink, metallic purple, and white feathers and the unburn fur and black membranous wings of Acerola all emerged from the buckets and charged down the walkway. The group continued to hurry down the walkway, diving behind a variety of objects every time some humans came by before resuming their dash. Altair and Atreyu ran along while the others flew. The group continued until they finally came to a corridor branching from it.

Alegria then took the lead for she could vaguely remember where she, Pitaya, Altair and Sylvester had been taken. The group then dived behind a protrusion in the wall as two or three humans, all dressed in white uniforms with 'Paradise Sanctuary' printed in Portuguese or Spanish on their backs, emerged from a room and disappeared down the walkway. Seeing the three leave, Alnitak and the others darted out of their hiding place and resumed their hasty rush towards the doors.

"This is where we were taken to have those pictures snapped of us," said Alegria as her lungs strained to absorb oxygen to power her talons and flapping wings. The group then stopped and Alnitak began to quickly discuss who was to go in which subgroup. Atreyu shot nervous glares around the human zone, fearful that a human might appear and spot the group of birds and flying fox outside their compartment.

"Okay, Alnilam, Mintaka, Acerola and I will investigate one room," said Alnitak, "Adenine, Guanine, Betelgeuse and Rigel will be in another group; Saiph, Arcturus, Bellatrix, Atreyu will be in group three, and Altair, Lillie, Pitaya and Alegria will be in group four."

"Hey, why am I with these three blue macaws?" protested Atreyu, his wing-flippers gesturing to Saiph, Arcturus and Bellatrix, who shot the penguin chick a look.

"No time to question," said Alnitak urgently and quickly, "Let's split up and investigate, NOW!"

With that, the sixteen split into four groups of four and fanned out, seconds before another human appeared and walked down the corridor. Fortunately, she did not see any of the birds or Acerola. As the woman entered one of the rooms, Alnitak and company, now in their smaller groups, peered out from behind more wall protrusions and examined the corridor. The corridor was long and at regular intervals along both walls was a door, each leading to a room and Alegria, Pitaya and Altair's eyes landed on the very door through which they and Sylvester were taken through to be photographed. After discussing on who was going to enter what room, the group split up again and made a beeline for their chosen destinations.

Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka and Acerola flew through one of the doors, which had been left partially open, and entered the room. As soon as the three scarlet macaws and bat pup were in the room, they began to examine its interior. Gasps were drawn in through the beaks of the scarlet macaws and Acerola's mouth.

"What beautiful pictures," breathed Alnitak in awe. Alnilam, Mintaka and Acerola then began to flit around and examine each of the images. The room's walls were strewn with dozens of hard framed things. Each of the things had a shiny, transparent material running over their contents which were a sheet of paper showing an image, and the frames appeared to be made from wood, and in the images were a variety of animals. Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka and Acerola began to examine the images of the animals up close.

"Mom told us that humans sometimes collected pictures and displayed them in what she had called a gallery," said Alnitak. He then stopped to examine a picture of a mammal he could not recognise. It was not very familiar to Alnitak but the animal depicted appeared to be a type of deer. Alnilam then hovered in front of some pictures of rare birds and gazed at them in fascination while Mintaka and Acerola examined the pictures of more mammals, birds, reptiles and other creatures including insects. Acerola then recognised some of the animals in this gallery.

"Many of these animals in these pictures are very rare," she said, "Look, isn't that Mulan's species?"

She gazed at an image of a bear with white fur and black markings, like Mulan and her small family. Mintaka's eyes then landed on some pictures showing some familiar birds. At this, she flew down to them and examined them closely when she drew in a short gasp of surprise. Acerola flew over to her.

"They have a picture of a _Spix macaw_ in their collection," whispered Mintaka with surprise, "And a Lear's macaw and a glaucous macaw…"

Acerola's eyes, at this, travelled from one picture frame to the next. These frames were showing pictures of a variety of species of macaws, many of which appeared to be very rare. Acerola's eyes then travelled over some pictures showing macaws that are believed to have gone extinct. One of the pictures showed a macaw with a red head, body and upper wing coverts but blue wing flight feathers and tail, and its eyes were surrounded by a patch of white skin. Acerola tipped her head to one side in curiosity.

"Interesting," she said, "Looks quite like a scarlet or green-winged macaw but without the yellow or green between the red and blue on the wings."

She then saw writing under the picture of the bird but could not read it for it was in Latin. Assuming the writing was simply describing the bird in the image in a language she couldn't recognise, Acerola moved on to examine the frame next to the red and blue bird. To her surprise, the adjacent image depicted a macaw that very strongly resembled Sylvester. Like Sylvester, the bird in the picture had a red head with an amber nape, burgundy and blue wings, red front and a blue and red tail. Acerola immediately recognised the bird in the picture.

"Isn't that Sylvester's species?" she whispered. It was then that her eyes landed on something attached to the frame. Roused by curiosity, Acerola fluttered forward, reached up with her foot claws and took hold of a piece of paper. The flying fox then descended onto a table sitting in the room and unfolded the paper to have a look at the slip. As she did so, the flapping of feathered wings reached her ears, followed by the tapping of talons onto the surface of the table.

"What have you found, Acerola?" asked Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka flanking him. Acerola handed the paper to the former.

"I believe it's some sort of note that the humans have written," said the flying fox pup, "But since I cannot read human writing, I believe you guys might have a clue."

Alnitak took the paper from Acerola and looked at what was written on it with Mintaka and Alnilam gazing at it as well. As they grew up in the jungle, their mother Europa, alongside some of the others such as Blu and their maternal grandfather Jupiter, had taught them how to read human writing and also how to draw and write, both in English and in Portuguese and Spanish as well. The slip of paper Acerola had found had writing on it but it was in Portuguese. As Alnitak translated the word in the slip, he drew in a gasp.

"What is it?" asked Acerola, alerted by Alnitak's gasp. Alnitak slowly looked up with widened eyes flooded with immense shock while Alnilam and Mintaka looked on.

"This slip of paper says, 'Small group of this macaw discovered alive in the Amazon Rainforest, Brazil,'" he said. Acerola gazed back at the three scarlet triplets in disbelief. It was obvious that the humans working at the Paradise Sanctuary WERE aware that there was a flock of Cuban macaws living in the Amazon Rainforest, and that was the little group where Sylvester, along with his parents Frodo and Ellie and sister Olivia had originated from.

In another room, Adenine, Guanine, Betelgeuse and Rigel were examining a large shelf of books. This room's walls were lined with shelves and on each shelf was a line of dozens of books and articles.

"The humans that work here sure seem to have a love for ecology," said Adenine, "I know Mom and Dad and Aunt Bia and Uncle Virgil and some others back home have a little library of books for us as well…"

"A book on birds…" said Guanine as she examined the cover of one of them, "Another book on birds…"

As they did that, Betelgeuse and Rigel continued to nervously scan the room. Their feathers were on end and Betelgeuse's pineapple-stalk like crest was spiked out as though it had built static electricity. The two sisters were on edge and kept shooting terrified gazes this way and that as though they expecting something to jump out at them. Then Betelgeuse's eyes darted at the open door as a tiny flash of metallic brown appeared in their corner. However, she saw nothing. Nerves shuddering, Betelgeuse resumed the investigation.

"Wh-what can you see, Adenine and Gunaine?" she asked her two half blue-and-gold macaw cousins.

"Just books and books and more books," replied Adenine as he continued flitting along one of the shelves, "All on biological topics like ecology and different sorts of animals…"

As he said this, Rigel's talon landed on something hard and cylindrical. At this, the three-quarter scarlet macaw looked down and saw that her talon had landed on a small, shiny dark blue cylinder with a silver streak on it. At this, Rigel began to examine it and saw that it was a human thing called a pen, a device her human-raised relatives and friends had told her and Betelgeuse that humans used to write with, and the sisters and the other chicks had been taught how to write and read. With this in mind, Rigel's eyes travelled to a sheet of paper which appeared to hold writing. At this, Rigel frowned and began to examine it closely. While she did this, Guanine and Adenine continued examining the books, frustration coming upon them.

"It's just a human library of BOOKS, bro," growled Guanine impatiently, "There's nothing out of the ordinary we could find here."

"I think we consider moving on to the next room, then," said Adenine. He then turned to call the other two, "Betelgeuse and Rigel?"

"Adenine, Guanine, I think you ought to come and have a read of this," called Rigel's voice. At this, the two oldest chicks of scarlet macaw Ganymede and his blue-and-gold mate Mimas turned their gazes down at Betelgeuse and Rigel on the table and saw the latter hold up a sheet of paper. Adenine and Guanine descended to the two red macaws and touched down on the table.

"What have you found, Rigel?" asked Adenine. Rigel then prepared to read the sheet. Betelgeuse, however, suddenly felt a sensation that someone was watching the group rise within her again; another tiny flash of metallic brown had appeared out the corner of her eye again, making her pineapple-stalk crest spike out. Her skin crawled even more so as Betelgeuse turned to look at the flash only to find it gone. Timidly, she returned to pay attention to Rigel as she began to look at the list with Guanine and Adenine.

"It's some sort of checklist," said Rigel, pointing to the way the sentences were set out. Each sentence was given its own dot at the beginning. Rigel remembered Blu telling her that these were called 'bullet points', which was a particular method humans sometimes used when making notes or lists. Adenine then took the sheet of paper and began to translate the sentences, all of which were written in Portuguese.

"'Aims to achieve,'" began the Catalina macaw, "'Aim one: catch some adult Spix, glaucous and Lear's macaws and to bring back here… (much of the sentence contained unfamiliar words to Adenine so he left them out)…"

At this, Rigel, Guanine and Betelgeuse exchanged glances. At the door, Saiph, Arcturus, Bellatrix and Atreyu, along with Altair, Lillie, Pitaya, Alegria and alsoAlnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka and Acerola entered the room. The latter four had been forced to make a hasty retreat with Acerola placing the slip of paper back into the frame holding the Cuban macaw picture as a group of humans came in, and they managed to slip out in time.

"Found something, Ad…" began Alnitak but Betelgeuse whirled round and spread her wings to tell them to be quiet. At this, the twelve exchanged glances and took off for the table with Atreyu and Altair climbing onto the top using a chair. As the others gathered round, Adenine continued translating as much as he could from the list.

"'Aim two: catch some adult Cuban red macaws… green-and-yellow macaws… purple… pink… macaws…'" This caused Alegria and Pitaya to gaze at each other with confused looks. Adenine continued.

"'Aim three: catch some…"' Adenine frowned as he came to an unfamiliar Portuguese word. He handed the list to the others apart from Atreyu, Acerola and Altair who cannot read.

"Can any of you recognise that word?" asked he, a wing pointing to a specific word. Saiph looked at it and squinted.

"'Pterossauro', he said, "I believe that translates to 'pterosaur'?"

"Yes, it does," said Bellatrix with an impressed smile, "You've been paying strong attention, Saiph."

Saiph just shrugged and turned back to look at Adenine as he resumed reading the list.

"'Aim four: bring in the pair of golden… hawk creatures… Rio…" he said. This caused glance exchange to roll through the others.

"Golden hawk creature?" repeated Alnilam in surprise.

"Never heard of such a bird," said Atreyu. Guanine, Betelgeuse, Rigel, Acerola, Saiph, Arcturus, Bellatrix, Lillie, Altair, Alegria and Pitaya, however, reacted to the final word.

"Rio!?" blurted out Lillie.

"Then it confirms Antares, Capella and Achernar's suspicions," said Rigel with a frown. Betelgeuse then came in and took a look at the list as Adenine held it. When her eyes landed on some familiar words, she drew in a sharp breath of disbelief.

"Uh, I can see the Portuguese words for Amazon Sanctuary and Brazil written in the sentence where you read 'Cuban red macaws' and 'Spix macaws', Adenine," she blurted out. At this, Adenine shot his cousin an alarmed look.

"Are you meaning to say that this list could be some sort of…" he began when suddenly, Atreyu blurted out, "Someone's coming!"

At this, Adenine dropped the list and all sixteen birds dived into hiding behind a cabinet and a trash can or bin. As they peered out, they saw three humans dressed in their Paradise Sanctuary uniforms enter the room and make a beeline for the table where Alnitak and the others had been. As the humans began to chat in Spanish (some of the staff spoke Spanish while some spoke Portuguese; some spoke other languages), Saiph shot Alnitak a dark look.

"There is something we found that you need to know…" he whispered but Alnitak hushed at him, cutting Saiph off and making him shut his beak. Then the group began to listen to the three humans, one of them, a lady holding the list that Adenine had handled.

"Translation, Bellatrix, please," whispered Alnitak. Bellatrix set to translating some of the Spanish words to English. Through the gap between the door and its hinges, something moved a little but none of the group, though Betelgeuse and Rigel thought they heard some sort of low hiss and shuddered, noticed.

"We certainly… are doing… well with our… of rare and… animals… from different… world," said Bellatrix in line with the speaking human, though it was a bit fragmented for she did not know certain words, "I look forward… seeing some… blue… in our…"

The others exchanged glances as Bellatrix continued. Nearest to the door, Betelgeuse thought she saw movement and felt her pineapple-like crest spike out again but she refocussed on Bellatrix as she continued to translate the words, this time from the next human who spoke. "The Amazon Sanctuary in Brazil… lot... blue… (pause)… red… (another pause) get… adults from… back here so that we…" Bellatrix trailed off as she lost track of the fast-talking human. However, the fragmented pieces were enough to rouse suspicion within the group. Saiph then seized the opportunity to speak.

"While we were investigating in one of the other rooms," he whispered, "We saw some sort of checklist with the names of the variety of animals."

"And many of them are ticked," added Arcturus.

"Some, such as Sigh-an-opsor whatever Bellatrix called it _,_ are ticked but with a small star written next to it," said Atreyu. Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka shot the penguin chick, the glaucous and Lear's macaws a shocked look as Bellatrix then began to translate the humans' words again.

"Let's check on… progress of… in Brazil and… search for blue… red…" said she but then the three humans departed for the door and disappeared into the corridor, leaving the room in silence and the air above Alnitak group with astonishment hanging over them. Betelgeuse then felt the compulsion to investigate the movement behind the door so she began to tiptoe away from the group, flashing a glance at the others as she enlarged the distance between herself and the nearest ones, Rigel and Atreyu. Then a look of suspicion came upon Alnitak.

"Dundee and the others aren't gonna isn't like what we've found," he murmured.

"What do you mean?" asked Mintaka. Alnitak's dark glare slowly turned to her and the others.

"The humans' knowledge of those two Brazilian sanctuaries…" he said, "Their demand for some adult Spix macaws and some other rare birds…" he turned to Saiph, Arcturus, Atreyu and Bellatrix, "And that checklist you have found…"

"That list was a list of the binomial names of animals, many of which are rare," said Bellatrix.

"Binomial?" asked Atreyu with surprise.

"Two worded names," said Bellatrix, a glance flashed at him before looking at Alnitak, "And my species name, ' _Cyanopsitta spixii',_ along with _Anodorhynchus glaucous_ , which is Saiph's species, and _Anodorhynchus leari,_ Arcturus's species, are on there as well, ticked but with a star marked next to them."

"And when we looked at the 'key'," added Arcturus, "We saw that the star meant, 'breeding adult specimens required.'"

As these words were absorbed by Alnitak and the others' brains, disbelief came over them. There was only one place where breeding adults of those species, along with the Cuban macaw and the other rare birds, lived. However, another startling conclusion arrived in Alnitak's head.

"I'm wondering if the humans here are not just looking _after_ the rare animals from all over the world," said he, "But are actually…" however, he trailed off, not wanting to say it. The others shot him a dreaded look, alongside a glare of outrage. By now, Betelgeuse was by the door's edge and had peered round it. When she saw some sort of dome appear to float…

"Then that means the animals here are no different from very rare precious g…" began Pitaya but suddenly, she was cut off by a bloodcurdling scream from around the door. Horror tore through the group and their heads whipped in the direction of their missing comrade.

"BETELGEUSE!" bellowed Alnitak. Dread flaring within them, Alnilam, Mintaka, Acerola, Adenine, Guanine, Rigel, Saiph, Arcturus, Bellatrix, Atreyu, Altair, Lillie, Pitaya and Alegria all surged towards the door's edge with Alnitak and peered round but to their horror **,** their missing comrade was nowhere to be seen.

Betelgeuse had disappeared.


	45. Chapter 44

**Chapter 44- emergency rushes and a massive reunion**

 **Meanwhile, back in Rio**

Blu and company had hurried off to Tulio's Aviary with Blu, Jupiter and Ruby hitching a ride with Susan, Lucy, Bernardo, Jack and Jill. The twin daughters of Susan and Bernardo, Molly and Mary, had been put in the care of a babysitter while their parents and older adopted siblings as they rushed Saturn with his badly slashed leg to the medical centre, and by now all of them apart from a few missing ones had arrived at their destination.

Saturn had been rushed into emergency surgery to have his wound stitched up along with Neytiri who had a broken wing in need of repair. Several others, including Eustace and his family, and Jewel as well who had regained consciousness, had been put into medical care to be kept an eye on and to have their injuries checked. Sebastian had a large bruise forming on his chest where he had been head-butted by one of the savage toucans; Justin had a bump on his head where a stone had struck, Virgil and Bia were being treated for minor injuries with Virgil bearing a number of scratches from his savage fight against Marco when he threatened Bia and their sons, Miles and Einstein, Matilda was covered in cuts and bruises as a result of being the focal point of some of the rocks, Músculo's wing was badly scratched and Squaw'tagnan's wing had formed a bruise where a rock had hit. Deimos also bore a bruise on his side where he had been tackled, Porthos bore around three claw marks on his face, Kira also had a large bruise forming on her back where she had been struck by a rock and her face was twisted with intense pain, Titania, Ash and Uranus were decked out with bruises where large beaks or rocks had struck them; Azul and Fernanda also bore bruises and scratches with Azul bearing a black right eye and Ellie had been scratched down the back. None of the hyacinth macaws were badly hurt but Ultramarine bore a scratch on her right cheek and Triton was missing his bandana and had to have it replaced with a bandage made into a temporary one until a new bandana was made for him to replace the one he had lost during the skirmish, and Violet was severely shaken. As for Augustus, Spyro and the other flying foxes and archaeobirds, they were pretty much fine other than Sebastian's bruise, but all were badly shaken and traumatised from the whole ordeal, with Ferdinand and Bambi, along with the other kids that remained, being badly shaken.

Chiquitita, Phobos and the kids that had been successfully kidnapped by the toucans were still missing and everyone else was badly traumatised and shaken. Some were in a worse off state than before and disbelief, outrage and devastation laced the group, especially Eustace, Milo, Rosa, Clemont, Serena, and chicks Yolanda, Peach, Bruno and Oscar the cockatoos, all of who were nearly burned alive inside their birdhouse when one of the toucans evilly set it alight. Thankfully, and if it weren't for Jupiter's quick-thinking actions, all nine cockatoos had escaped unscathed without any burns. The casualties from Blu's group who had already been admitted to Tulio's Aviary: Rafael's mate Eva, Eragon, Ganymede with his mate Mimas; Luna who was Augustus and Melissa's other daughter, Vincent and the other birds, who were still grieving the loss of Merlin after he had been killed by one of the crows while protecting the two fruithawks from certain kidnap, had been asleep when they were roused by commotion. When the group came to see what the commotion was, when they saw that it was caused by none other than Blu and company, much to Eva, Eragon, Ganymede, Mimas, Luna and Vincent's immense disbelief and horror. During this, Tulio's team members who had been in charge of the toucans had by now loaded most of the cages into trucks to be taken away in the hopes that they will be allocated to other sanctuaries, but NOT the Sanctuary de Amazon for they did not want these toucans to cause the inhabitants there any trouble and competition.

While Eva, Eragon, Ganymede, Mimas, Luna and Vincent looked on in utter disbelief with many of the other birds, Saturn and Neytiri had been rushed into the operating theatres and the rest of the group had turned up severely shaken. It was as though they had had another narrow escape from a bunch of poachers as Eragon had assumed, but Ganymede, Mimas, Luna and Vincent, and Eva had deduced a narrow escape from something, or rather SOMEONE, else, especially how Eustace and company had managed to escape being consumed by flames within their birdhouse, but as they came to that conclusion, Eva had begun to tremble very violently and had eventually fainted, leading Luna and Mimas to carry her back to her cage. Sometime later, Orquidea, Mimas, Iapetus and Rhea stood outside the operating theatre in which Saturn had been taken in.

"I hope Dad's going to be alright," murmured Iapetus worriedly.

"How did he cut his left leg?" asked Mimas.

"He cut it on a shard of glass while flying through one of those broken windows with Linda's cellphone, according to Blu," said Orquidea, making Mimas wince from the pain it must have caused the poor blue-and-gold macaw. However, she knew how dangerous glass shards could be. They were as deadly as metal blades or blades of wood or stone, and it's a wonder that Saturn did not lacerate an important blood vessel, like a main artery, in his leg on his way out, or the results would have been disastrous. Then Mimas's attention turned to Eustace, his brother Milo, sister Rosa, mate Serena and brother-in-law and Rosa's mate Clemont, and the four young cockatoos Yolanda, Oscar, Bruno and Peach, huddling together and trembling violently with the latter four crying and hyperventilating. Nearby, Vincent, Eragon and Luna were trying to calm the shaken cockatoos but with much difficulty. Looking on from a few centimetres away were Augustus, Melissa, Stella, Soren, Anabelle with Ferdinand clutched to her breast, Sebastian and Spyro and Bambi. Marella was tending to the bat-birds. Mimas felt a pang of sympathy for the cockatoos except Vincent who was still grounded with a broken wing but then she felt a flash of pure outrage blaze through her.

"And as for what happened to Eustace and company," she growled; her aqua blue and yellow feathers puffed out, "I cannot BELIEVE that those TOUCAN MANIACS would try to BURN THEM ALIVE!"

"Eva actually _fainted_ upon hearing about that," said Ganymede as he walked in, his broken wing still in a cast and his face twisted into a look of pure outrage as well, "But I'm not surprised."

"Those toucans have HONESTLY crossed the line this time, I can tell you," muttered Orquidea furiously. She could barely restrain her anger at the beastly birds as well as her urge to kick something but she knew she would hurt her talon doing so. Then Iapetus moved onto something else.

"Speaking of toucans," he said, "How are our human friends doing with those that have been caught and caged?"

"They're going to allocate those birds to other sanctuaries, other than the Sanctuary de Amazon," said Ganymede but then his face fell, "But since there are so many toucans, that option-that-is-best-not-mentioned may have to be applied to cut the number of them if there are too many to allocate."

"Well, I wouldn't be surprised," said Orquidea with her wings folded, "Those offspring of Rafael and Eva apart from a few sensible ones like Diantha and Tom have been breeding like rabbits, leading to all the trouble we see now."

"Not only have the other residents been faced with so much trouble from gangs of the toucans including Basil and his bat colony," said Rhea, "But also competition for food and space too."

The others nodded in agreement, before turning their gaze to the badly shaken and incredibly depressed birds of Blu's group.

Carla, Justin, Sonia and Melody were snuggled up in one corner, the former two trying to calm the badly shaken latter while nearby, Bia and Justin tried to calm Einstein and Miles. Kira, some ointment on her back to soothe the dull ache of her bruise, was cradling Winona trying to sing a lullaby to her but with much difficulty for the shock was still shaking her system and breaking up her voice like interference breaking up a radio signal, and Jojo was helping Lavender and Garrett to calm Lilac and Diego. However, the Spix macaws who were truly heartbroken were Tiago and Matilda who had lost their son Bartholomew; Felix and Turquesa who had lost Austin and Charlotte and Músculo, whose scratched wing was bandaged, who had lost Jason. These six macaws were all weeping and sobbing in each other's wings, Charlotte with Músculo's other wing draped over her back. Blu, Zephyr, Venus, Roberto and Brisa worked hard to comfort and console these depressed macaws but Tiago and Matilda were having none of it and kept backing away, while the other two pairs accepted their parents' comfort. Athos, Byron, Dione, Titan and Brooke were busily trying to calm Katniss, Xander, Peter, and Poppy while Tethys and Oberon cradled Cressida. Alexandre and Estelle, their heart torn in two from the loss of Kayley looked on as Athos cradled Xander and singing a lullaby to him, a lullaby his former owner had taught him, Porthos, Aramis and Squaw'tagnan when they lived with him in Guyana before meeting Tulio years ago. Titania and Ash stood in each other's wings, grieving the loss of their son Basil (not to be confused with Basil the bat), Benjamin and Umbriel were soothing Perdita despite the heartbreak over the loss of Cecil running deep within them; Azul and Fernanda were grieving the loss of Oceano, and Ellie and Frodo were trying to put Olivia to sleep despite losing Achilles. At the window, Mars, Io and Ruby were perched gazing outside into the night city with Phobos, their eyes anxiously scanning the dark for any sign of Chiquitita and Phobos who had rushed off after the toucans to rescue the kidnapped kids, while some of the others such as Phoebe, Squaw'tagnan, Aiden, Blueberry, Indigo, Victor (who was missing his fruit shell hat) and Aramis and Miranda and Ariel went about comforting their friends, especially Charon as he stood outside the operating theatre in which Neytiri had been taken to fix her broken wing. Around the room, the other birds looked on in utter shock and sympathy at the broken group as they grieved and tried to soothe their remaining kids.

While despair continued to hang over most of Blu's group, Porthos, who had a bandage on his face covering his left cheek where he had been clawed, gazed at Peter and Poppy as they slept in makeshift nests with Titan, Brooke and Dione, gazed at the two chicks in astonishment.

"How is it that those two have managed to drop off so easily despite the NIGHTMARE we have just been through!?" he shouted, "I thought they'd be struggling to go to sleep!"

"They're very tough, especially Peter," said Uranus as he came in with Esmeralda and Ariel after checking on Miranda, Aramis, Umbriel, Benjamin and Perdita, and Titania and Ash, and Oberon and Tethys as they cradled Cressida trying to calm her, the trauma from the toucan attack still lingering within her.

"In fact, your son's hardy like you," said Esmeralda with a smile. Porthos just breathed a sigh and raised a wing to his bandaged cheek. Then the burly blue-and-gold macaw's gaze moved over to Eustace and company, the former who slept on his only talon with his head tucked under a wing as he tried to doze off, "And as for the cockatoos, I don't think they are gonna sleep for days after almost being roasted alive when those stupid toucans set their birdhouse alight."

"Travis and Sunset, who are currently helping Andromeda take care of the Linda's golden orange bats are gonna blow their tops off when they hear what has almost happened to their only two sons, daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, and four grandkids and who have done it, I can tell you," hissed Uranus with a frown as he gazed at the cockatoos, "If it weren't for Jupiter's quick-thinking and actions in rescuing them, our sulfur-crested friend and his Major Mitchell's mate would have lost their entire brood and four of their grandkids, and Vincent would have lost both his parents and also his brother and sister."

"Yes, especially since those two cannot have any more chicks," said Esmeralda disgustedly. The group then continued to gaze at Eustace and company as they continued to struggle to settle down with Vincent looking on with a sad look.

As Blu's group continued to settle down and allow their human friends to treat their injured comrades, Blu, Jewel (who had recovered from her knockout), Jupiter, Ceres, Triton and Iris were taking a walk towards the breeding chamber with Eragon. Around the group, more birds were chatting quietly or trying to get some sleep while some of the others continued to watch with smug-laced faces, the caged toucans, those that had been captured, get loaded into trucks by some of the Tulio's Aviary workers through a window. However, they did not see the uncertain looks on the humans' faces as they did their job for the humans were concerned that there could be even more toucans out in the Blu Bird Sanctuary. However, they put this worry off to focus on the current job. Cobalto was with Azul and Fernanda trying to comfort them over the loss of Oceano while Pluto and Lapis Lazuli were trying to console Charon as he continued to anxiously wait for Neytiri who was still in surgery.

"Have you heard about the near theft of those two golden fruithawks resulting in Velocity's mate losing his life?" Eragon asked the six macaws with him.

"Yes, Cometa told us," said Blu, his face falling into a sad look, "It's a seriously sad loss."

"First Orion and Hermione's son," said Jupiter, "Now Velocity's mate and Zelda's father."

"She also told us how you, Vincent, Luna, Stella, Soren, Ganymede and Mimas, along with Velocity and Merlin, had helped in protecting those two precious fruithawks from certain theft by those crows who had managed to find their way into the Aviary," said Jewel. She then shuddered with rage as she remembered herself and Blu getting captured by Fernando, who back then used to work for Marcel's group, and the evil Nigel, and also how Venus, Zephyr, Mercury, Sapphire, Brisa, Lapis Lazuli and Pluto and the others including Jupiter and Ceres who also remembered this, were seized by cats of a second smuggler group alongside countless other birds, Jack and Jill participating before, like Fernando, they forsook the whole business of smuggling birds for a better life as Susan and Bernardo's adopted son and daughter and Lucy's adopted nephew and niece. Ceres's sad gaze then turned to Susan, Lucy, Bernardo, Jack and Jill as they observed the shaken birds, concern lacing their faces. Ceres got a glimpse of some healed scratches running over Jill's eye, evident from the skirmish against a bunch of crows while trying to protect the fruithawks from getting kidnapped.

"Looks like our former owners have noticed something different about our grown-up children and our families, folks," said she, "I can see Jack gazing worriedly at Azul and Fernanda and discussing their chicks' absence over there."

"Susan and Lucy are also observing Carla, Bia, Tiago and their mates," said Triton, his single eye gazing at the two ladies as they sympathised with Carla and the others, "And have noticed that Tiago and Matilda are missing both their chicks."

"They have also noticed that Ganymede and Mimas are missing their entire brood as well," said Jupiter as he gazed at his former owners but still-human friends and discussing about the chicks missing from Blu's group's families, "And that one of the bat pups is missing from Augustus's family."

Then a thought entered Jupiter's head. He hoped that Chiquitita and Phobos were alright as they had gone after the toucans to rescue the kidnapped kids. If they were unsuccessful, even more heartache would ensue for some of the families. Tiago and Matilda, Charlotte and Músculo,Titania and Ash, and Azul and Fernanda will have lost their other chick Bartholomew, Jason, Basil and Oceano respectively and thus their entire broods while Felix and Turquesa will have lost one of their sons Austin, Alexandre and Estelle will have lost their daughter Kayley, Benjamin and Umbriel will have lost their other son Cecil and Perdita her other brother, and Frodo and Ellie will have lost their other adopted Dominican green-and-yellow macaw chick Achilles. While these thoughts and worries for these chicks and for Chiquitita and Phobos, and also Mars, Deimos, Alexandre and Estelle as they had an anxious wait for those two macaws to return with the eight kidnapped chicks to return continued to churn in Jupiter's mind, Jewel turned her attention to the entrance of the breeding chamber.

"That's where I met Blu and Brisa, Zephyr, Sapphire and Lapis Lazuli met Venus, Mercury and Pluto," she told Eragon.

"It's also where those two golden fruithawks currently reside," added Eragon with a smile.

"Are those two the very last golden fruithawks alive?" asked Blu, Ceres and Jupiter gazing at the archaoebird in fascination.

"Yes they are," said Eragon, "In fact, it has been confirmed that Aurum and Gylfie, which are their names, are the last pair of that fruit-eating hawk species alive, which is why they are extremely valuable and the human carers are anxious about them having chicks."

Jewel gazed at Eragon as she remembered herself and Blu being the last known Spix macaws alive, along with Carla, Bia and Tiago until Venus, Zephyr and Brisa and then the Spix macaw tribe were discovered. Then it was Pluto and Lapis Lazuli being the last pair of glaucous macaws alive with their four chicks Charon, Blueberry and their younger brother and sister, Quincy and Flor, until a flock of more glaucous macaws, Lapis Lazuli's tribe, were discovered in the Amazon Rainforest shortly after the Spix macaw tribe and some of the other bird flocks. Iris then formed a smile on her beak.

"When Triton and I have chicks," she said, "I would like to show our chicks where Triton's mother and father met and where he was born."

At this, Triton shot her a glare. "But Iris, we've been over this before. I don't think I'll make a good father," his wing went and pointed to the bandage covering his scared left face side; "Especially with these unsightly scars and clouded left eye our kids would have to put up with."

"Look, Triton," retorted Iris, "I may have some scars too and also a bad background as an abused show-bird at the hands of some uncaring humans but that's not to say I can't have chicks. After all, I've learned to manage those bad memories and the trauma thanks to some helpful birds that live here after some of your cat and dog friends rescued me," Iris then breathed a sigh, "And besides that, it seems that I have loved you for a thousand years since our relationship began to develop further, DESPITE your scarred face, and I'm sure your kids would love to have you for a father."

Triton just gazed at Iris with an uncertain look but Jupiter, Ceres, Blu and Jewel agreed.

"You'd make an excellent father, Triton," said Jupiter, "After all, you are an excellent uncle to Gertie, your sister Indigo and her mate Victor's daughter."

His face then fell as he grieved the hyacinth chick's absence, along with the other kids, now possibly including eight more of them. Iris then smiled slightly. "We'll discuss this after the toucan problem has been dealt with," she said. As she said this, the group heard talking through the door to the breeding chamber which was partly open.

"I'm afraid the two fruithawks stay here, pal. We don't want them going missing like almost last time."

At this, glances were exchanged between Eragon and the six macaws and the seven hurried over to the door to peer in and listen. As the group entered the breeding chamber, Eragon nodded to a specific spot at the foot of the door.

"This is where Merlin died," he whispered. Blu, Jewel, Jupiter, Iris, Triton and Ceres gazed at that spot and imagined a peregrine falcon's body lying limply in that area with Velocity crawling over him, crying her eyes out, before pulling their gaze from that area and placed it on the speakers who happened to be three of Tulio's employees, among them Francisco, the person who had visited Susan and company in London before their journey to Rio, and a group of another three humans whose faces Blu, Jewel, Jupiter, Iris, Triton and Ceres and Eragon couldn't recognise but were dressed in white uniforms like the Tulio's Aviary staff.

"Oh, come on," protested one of the three humans opposite Francisco's trio, "I'm sure they'll be fine at our conservation area in Peru."

"And besides that," said one of the man's companions, a woman, "Our area has an artificially grown indoor jungle with real fruit-bearing trees, other real plants and other real environment-based things like a lake, and I'm sure those two fruithawks would thrive in that environment. In addition, there are other animals that would make great friends for them."

Blu and Jewel then fluttered up onto a tree branch and gazed at a pair of glistening birds perched on a branch of an artificial tree behind Francisco and his companions. They resembled fierce hawks with golden body plumage and yellow heads and necks but their fierce, dagger-like beaks and talons which Blu knew were the flesh-butchering weapons of nearly all birds of prey were used for tearing and butchering the flesh of fruit and plant material in the pair of fruithawks, for these two were vegetarian, herbivorous hawks, something Blu had never heard of. As Blu observed the two fruithawks, which were a male and a female, he saw that the two individuals had their backs turned to each other, their faces twisted into disliking scowls as though the two didn't stand each other's company.

"We were like that before we warmed up to each other," whispered Blu, referring to himself and Jewel when they first met. Jewel just flashed him a glare as she heard this but then his attention was pulled back to Francisco and his companions.

"You may have a massive indoor artificial jungle," replied Francisco, "But these two fruithawks stay here as I've said before and we don't want to let those two birds out of our sight again."

"If we gave that only pair of the newly discovered species of hawk to you to take away to your conservation area," said Francisco's other companion, "Tulio'll be _furious_ and he may fire us from our jobs. It is our duty to look after them and any chicks they have _."_

However, the faces of the three humans remained unchanged and Jupiter and Ceres could clearly see that.

"You remember what happened to Tulio when you and Blu, alongside your three chicks Carla, Bia and Tiago, and Brisa, Venus, Zephyr, Pluto and Lapis Lazuli were targeted by the second group of smugglers when you guys were the last known Spix and glaucous macaws known," Jupiter whispered to Jewel, who nodded in agreement, "He was absolutely flustered."

"I'm not surprised," whispered Blu, "According to my human companion Linda, he at one point almost lost his composure during those events."

However, as the leader of the unidentified three humans spoke, Blu and Jupiter's attention was pulled back to them.

"Look, I'm sure he wouldn't mind us taking the two golden fruithawks to our conservation centre," said the leader insistently and adamantly, "Please, give us those two birds behind you."

However, Francisco and his two companions still refused. Blu, Jewel, Jupiter, Triton, Iris and Ceres glared at the opposing trio of humans, especially their insistent faces.

"I don't like those three humans' refusal to yield to Francisco's warnings," muttered Triton as his right eye scowled at the three pestering humans.

"They do sound very persistent," said Jewel.

"I'm sure these human environment care groups wouldn't compete with one another when they are trying to preserve rare animals in their natural habitats, wouldn't they?" asked Eragon. Blu glared at him.

"They normally wouldn't," he said, before his glare returned to the three humans pestering Francisco and the other two that they hand over the fruithawks, "But the way those three are behaving towards Francisco, Amy and Russel is not right at all."

Suddenly, the group heard Francisco shout at the three opposing humans, making the six macaws and archaeobird jump. At this, the three humans opposing Francisco and his two companions Amy and Russel, in response to Francisco's angry retort, finally admitted defeat and left for the door to the main medical room. Eragon and the six macaws all dived behind the door to avoid the three humans.

"If that's what you want," said the leader as he left with his two companions, disgruntlement in his voice, "Then we'll not bother you anymore."

And with that, he and his two companions continued to leave. Francisco, Russel and Amy then walked in.

"Well done, Francisco," said Amy with relief, "I thought those three pesterers would never leave."

"We'd better keep a close eye on those two fruithawks," said Francisco, his gaze on the glistening pair as they flew across the breeding chamber to another tree, "If anything happens to those only two known individuals, Tulio will be steamed."

Russel and Amy nodded in agreement and then followed Francisco back into the medical room. Eragon, Blu, Jupiter, Ceres, Jewel, Iris and Triton followed as Russel closed the door.

However, as the seven returned to the main medical room, commotion was stirred as some humans rushed through the medical centre.

"Gangway!" shouted the person in front as she carried something wrapped in blankets in her arms, "Emergency coming through."

As the group ran through the room, the other humans and some of the birds all scrambled to make way while the commotion jolted awake the majority of the birds around the room, including Carla, Bia, Tiago, their mates and their remaining chicks and the rest of their friends and their remaining kids. Indignation tore through Blu's group.

"Now what's up," snarled Blu in frustration. Triton and Iris then fluttered up and watched the group of humans as they rushed through the medical centre, birds and the other humans having parted to let them through. Then within seconds, the group of humans disappeared into one of the operating theatres. The pair of hyacinth macaws, along with Blu, Jewel, Jupiter, Ceres and Eragon, feared the worst.

"I hope it's not…" began Triton when suddenly, anguished cries from some familiar green-winged macaws erupted and reached his and the other six's ears. At this, the two hyacinth macaws, two Spix macaws, the vermillion muscular scarlet macaw, the scarred blue-throated macaw and the archaeobird with his wing in a cast all shot horrified gazes in the direction of the squawkers and saw that they were Mars, Deimos, Alexandre and Estelle, and they were flying after the group of humans as they rushed something into the operating theatres, squawking with anguish and horror, only to be stopped by Susan and Lucy as they almost flapped through the operating theatre door. Crying hysterically, Mars erupted into a flapping frenzy to escape Susan's arms but Susan kept a firm grip on him and dragged him away while Lucy, with Jack, Jill and Bernardo helping, pulled the equally anguished Deimos, Estelle and Alexandre away from the theatre as the group of humans led by the woman carrying her load in blankets disappeared into it.

Carla, Bia and Tiago, together with Ruby, Io, Zephyr and Venus, then rushed over to Blu, Jupiter, Ceres, Iris, Triton, Jewel and Eragon, horrified looks on their faces.

"What's going on, Ruby?" asked Jupiter. As the seven macaws clumsily landed onto the floor before Blu's group, Ruby took to answering Jupiter's question.

"It's CHIQUITITA AND PHOBOS!" she managed to get out.

"They've been SERIOUSLY ATTACKED WHILE RESCUING THE KIDNAPPED KIDS FROM THE TOUCANS," added Zephyr. The colour drained from the skins under the facial feathers of the seven birds, and the legs of Jupiter, Ceres, Blu, Jewel and Triton began to lose their strength as dread took hold. Chiquitita was one of their closest friends. She was like a sister to the first four and an aunt to Triton.

"Are you alright, you five?" asked Eragon with concern.

"Your skins have gone a funny colour under your feathers," put in Iris. Blu didn't answer, the shock of the news about Chiquitita and Phobos gripping him hard. Then Ceres managed to find the strength to speak.

"How did those two end up seriously attacked?" she demanded, "Did those toucans do this?"

As the question left her beak, more wing flaps reached the group's ears, pulling attention to a group of birds which turned out to be, to their surprise, a group of falcons and a red-tailed black cockatoo as they touched down onto the floor and began to take a minute to get their breath back for they had been flying so fast.

"Ónix!?" cried Jupiter in disbelief, "And Cometa, Lightning, Orion, Velocity!? What…?"

"What are you lot doing here?" asked Jewel. Lightning put a wing up to tell her to be quiet until the newcomers got control of their breathing. Eragon examined the puffing and panting falcons and cockatoo.

"Looks like those guys have been flying a mile," he commented to the others. Then after finally regaining control of their breathing, the red-tailed black cockatoo, Ónix took the first turn to speak.

"We've managed to help Chiquitita and Phobos rescue the eight chicks from a bunch of hoodlum toucans," he said. At this, shock and relief tore through Blu and company, especially Carla, Bia and Tiago.

"Did you manage to rescue Bartholomew?" blurted out Tiago as hope violently sparked within him. Cometa turned to him.

"We did, yes," she replied, "In fact we've rescued all of them. Hermione is outside trying to unlock the cage with…"

But before she could finish, Tiago had disappeared, followed by Carla and Bia, a trio of blue or cerulean blurs. Blu, Jewel, Jupiter, Ceres, Zephyr, Venus, Triton and Iris, and also Io, Zephyr and Venus followed.

"Thanks for letting us know, Cometa," barked Jupiter as he left, leaving Cometa, Lightning, Orion, Ónix and Velocity standing with Eragon, Io and Ruby. Then Orion, Velocity and Ónix's wings shot out.

"We're gonna follow them and make sure that those kidnapped kids are freed from the cage as well," said Orion and with that, the two falcons and cockatoo were off while Io and Ruby went to check on Mars, Deimos, Alexandre and Estelle as they continued to wail in anguish for Chiquitita and Phobos who were by now in the operating theatre.

Carla, Bia and Tiago, together with Blu, Jewel, Zephyr, Venus, Jupiter, Ceres, Triton and Iris, and also Matilda, Charlotte, Músculo, Felix, Turquesa, Brisa and Roberto, Titania, Ash, Benjamin, Umbriel, Azul, Fernanda, Frodo, Ellie and also Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, who had joined in with the hurrying group, all exploded through the main door entrance to Tulio's Aviary and rocketed outside to where a group of more falcons were gathered, a lump of metallic bars connecting two slabs of steel to each other and containing some feathered contents placed on the tarmac near a parking space or parking lot. Hermione was struggling with the padlock locking the door to the lump of bars and slabs using a paperclip to undo the lock, the contents of the cage looking on in utter desperation while some of the falcons in the gathering held the thing in place and trying to calm the contents inside. Hermione looked a right state. The merlin mate of Orion was covered in cuts and bruises and bald patches where feathers had been torn out, indicative that she had been in a vicious fight with someone. As Carla and company saw the gathering of falcons of various species, surprise struck them.

"Isn't that…?" began Carla.

"The Control de Plagas Squad," said Bia, finishing her sister's sentence. Then Felix and Turquesa gazed at the contents in the cage and when recognition took hold, immense and indescribable relief tore through them. The other birds with them also recognised the other chicks in the cage.

"AUSTIN!" barked Felix.

"BARTHOLOMEW!" shouted Matilda and Tiago together.

"JASON!" bellowed Charlotte and Músculo.

"KAYLEY, BASIL, CECIL, OCEANO, ACHILLES!" shouted Titania, Ash, Benjamin, Umbriel, Azul, Fernanda, Ceres, Uranus, Ellie and Frodo all at the same time. At this, the eight chicks all heard their names and turned to the shouters. The moment their eyes landed on them, joy flared within them.

"MOM, DAD, AUNST, UNCLES!" cried all eight young birds, which were indeed Bartholomew, Austin, Jason, Kayley, Basil, Cecil, Oceano and Achilles, as Hermione continued struggling with the padlock, a scowl on her face laced with determination to get the eight chicks out of that cage as soon as possible. Then after a few more agonising seconds, a click was heard and the u-shaped mechanism of the padlock clicked out of the body. This done, another falcon, another merlin, seized the padlock and tossed it aside while yet another falcon, one of the prairie species opened the door. The moment the door was opened, eight small comets shot out of the cage and straight into the wings of their waiting parents and relatives. Matilda and Tiago clasped their wings around Bartholomew while Jason was wrapped up in the wings of Charlotte and Músculo. Austin was seized by Felix and Turquesa and also Roberto and Brisa and subsequently Jojo, Kira, Lavender, Garrett, Diego, Winona and Lilac who had come to join in with the reunion, along with many of the other birds. Carla and Bia, along with Justin, Sonia, Melody, Virgil, Einstein and Miles also joined in with the reunion of Bartholomew and Jason with Blu, Jewel, Zephyr and Venus. Kayley, Basil, Cecil, Oceano and Achilles were also swept into a group hug by Uranus, Esmeralda, Miranda, Aramis, Ariel, Oberon and Tethys and Titania and Ash, Benjamin, Umbriel, Cecil, Azul, Fernanda, Ceres, Cobalto, Frodo, Ellie and Olivia. Cries of relief filled the air as the Control de Plagas Squad falcons looked on in amusement.

"Mom, Dad, I know you love me and that but can you let me breathe!?" protested Basil as his great green mother Titania and military father Ash held him tightly with Uranus, Esmeralda, Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Oberon and the other relatives. At this, Titania and the others slacked their embrace and Ash held Basil by the head, tears falling from his eyes.

"We're sorry son but you don't BELIEVE how RELIEVED we are to have you back," he cried. Umbriel and Benjamin held Cecil and Perdita nearby.

"Absolutely," put in Umbriel, "We thought you guys would be gone forever."

Basil just flashed his aunt and scarlet uncle a look before he was swept up once again into a hug by Titania and Ash. The rest of the group also remained in their embrace, sobs flying from their beaks into the night air. Jupiter looked on at the massive reunion as Hermione limped in with Cometa, Velocity, Lightning and Orion. When he saw the state of Orion's mate, Jupiter felt horror flare within him.

"Hermione, look at the state of you!" he blurted out, "What happened?"

At this, one of the other members of the squad, a kestrel, came in.

"While we were on an outing with Ónix and some other bird friends in the jungle," he explained, "We heard the sounds of distress nearby."

"And when we went to investigate," said Orion, his grief over the loss of his son Hunter pushed to the back of his mind, "We saw some toucans carry a cage through the trees."

As he said this, Jupiter, Zephyr, Venus, Blu and Jewel came in with Mercury, Sapphire, Saturn, Orquidea, Uranus, Esmeralda, Neptune, Ceres, Cobalto and Pluto, some of which had also flown outside to join in the reunion of the almost lost eight chicks. Ónix also joined the group. In the background, a group of three cats and a greyhound, one of them carrying a bundle of paper sheets rolled up in its mouth, came rushing in and puffing and panting but none of the birds noticed their presence yet.

"Go on," said Blu.

"When we saw those toucans place that cage onto the forest floor," continued Velocity, her grief for Merlin's demise also pushed aside, and her daughter Zelda, along with Spike, Velocity and Orion's younger brother and Cometa and Lightning's youngest son, having been left in the care of a babysitter, "We saw what was in the cage and when we identified them as some of the chicks of some macaws, especially one of them being a Spix macaw, we were horrified."

"That's when we went to help, especially when we saw two green-winged macaws turn up," said another merlin. He then turned to Orion and Hermione and asked, "You knew those two macaws, didn't you?"

"Yes, they were Phobos and Chiquitita," said Hermione with Orion nodding in agreement. At this, Blu and company's heads popped up. In the background, the three cats and greyhound got closer.

"And what happened next?" asked Jewel. At this, the heads of the Control de Plagas Squad and Ónix all turned away and bowed, sombre looks forming on their faces.

"What happened next was a massive maelstrom," said Velocity in an edgy voice. This prompted glances to be exchanged between Blu and company. "When Chiquitita and Phobos went to seize the cage containing those macaw chicks with us helping as soon as those deranged looking toucans had left, we were set upon by a bunch of corvid birds and dogs which we deduced were some of the poachers' pets."

Horrified gasps were drawn in throughout Blu's group. The three cats and greyhound also flinched in horror in the background.

"No," whispered Jewel in disbelief.

"We were forced to fight back," said Hermione as she began to shudder. The merlin then began to turn round to show Blu and company her many cuts, bruises and tattered plumage. Some of the other falcons also bore cuts, bruises and torn out feathers. "This is the result of fighting so many of those savage crows and dogs," said Hermione as she finished her 360 degree turn, "They were honestly _beastly_ birds and mammals, sort of like the bird-detesting colony flying foxes Orion and Velocity here told me and Merlin about when we paired up."

Velocity, Orion, Cometa and Lightning all nodded in agreement, much to the horror of Blu and company. At the window, Soren, Stella, Anabelle, Sebastian, Luna, Melissa and Augustus as they stood with Spyro, Marella and Bambi, all flinched at the mentioning of the barbaric colony of flying foxes. Then Cometa looked up, a sad gaze in her eyes.

"While these Control de Plagas Squad here," she said, gesturing to the falcons that bore the marks of the skirmish including Hermione, "kept the dogs and crows occupied, Lightning, Orion, Veloicty, myself and Ónix managed to escape with the cage containing the chicks with Chiquitita and Phobos in tow but then…" the peregrine falcon trailed off, reluctant to say what happened next but Blu and company demanded to know.

"Then what?" asked Jupiter, the others listening. Cometa gazed at the group with tears falling from her eyes. She was clearly reluctant to answer this question but she had to. Her voice broke as she began to speak.

"We were set upon by some of those toucans and… and…" she said before emotions overwhelmed her so Lightning took over.

"They attacked us by throwing fruit and stones at us," he said, causing outrage to tear through Blu and company but nothing could prepare these birds for what Lightning said next, "One of the stones hit Chiquitita in the head and she was sent dropping to the forest floor where some of the crows got her."

"That was when she was viciously savaged," said Ónix, much to the horrified gasps of Blu's group. The three cats and the greyhound which were Broccoli, Collette, Daisy and James, also flinched in utter shock. Behind them, Ebony and some other cat and dog clubbers were running up to the quartet to check on them.

"Then Phobos went to save Chiquitita but he was badly attacked as well," said Velocity, "But before those savage crows could kill them, Hermione had launched herself at the corvids and began to savagely and brutally slash and bite them to drive them away from the two green-winged macaws…"

It was then that Blu, Jewel, Zephyr, Venus and Jupiter gazed down at Hermione's talons and saw that they were covered in dried blood and some black feathers, indicative that she had been in a very gruesome fight indeed. Then a look of outrage came upon Hermione's face.

"When I saw those toucans through the trees," she growled, her patchy plumage puffed out, "I screeched at them to help us but they just turned and fled, leaving us to deal with those furry and corvid beasts ourselves. Then as soon as we had driven away the crows and dogs, we then rushed Chiquitita and Phobos to Tulio's Aviary while Cometa and Lightning carried the cage containing those eight chicks."

Then as soon as she had finished telling this spine-chilling story, applause erupted from Blu's group but then it ended abruptly.

"Well, I'm very proud of you falcons and you as well, Ónix, for helping Chiquitita and Phobos to rescue Bartholomew and the other seven from certain capture from those poachers," said Blu with a firm face. He took some time to grieve for Chiquitita and Phobos and hope that they were alright before continuing, "And we are glad that those eight chicks are safely back with us but it's time we moved onto the next big thing, and that is discussing where Sandalwood and the other kids have been taken to…"

"But Blu," said Cometa, "That is easier said than done."

"Those chicks and flying fox pups could have been taken ANYWHERE!" put in Lightning. The other Control de Plagas Squad members and Ónix all nodded in agreement. At this, Blu and company's faces fell, especially those of Stella and Soren and their family and also Carla, Bia, Tiago and their respective mates Justin, Virgil and Matilda. It was true. Sandalwood, along with Carla and Justin's daughter Spica, Matilda and Tiago's daughter Bellatrix, Bia and Virgil's son Sirius and the other chicks could have been taken absolutely anywhere in the world, and the thought of them being scattered during the trading process made the agonising thought even worse. As Blu and company began to wallow in the despair of ever finding Sandalwood and the other kidnapped kids, a familiar voice reached their ears.

"I think that question might be answered by this science magazine, Blu and company," it said. At this, Blu and the others all looked up and to their surprise; they saw a greyhound resembling Dash to a great extent walk in with a Veggie-like tabby cat and two female cats looking like an exact combination of Veggie and calico cat Catina. One of them was carrying something rolled up in his mouth.

"James, Broccoli, Collette, Daisy," said Blu with surprise.

"What are you four doing here?" asked Jupiter.

"You know this place is strictly forbidden to cats and dogs," added Jewel. James, Broccoli, Collette and Daisy, at this, approached Blu's group and Broccoli came forward and set down the rolled up magazine.

"We're sorry to come here but we have something very important for you to see," said Broccoli firmly. At this, Blu and company gazed at each other and went over to the magazine. From the window, Augustus, Melissa, Stella, Soren, Luna, Sebastian and Anabelle and also Spyro and Marella, after ordering Bambi to join Eragon and the bat-birds, all fluttered or glided from the window ledge towards Broccoli and the magazine as Blu and company took it and opened the first page.


	46. Chapter 45

**Chapter 45- Dalek's true colours begin to be revealed**

 **Back at the Sanctuario del Paradiso**

Sandalwood lay sat up at the foot of the flying fox tree, his gaze wandering into the night air of the artificial jungle lit by the moonlight streaming in through the windows and the artificial light from the human zone. His mind was saturated by the churning waves of worry and thoughts of his family and friends back in Rio. Even though he and the other kidnapped kids have been here for around four nights now and they have met a variety of animals and made new friends, the homesickness was still boiling. Sandalwood felt completely faded; he missed the loving embrace of his mother Stella, his father Soren's stories, Blu, Bia and Ganymede and their knowledge of scientific facts, especially the flight in animals which Sandalwood found most fascinating, and his true home, the Sanctuary de Amazon in Brazil. Furthermore, Sandalwood missed being able to fly dearly but his fear of heights and flying resulting from the traumatic event at the clutches of some of those horrible toucan chicks was still a tall brick wall. Some of the other animals, especially Shade and Sadie, have been trying to help Sandalwood to overcome that fear but it had not been very easy. Despite being successful in scaling that tree to get to some mischievous bright green lizards as they stole Mina the Tasmanian devil and her cubs' meat to retrieve that meal, Sandalwood still dreaded the thought of flying again, as well as hanging from a branch with his feet. It truly was a massive obstacle for this young flying fox pup and it made him weep.

The homesickness and missing of Brazil and their parents and relatives also plagued the minds of Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Acerola and the other kids and like Sandalwood, they felt faded as well. At night they would dream about their parents, grandparents and friends but those dreams were always shattered by poachers coming in and snatching them away from those relatives. Sandalwood remembered Adenine, Cytosine, Guanine and Thymine the Catalina macaws mention and discuss about dreaming about themselves with Ganymede and Mimas, their parents, and the rest of the gang and playing with them in the Brazilian jungle until bars suddenly appeared, jolting the four awake and bringing tears to their eyes, and Vega said that she had dreamt about herself chasing after Jojo, Kira and Winona through some trees until those four faded while behind her, fiendish forms of poachers and crows manifested and caught her, resulting in her waking up. Sandalwood also remembered himself dreaming about Soren, Stella and also Blu and the others cheerfully inviting him into playing with them before a bunch of toucan-like forms with devilish glares and laughter escaping their beaks interrupted the blissful scene, bound him and tossed him into a lake during one night. This was the second time he had had a dream with a theme like that since his first arrival in the artificial jungle when one of the humans dropped him from the cage. Sandalwood's eyes, which were beginning to ooze tears again, then moved the bat's gaze towards the silvery shaft of moonlight as it flowed like liquid silver through the window and onto the ground. In the darkness, movements flashed by, the nocturnal animals up to their nightly business but those animals were too busy in their search for food or play to notice the Brazilian flying fox as he began to weep.

"Oh, how faded I feel," murmured Sandalwood quietly, a tear falling from his right eye, before his teary eyed gaze rose upward to gaze at the dark ceiling. An image of his mother Stella, father Soren, aunt Luna, uncle Sebastian and aunt Anabelle, cousin Ferdinand, and grandparents Augustus and Melissa, and many of the family's friends including Blu, Jewel, Carla, Bia and Tiago formed in his mind.

"Where are you now, Mom, Dad?" the flying fox pup wailed, his gaze scanning the darkness as though he yearned for his family to appear. The flying fox pup then rose to his feet and began to burst into a mournful song, "Where are you now?"

As Sandalwood began to sing his heart out, several nocturnal animals turned his way, gazing at him in wonder.

"Where are you now?" sang Sandalwood again, "Mom and Dad… Grandpa, Grandma… where are you now?"

The flying fox pup then wandered into the moonlight shaft where his amber fur shone brightly in its silvery fluid rays.

"I'm fay-ded…" cried Sandalwood, "I'm fay-ded… so lost, I'm fay-ded…"

The flying fox pup continued to sin g the song Atreyu had taught him for a few more minutes until he finally retreated to a nearby rock and slumped down to weep.

"Oh, Mom, Dad, Aunt Luna… I feel so lost without you…" he cried, "And the others with me also feel lost without you too, Mr Blu, Mrs Jewel…" he then began to release quiet sobs. As Sandalwood continued to cry, some forms approached him from the dark jungle.

"Sandalwood?" asked one of the forms, making Sandalwood jump and look in the speaker's way. However, it was only Connie much to his relief. Accompanying the grey-headed flying fox pup were some of the macaw chicks: Steven and Lars, and Adenine and Guanine's younger brother and sister Cytosine and Thymine, and Sirius and Spica, and they all wore sympathetic looks on their faces.

"Are you alright?" asked Steven.

"You don't look very happy at all," said Lars. Sandalwood bowed his head and shed a tear as Cytosine, Thymine, Sirius and Spica went over to him to comfort him.

"I just miss my home," replied Sandalwood in a fragile voice, "My family… my relatives…"

"We all do," said Sirius.

"We heard you sing that song Atreyu sung the other night," said Spica. Sandalwood shot her and Connie a worried gaze.

"I've not woken any of the grownups up, have I?" he asked. To his relief, Connie and Spica shook their heads. Then a curious gaze came upon Connie's face.

"Why do you miss Brazil so much, anyway?" she asked, "This place is awesome," she gestured a wing to the artificial night jungle as she said this.

"Yes," said Steven, "This place isn't called 'Paradise Sanctuary' for nothing, you know. We're well-looked after, cared for and protected from potential poachers who would have put us through the trauma of the stinking animal trade."

Lars nodded in agreement. However, Cytosine, Thymine, Sirius and Spica all stomped quietly over to the moonlight and gazed at the night sky through the window, the sadness and frustration beginning to boil within them once again. Sandalwood, a tearful and furious glare on his face, followed.

"You should have seen how homesick some of us have been, Connie, Lars and Steven," snapped Sandalwood angrily, his eyes beginning to shed tears once again, "Canopus and Procyon have not been doing much except sit on a tree branch for most of the day yearning to be back with their parents and siblings…"

"Fomalhaut had stayed in our hollow for almost an entire day the other day," added Sirius, "And Sylvester, who is still very badly shaken from our ordeal in the Compartment of the Carnivores, had been weeping and wishing that his parents, sister and adopted brother were here."

"But…" began Lars but Sirius cut him off.

"We don't belong here, Lars, Steven and Connie," snapped the son of Bia and Virgil, his brown eyes ablaze with anguish, distress and anger shooting towards the trio. He then advanced furiously towards them and forced them to back away, "It may be called Paradise Sanctuary, but it's NOTHING at ALL like paradise to ANY OF US!"

"Shhh!" hushed Connie, her concerned glance flashing at her sleeping parents Sadie and Shade and the other flying foxes as they slept in the flying fox tree branches, "You'll wake some of the daytime animals up if you continue to shout like that."

However, Sirius, Spica, Cytosine, Thymine and Sandalwood were too flooded with anguish to even care.

"Don't you know how it FEELS to be torn away from your own home, and your family and relatives and friends?" cried Spica, a mixture of rage and despair lacing her face, tears falling uncontrollably from her eyes, "And brought to a PLACE filled with strange ANIMALS, some of WHICH are nasty and LIKE TO MOCK NEWCOMERS!?"

Spica and Sirius's bodies began to tremble as the anguish continued to boil ever more within them while Cytosine, Thymine and Sandalwood continued to shed more and more tears. Steven tried to calm the raging fires within the four chicks and the pup.

"But… we're your family now," said the scarlet macaw chick, "And besides that, haven't you been told about the impossibility of you lot's returning to Brazil?"

"Yes, it's basically impractical because it's such a long way from here for one," said Connie, "And you'd not know which way to go for another, especially since you're young like us, and could wander into danger..."

"And thirdly," put in Lars, wary of the trembling chicks and pup as rage continued to boil within them, "Our human carers wouldn't allow you lot to leave anyway since some of you guys are part of some extremely rare species, and they don't want you guys to risk running into any trouble that could endanger you as Connie said."

"We don't CARE!" bellowed Sandalwood, making Connie, Steven and Lars flinch and back away more, especially as he turned to a nearby small rock and swiped it viciously and hard with his wing; the steam pressure within him finally reaching critical, "WE WANNA GO HOME!"

"This ISN'T OUR HOME, even though YOU MYA SAY IT IS!" put in Sirius as he also kicked a stone away with a talon before turning his fiery glare at Connie and the two scarlet macaw chicks, "And YOU THREE AND YOUR FAMILIES aren't OUR families, even though YOU MAY BE OUR FRIENDS!"

"B-b-b-but…" stammered Steven but Cytosine surged forward, tears flying like rain from his eyes.

"AND YOU KNOW WHAT HURTS MOST?!" he barked, "It's SEEING YOU THREE WITH PARENTS AND SIBLINGS to SNUGGLE UP TO and TELL YOU STORIES EVERY NIGHT… to TURN TO WHENEVER YOU HAVE TROUBLE…" Cytosine's colourful plumage spiked out like a porcupine fish's spines and he began to tremble like a building in an earthquake, his eyes shedding tears uncontrollably, "and to COMFORT YOU WHENEVR YOU ARE DOWN… whereas WE are FAR AWAY FROM OUR own FAMILIES!"

Steven, Connie and Lars didn't know how to reply to this, so they continued to watch the two Spix macaws, two Catalina macaws and the Brazilian flying fox continue to rant and rail and shed tears everywhere.

"We WANNA GO HOME!" screeched Sandalwood at Connie, Steven and Lars, "Do you UNDERSTAND THAT!? WE WANNA GO HOME!"

"Yes," put in Sirius as he violently kicked away another stone and lashed at a nearby bush and tore out some leaves in a rage, much to the fear of the two scarlet macaw chicks and grey-headed flying fox pup, "We DON'T WANNA spend ANOTHER DAY in this so-called PARADISE AT ALL!"

"We FEEL SO LOST AND FADED WITHOUT our REAL PARENTS AND FAMILIES!" put in Spica and with that, she kicked away a fruit shell so fiercely that the shell actually flew like a football across the clearing for up to two metres. Steven whimpered at the volcanic eruption and huddled against Lars and Connie. The three were clearly afraid that the five distressed kids before them could launch into a full-blown meltdown any moment, with nasty consequences for the noise could wake up some of the grownup animals, and Connie was particularly concerned for her family and friends who were asleep in the flying fox tree.

"And believe it or NOT, WE'RE ON THE exact SAME PERCH AS ATREYU!" bellowed Cytosine as he and Thymine kicked away some more stones and sand, sending sand grains flying everywhere in a cloud.

"WE MISS OUR HOMELAND, OUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS!" put in Thymine, "Exactly like how HE DOES!"

"Sirius, Sandalwood…" began Lars but he flinched when "NO!" exploded from Sirius's beak and the scarlet macaw chick and Steven's older brother found himself on the receiving end of a fiery brown glare from an enraged Spix macaw chick.

"YOU may say this is our HOME BUT IT'S NOT!" cried Sirius loudly, tears falling in greater amounts from his eyes.

"YOU don't understand HOW WE FEEL AT ALL," shouted Sandalwood, "IN FACT, only ONE of our NEW FRIENDS TRULY understands how WE FEEL, and that's ATREYU!"

"WE WOULDN'T be surprised if HE HAD BEEN through the SAME STORM WE are going through when HE WAS BROUGHT HERE!" bellowed Cytosine and with that, he sent another stone flying with another vicious kick. Lars, Connie and Steven flinched as they watched the stone fly in the direction of the human zone's light, hoping that it hadn't struck a nocturnal animal on the way. Luckily, it had not. Then before the trio could think things could get any worse, the fires of anguish, despair and depression raging within Sandalwood, Sirius, Spica, Cytosine and Thymine finally died down.

"We don't want to stay here in this so-called paradise 'conservation' area for the rest of our lives," murmured Sandalwood quietly and mournfully. He then eyed a stone and sent it flying with a hard swipe of his wing as his rage flared up for another brief moment once again. Lars, Connie and Steven looked on timidly as the stone flew towards a tree trunk (not that of the flying fox tree) and slammed into it, before clattering to the sandy and soil ground at the foot of the tree. Lars, Connie and Steven then gazed at the five as they crumpled to their knees or feet and began to weep in the moonlight, the steam having been released enough for them to calm down. The three were stuck for words, glued to the spot by immense dumbfound by the outburst of the two Spix macaws, two Catalina macaws and flying fox pup to do anything.

As the trio continued to watch Sandalwood, Sirius, Spica, Cytosine and Thymine as they wept, several more forms came in.

"Hey, Steven, guys," said one of them, a macaroni penguin with a very handsome voice, "Have you seen Atreyu? I can't find him anywhere around our area."

"Bellatrix, Betelgeuse, Rigel, Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka, Guanine and Adenine are missing as well," said a strange scarlet macaw who was missing his tail feathers.

"As are Alegria, Saiph, Arcturus, Lillie, Altair and Pitaya, who are missing from the hollow," put in another macaw chick, a glaucous macaw. Several more macaw chicks, among them a blue-and-gold macaw with a green head and hyacinth macaw-like facial features and four more Spix macaw chicks, also wore facial expressions asking the same question.

"Um… maybe he's gone for a walk?" asked Steven. Then Sylvester's gaze travelled to the very depressed Sandalwood, Sirius, Spica, Cytosine and Thymine, their eyes bloodshot from crying so much. At this, the Cuban macaw went over to them, Polaris, Vega, Petunia and Deneb following. As these five went to comfort the weeping Spix and Catalina macaw chicks and Sandalwood, Mira, the half blue-and-gold, half hyacinth macaw, and Regulus and Denebola the glaucous macaws, and Castor, Pollux, Procyon, Fomalhaut, Achernar, Antares and Capella shot Steven, Lars and Connie a glare.

"Did you upset those five?" asked Mira fiercely. At this, the two scarlet macaws and grey-headed flying fox immediately shook their heads.

"No," said Connie, "Why would we do that?"

"We were only trying to comfort them but they kept ranting and railing about their desire to return to Brazil," said Steven. The moment that painful word left Steven's beak and reached Mira's group's ears, the ten macaws all bowed their heads and turned away.

"I'm not surprised," muttered Castor glumly, "They miss our homes and our families."

"As do we," put in Pollux. The group then turned to Lars, Steven and Connie.

"We've wanted to leave this place and reunite with our families since we came here," said Procyon.

"We feel like we've been ripped from our home and shoved into a so-called paradise," added Regulus, his temper threatening to flare. Connie and the two scarlet brothers backed away, fearful that these macaw chicks were going to erupt like how Sirius, Spica, Sandalwood, Cytosine and Thymine had done a minute ago.

"We're NOT gonna spend the REST of OUR lives fading away in this ROTTEN place… away from our parents and be raised by grownups we don't recognise as true family," added Denebola, "We belong in Brazil… in the Amazon rainforest."

Sirius, Spica, Sandalwood, Cytosine and Thymine, together with Petunia, Polaris, Vega, Sylvester and Deneb all nodded in agreement.

"That's right," added Fomalhaut who stood with Achernar, Capella and Antares, their eyes threatening to spill tears, "Seriously, we don't wanna stay in this miserable place."

"Oh, for the last time," muttered Connie as annoyance flowed through her, "It's NOT possible for you lot to go back to Brazil."

The grey-headed flying fox then walked away, her wings on the back of her head as she simmered in annoyance at Sandalwood and company's refusal to take in the facts, and Steven and Lars, along with Finnick, shot Sandalwood and the others an agreeing look, much to the immense despair of the latter group but before these birds and flying fox could launch into another outburst, the sound of two doors opening and closing, one after the other, reached their ears.

"Oh, one of the humans is coming in to check on the nocturnal animals," said Finnick. With that, the group all dashed for the safety of a large bush as the human then closed the second door of the small compartment and doorway from the artificial jungle to the human zone through the barrier and proceeded further into the jungle, some sort of food bucket in his arms. However, he was unaware that something had sneaked past his pacing feet as he opened and closed the doors. As the human then walked away to do his night tasks, Achernar saw a strange object appear to float away from the person. The object glinted brownish in the light and there appeared to be two bumps on it.

"What is that flying thing?" he asked. The others followed the great green macaw chick's gaze.

"What flying thing?" asked Finnick.

"I hope you're not seeing things," said Steven sceptically. Then Sirius saw movement of the same object Achernar had spotted but then he paused to listen for he had heard something.

"What is it, Sirius?" asked Steven but Sirius held a wing to tell him to be quiet. The others stopped to listen. It sounded like a muffled chirping noise.

"Sounds like someone's chick chirping in their hollow," said Steven but then he remembered something, "Wait a minute, all the chicks are asleep in their nests. How can there be a chick chirping at this time of night?"

"Unless it's restless," suggested Connie. Then Cytosine took his turn to listen.

"That chick doesn't just sound restless," he said, "It sounds in _distress."_

Indeed the chirps did. The muffled squeaks Sandalwood and the others heard clearly sounded distressed but also furious. Furthermore, those angered chirps weren't emanating from a hollow. They were emanating from near the floating dome thing. Then a sense of familiarity struck Cytosine and Thymine as they listened closely to the chirps. Those chirps didn't belong to any chick. They were _Betelgeuse's_.

"That sounds one of our cousins," said Cytosine. The moment he said this, dread came upon him, Thymine, Sandalwood and the others apart from Steven, Connie, Lars and Finnick.

"Which of your cousins?" asked Steven.

"Rigel?" asked Sandalwood. Cytosine and Thymine only gazed at the scarlet macaw chick and the Brazilian flying fox pup in reply. It was then that Achernar, Denebola, Antares, Capella and Regulus saw something wriggle and squirm near the floating dome in the glint of light from the human zone. A hiss then erupted from beneath the dome and the wriggling thing shook violently and slammed into the ground, producing a cry of pain, striking a horrible feeling within Cytosine, Thymine, Sandalwood and the others. Then Sirius, Spica, Procyon, Castor, Pollux, Saiph, Regulus, Denebola, Sandalwood, Sylvester and Finnick began to tremble. They knew that vicious hiss and who it belonged to.

"I hope it's not what, or who, I think it is…" whispered Finnick and with that, he began to follow the floating hat and bag. Sandalwood, Steven, Lars, Connie and the others with them followed closely behind the macaroni penguin.

Moments later, another form entered the darkness, this time from Dundee and his inner circle's tent. It was an echidna, and she wore an annoyed look on her face.

"I hope those wailing kids have shut their noise up," she muttered quietly to herself. Kiara had been rudely awoken by Sandalwood's wails and his, along with Sirius, Spica, Cytosine and Thymine's, shouts, "They should know that it is past their bedtime for one and the nocturnal animals' time for another. Not to mention that other diurnal animals are trying to sleep…"

Her face twisted into a weary, tiredness-laced glare, Kiara walked further out into the dark jungle, a yawn leaving her mouth. She then began to search for whoever had been making that racket. A nocturnal mammal darted by and flashed Kiara a curious look.

"Shouldn't you be in bed?" it asked.

"Are you lot making that racket?" hissed Kiara in quiet retort, "You know there are diurnal animals trying to sleep."

The mammal, which appeared to be some sort of rare weasel or ferret, shook its head and darted away into the dark jungle, leaving Kiara to roll her eyes and move on. As the echidna began to search for the noise makers, she heard the sounds of wing-flaps travel through the dark air and reach her ears. At this, Kiara raised her snout and eyes and, to her surprise, she spotted several chicks, and a flying fox pup, approach her. Four of them were red macaws with blue or turquoise wings, two had a rainbow of colours to their feathers, three were blue, one was purple and pink with dots of aqua on her chest and wings, one was bright green, yellow and red, another chick was a black toucan with a multi-coloured beak and reddish front, and the other chick was a weird four-winged feathered creature with claws on his wings and a long prehensile tail. Running behind the flying kids was a penguin chick. As the group approached Kiara, who looked on in utter astonishment, Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka, Acerola, Rigel, Guanine, Adenine, Saiph, Arcturus, Bellatrix, Altair, Lillie, Pitaya and Alegria, with Atreyu running right behind them, touched clumsily down before the echidna and began to puff and pant rapidly for they had been flying so fast, and for Atreyu, running, especially through the double door entrance compartment as the human left the artificial jungle.

"What are you lot doing up at this time of night!?" demanded Kiara as the fifteen kids continued to puff and pant, "You should be asleep!"

Alnitak then stood up to speak to Kiara as soon as he got his breath back.

"There's something we have found that you should know but you're not gonna believe this," he said. At this, Kiara assumed that Alnitak and company were playing some sort of prank on her.

"Oh, Alnitak, kids," she muttered.

"No, we're being serious here," said Alnilam, "We've been investigating some of the rooms in the human zone and…"

At this, Kiara flashed the scarlet macaw chick a disbelieving shock.

"You went WHERE!?" she retorted, making Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka and the others with them flinch. Then Acerola came forward.

"W-we found a list of rare animal species in one of the rooms," she said.

"Many of which had ticks next to them," put in Bellatrix.

"And that's not all," added Guanine who stood with Adenine, "We also found of list of aims the humans seemed to have written down in one of the rooms and those aims revolved around catching some adult Spix, glaucous, Cuban red and Dominican green-and-yellow and Lear's macaws from Brazil to bring here for breeding purposes…"

"Of course our human carers are likely to bring in some adult macaws for breeding purposes," snapped Kiara irritably, "this place is a conservation area. What do you expect?"

Frustration rolled through Alnitak's group. It was clear that the message they were desperately trying to get through to Kiara was blocked by her loyalty to the humans who worked on the Paradise Sanctuary when in fact there was a deeper… and rather dark… motivation behind the humans' caring for the animals in the area, many of which were very rare and critically endangered. Kiara was then about to scold Alnitak and company for staying up past their bedtime and entering the forbidden human zone when suddenly, someone shouted her name.

"Kiara!" at this, Kiara snapped her gaze from Alnitak's group to the caller and saw several nocturnal mammals and reptiles run in, alarmed looks lacing their faces.

"What is it?" snapped Kiara irritably. The nocturnal mammals, which were rare species of shrews and nocturnal ferrets, and the reptiles, which were rare nocturnal lizards, screeched to a halt but nothing could prepare Kiara for what one of the lizards said next.

"We've seen the chameleon carry something in a sack past our burrow," said the lizard, "And we believe that he may have captured one of the parrot chicks."

At this, the colour drained from the skin under the fur of Kiara's face and Alnitak and company gazed at her. Pitaya then cupped a wing to speak to Rigel, Bellatrix and Atreyu and whispered, "That happened while we were in the human zone carrying out our investigation…"

Rigel, Bellatrix and Atreyu shot the purple-and-pink macaw chick a dreaded look. They were clearly reluctant to explain to Kiara that one of their comrades, Betelgeuse, had likely been captured by that dreaded, parrot-hating chameleon named Dalek. Then suddenly, the quartet all jolted as Kiara's voice barked at the nocturnal witnesses.

"Take us there as FAST AS YOU CAN!" she bellowed, "But wait here until I've alerted some of the inner circle animals."

The ferrets, shrews and lizards nodded and dashed off, Alnitak and company following.

"Alnitak, you lot, OI!" barked Kiara. Too late; the group had already disappeared into the darkness. Frustration swamping her, the echidna dashed for the tent to seek help.

Meanwhile, Sandalwood, Sirius and Spica, Cytosine and Thymine, Sylvester, Polaris, Vega, Petunia and Deneb, Mira, Regulus and Denebola, Castor, Pollux, Procyon, Fomalhaut, Achernar, Antares and Capella, and Steven, Lars, Connie and Finnick continued to follow the floating hat and bag, which were worn and held by Dalek who was utilising his colour-changing abilities to camouflage himself into his surroundings and giving the illusion that his namesake aliens' dome hat was floating, continued in a certain direction, unaware that he had two-dozen pairs of eyes watching him from the darkness a safe distance away. The group had been sneaking from one bush or tree to the next and keeping their distance from the chameleon as he continued creeping towards somewhere, the writhing Betelgeuse in the bag. As the chameleon continued through this part of the artificial jungle, Sandalwood, Sirius, Spica, Sylvester, Finnick, Castor, Pollux and Procyon sensed this area to be familiar, but it was not at all a nice feeling, and it sent shivers down these birds and flying fox pup's backs. Steven, Lars and Connie also felt this place to be chillingly familiar, having been down here before. However, they continued after the chameleon as he continued to carry the bagged Betelgeuse off towards somewhere. The pursuit continued until finally, the chameleon stopped. Sandalwood and the others peered out from behind a bush and a tree trunk, being careful to avoid the shaft of moonlight that flowed onto the floor through another window. Sylvester timidly gazed this way and that.

"This is where… that Lusamine bat and her comrades chased us…" he whispered.

"What is that chameleon doing near that barrier?" came Steven's voice. At this, the others followed his gaze.

"Barrier?" asked Polaris confused. Then Sirius gazed hard at something and saw small specks of metallic glints hovering in the air. At this, his blood froze and his heart dropped. He recognised this barrier immediately.

"That's the barrier to the Compartment of the Carnivores," he whispered.

"The exact same place where we were forced to escape through a hole in that barrier when Dalek chased us and tore out Sylvester's tail feathers," said Sandalwood. His body trembled like a leaf as he gazed at the familiar spot. Finnick also felt very nauseated. Then the group continued to watch the chameleon as he lifted the bag and shook it. His domed hat rotated, indicating that Dalek was examining his surroundings to make sure that no-one was watching. At this, Connie commanded the group to duck, which they did. Then seeing that there was no-one watching him, or so he thought, Dalek resumed shaking Betelgeuse out of the bag. A bundle of red feathers with colourful wings then plopped onto the sand but the moment she did, Betelgeuse tried to make a break for it but was immediately seized by an invisible finger-fused hand. At this, the three-quarter scarlet chick began to writhe and screech but another finger-fused hand clasped over her beak, muffling her screams. Thymine and Cytosine then sprang into action and prepared to fly out of their hiding place.

"We're NOT gonna have that scaly beast hurt our cousin," hissed Cytosine fiercely but then a flipper appeared and blocked his and Thymine's path. Finnick had spotted movement through the mesh, as had Connie and Steven, so these two took off to get a better view of the creatures as they approached the mesh on the other side, the Carnivore Compartment land.

"What do you see, you two?" asked Sandalwood. Connie and Steven squinted at the forms as they approached the invisible Dalek as he continued to restrain the furiously writhing Betelgeuse. However, the area was so dark the two could not make out the forms' shapes, but they saw that the shadowy figures had glowing eyes. However, these eyes were no pretty lights. They had a very sinister glint to them and based on their brightness, Steven and Connie landed on one conclusion but it was a deduction that made them shudder. As the glowing eyed creatures approached the invisible Dalek, Betelgeuse continued to writhe and screech muffled screeches angrily in the invisible chameleon's grasp but the chameleon kept a firm grip on her to restrain her. Then one of the glowing pairs of eyes floated over to a certain hole in the barrier, the exact same hole through which Sandalwood and the others had been forced to escape through, and gazed expectantly at Dalek. As Sandalwood and the others watched the invisible chameleon, they saw Betelgeuse get turned in the air, the chameleon's hands holding her in a certain way. However, she lunged at the invisible chameleon with her claws and caught the creature's cheek under the seemingly floating dome. A hiss of agony exploded from the chameleon's invisible mouth and a bead of blood oozed from where he had been scratched. The chameleon's reaction dropped Betelgeuse but before she could make a break for it, she was seized by a pair of invisible hands once again.

"LET ME GO AT ONCE, you FILTHY, BEASTLY, SCALED…" screeched the young red macaw and with that, she spat an insult so caustic that her parents Io and Sheldon would certainly cuff her if they heard her say it. Antares, Sirius and Spica then prepared to explode from the hiding place and dive at Dalek, looks of thunder saturating their faces and the urge to claw Dalek's scaly face in volcanically erupting within them. However, before they could lunge at Dalek, the wicked chameleon did something that was unthinkable. Holding Betelgeuse so hard that her breath was drawn in one hand, Dalek's other invisible hand seized the flight feathers of one of her wings and then without hesitation, Dalek pulled on them as hard as he could.

"What are you DOING!?" bellowed Betelgeuse but then the most agonising pain shot through her wing, making her scream at the top of her lungs but because Dalek had held her so hard, the screams were only short bursts as she struggled for breath, but she writhed as though having a seizure in Dalek's grasp. Accompanying the short bloodcurdling screams of agony was a tear of feathers from skin and within moments, the sadistic chameleon had yanked out Betelgeuse's primary flight feathers. Baby turquoise flight feathers with red undersides and drops of blood then rained onto the floor. Then Dalek promptly shoved Betelgeuse through the barrier and to the glowing-eyed creatures. That did it. Sirius, along with Spica, Cytosine, Thymine, Sandalwood and Antares; hot rage bringing through them and turning their blood into pure magma, finally exploded from their hiding place and charged towards Dalek, enraged screeches exploding from their beaks and Sandalwood's mouth as they rocketed, or in Sandalwood's case, charged, towards Dalek. As these six rushed towards the chameleon as he released devilish hissy laughs, Sylvester, Polaris, Vega, Petunia, Deneb, Mira, Regulus, Denebola, Castor, Pollux, Procyon, Fomalhaut, Achernar and Capella turned tail and rushed off in the opposite direction to get help while Steven, Connie, Finnick and Lars shot after Sandalwood and the five macaws with him as they rushed towards Dalek.

"You lot get help while we rescue Betelgeuse," cried Connie as Sylvester's group left. Sylvester and the others with him nodded and disappeared into the darkness while Connie and the other three charged after Sandalwood, Sirius, Spica, Cytosine, Thymine and Antares as they tackled Dalek, shocking him into turning a visible green, his usual colour, to the ground, on his back, with Sirius clasping a talon to the chameleon's neck. Dalek's hat flew to one side and clattered to the ground and soon, Dalek found himself on the receiving end of a fiery brown glare belonging to a spiky blue ball of feathers, its talon clasped hard onto his neck and threatening to cut off his breathing.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO BETELGEUSE!?" bellowed Sirius at the top of his lungs. Dalek, however, only glared back at Sirius with an extremely acidic glare. While Sirius held Dalek down with Sandalwood, Cytosine, Thymine, Antares and Spica restraining the chameleon's limbs and tail, Connie, Steven, Lars and Finnick shot past and rushed over to the barrier mesh, but when they had peered through the wire netting, they saw nothing. Sandalwood also gazed into the mesh and when he saw the same result; his heart sank like a lump of very dense metal in water. Dalek then released an evil, fiendish, snakelike laugh. It was clear he had shoved Betelgeuse into that dangerous area on purpose and as Sirius realised this, he glared at Dalek and without a second thought due to extreme rage, he jumped up and slashed the chameleon across the forehead as hard as he could with his talons, making the chameleon jolt and throw the Spix macaw, along with Spica, Antares, Cytosine, Sandalwood and Thymine clean off his body. Then his fingerless hands flew to his face and clasped his scratched forehead, blood trickling over the pad-like hands. Sirius looked on without a sliver of sympathy.

"I hope it hurts, you rodent with scales and a harpoon-like tongue," he hissed spitefully, the temper he had inherited from his maternal grandmother Jewel manifesting. Dalek then shot Sirius a volcanic glare and hissed extremely loudly and Sirius, his grandmother's volcanic temper and desire to slash his claws into his enemy's flesh taking control, ducked and spread his wings, poised to launch into a potentially bloody battle with Dalek. Dalek, his face bleeding from the scratches inflicted on him by Sirius and Betelgeuse on his cheek, also poised himself to attack and soon, the Spix macaw chick and the chameleon were circling like a pair of cats, their volcanic eyes glaring daggers at each other and their minds warped with the desire to see one another covered in blood and cuts. Spica, Cytosine, Thymine, Sandalwood and Antares looked on in horror as the pair continued to circle one another. Sirius clearly resembled Jewel whenever she and her most detested nemesis Nigel met but before the confrontation could launch into a full-blown fight, Steven cried out some horrifying news.

"Betelgeuse has gone," he shouted. At this, Spica, Antares, Cytosine, Thymine and Sandalwood rushed over to him, Finnick, Connie and Lars and peered through the mesh into the Compartment of Carnivores.

"We're gonna have to go in there and rescue her," said Sandalwood. At this, the others apart from Sirius who was still locked in a vicious glare with Dalek and circling with him, shot the flying fox pup a "What!?" look.

"What are you crazy!?" snapped Finnick, "Don't you remember what happened last time?"

Sandalwood, however, simply made a beeline for the hole and squeezed through it.

"We're not gonna allow that Carnassial and his gang eat Betelgeuse alive," said the flying fox with determination, "Especially since Dalek had shoved her into the land deliberately to hand her to those cat-like figures."

At this, Spica, Cytosine, Thymine and Antares exchanged glances and also squeezed through the hole. Steven, Mars and Connie did the same.

"Well, since she means that much to you," said Connie, "Then we're gonna help you."

"But I must warn you, we could get in trouble for doing this," said Steven. He then turned back to Finnick, "Hey, Finnick, are you helping?"

"Yes," said Finnick before going over to Sirius who was still locked in the vicious combative glare with Dalek.

"Hey, Sirius," he said, a nudge on the Spix macaw's shoulder with a wing flipper, "We're going to rescue your scarlet macaw friend."

At first Sirius did not hear Finnick, his desire to fight Dalek in a bloody battle warping his mind. Finnick then flashed the chameleon a threatening glare as he picked up Sirius, snapping him out of his rage.

"We'll deal with you slime-scales LATER," snarled the macaroni penguin and with that, he left with Sirius in his flippers and joined the others on the other side of the barrier. Then Sandalwood and the others entered further into the Compartment of the Carnivores land. Dalek, however, watched them leave and cackled evilly before picking up and donning his hat, changing his scale colour to match his surroundings and leaving before anyone caught him.


	47. Chapter 46

**Chapter 46- preparations to go to Peru and a theft at Tulio's Aviary… this time with success**

 **Back in Rio**

Desperation laced with immense hope was boiling within Blu's group near the Aviary of Tulio. Blu and Jewel, together with Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Ceres and Pluto, were preparing to leave Rio, determined looks on their faces. Accompanying them were Carla, Bia and Tiago, Charlotte, Kira, Lavender and Garrett; Justin, Matilda, Virgil, Músculo, Jojo, Felix and Turquesa having volunteered to stay behind with Roberto, Brisa and Zephyr to take care of the remaining kids, for the still-injured (Virgil with his scratches and Músculo with his scratched wing) to recover and also to continue to help Tulio and company to continue to see to the toucan population ravaging the Blu Bird Sanctuary and also the poachers; Mimas, Io, Europa, Byron and Athos had also opted to come while Callisto decided to stay behind with Deimos, Alexandre and Estelle to keep an eye on Phobos and Chiquitita who had just come out of surgery, and also Ganymede who was still grounded. Also going were Stella, Soren and Augustus (with Melissa, Sebastian and Anabelle staying behind with Ferdinand and Luna), Porthos, Titan, Enceladus, Trixie and Oberon (with Dione, Brooke, Iapetus, Rhea and Tethys staying behind with Orquidea and also Saturn who had just come out of surgery to repair the glass injury on his talon), Miranda, Aramis, Titania and Umbriel (Ariel had opted to stay behind with Esmeralda), Indigo and Victor (with Triton and Iris opting to stay behind to look after Violet and help Ultramarine), Phoebe and Squaw'tagnan, Blueberry, Aiden and Charon (Neytiri was too injured to come and Lapis Lazuli and Sapphire had decided to stay behind), Azul, Frodo and Spyro (Marella, Ellie and Fernanda having opted to stay behind with Cobalto).

When Broccoli, James, Daisy and Collette had showed Blu and company the magazine containing the pictures of some familiar young birds and flying fox, recognition had immediately taken hold within them, especially Carla and Justin regarding Spica; Bia and Virgil regarding Sirius; Tiago and Matilda regarding Bellatrix, Ellie and Frodo regarding Pitaya, Alegria and Sylvester and Soren and Stella regarding Sandalwood. Following this, Blu had established a plan in going to Iquitos, Peru, to the Sanctuario del Paradiso and retrieving the kidnapped chicks and Sandalwood, hoping that Acerola, Lillie and Gladion, two of Diantha and Tom's chicks, had also been taken there as well. During this, he had ordered everyone to decide who will be going and who will be staying for there were still tasks to be done in the Blu Bird Sanctuary as well as looking after the remaining kids and also the casualties such as Neytiri, Chiquitita, Phobos and also Eustace and his family who were still traumatised after one of the malicious toucans set their birdhouse alight during the evacuation from the toucan gang's savage attack on them, and Vincent, Eragon, Luna, Ganymede and Eva who were still recovering. It had taken some difficulty for some of the birds and flying foxes to decide whether they want to go to Peru or stay behind in Rio; Stella and Soren had been especially torn between staying behind with Melissa, Anabelle, Sebastian, Luna and Ferdinand and going to Peru to rescue Sandalwood but at Melissa's insistence, alongside that of her brother, sister and sister-in-law, Stella had chosen the latter option with Soren going along with it. The same had been repeated for some of the others: Bia had been torn between staying with Virgil, Miles and Einstein or leaving with Blu's subgroup to rescue Sirius and the other chicks but Virgil had insisted that she go along with rescuing Sirius and the others. It had taken a while for everyone to rest on their final decision and soon, Blu and company, those that were departing to Peru, were preparing themselves to leave.

Broccoli, Daisy, Collette and James watched Blu's group as they said goodbye to each other. They were accompanied by Dash, Ginger, Ebony and also Avellana and Rusty, the former two having wondered where James and the three cats had gone. Broccoli watched with Virgil with worried and sombre eyes as he passionately kissed Bia in a very tight embrace, Miles and Einstein, together with Sonia, Bartholomew and Melody, looking on with wrinkled 'Eeeew!' faces.

"I hope they find the Paradise Sanctuary without too much trouble," murmured the tabby cat worriedly.

"Iquitos is a long, long way from here," said Collette, "Almost 4000 kilometres. It could take Blu and company good few _days_ to get there."

"Well, they don't have a choice," said Dash firmly, "Sandalwood and the others have been missing for almost a week now and Blu and company want to get those youngsters back in the safety of Brazil as soon as possible."

As he said this, Cometa and Lightning turned up. They had been in Tulio's Aviary to check on the new casualties, among them Chiquitita, Neytiri and Phobos and the majority of the Control de Plagas Squad was talking with Blu and company, those that had opted to go to Peru, and offering them advice and suggestions on what to take, such as a map, a compass and some food.

"How are Chiquitita, Phobos and some of the other casualties, Cometa?" asked Dash.

"Neytiri, Chiquitita and Phobos are fine; they're bandaged up and Neytiri has her broken wing in a cast," replied Cometa as she and Lightning stopped by Broccoli, but then a look of thunder crossed her face. "But we are especially OUTRAGED at what happened to Eustace, Milo, Rosa, Clemont, Serena and little Peach, Bruno, Oscar and Yolanda."

"To hear how some of those toucans had almost killed those cockatoos by setting fire to their birdhouse with them still inside," put in Lightning, "That, alongside their attempted kidnap of some of Carla and company's remaining chicks, for me, goes beyond even Nigel's fiendish deeds such as badly injuring an innocent bird, like how he had done to Jewel by breaking her wing, or tearing a chick from its family, similar to Mercury and Venus."

"Those big nosed hoodlums have had their fruit, then," said Ginger with an enraged look, "I just hope they are caught and evicted from the sanctuary."

When Dash and Ginger turned up, Broccoli had explained everything that had happened to Blu and company, as well as Tulio and his family, and how he, Collette, James and Daisy had seen the ransacked cottage, destroyed birdhouses including the one belonging to Eustace and company, the one that had been set on fire, and the state of Tulio and Linda as well as a seriously shaken Fernando and Tommy.

"That's right," said James as he stood with Ebony. He shuddered at the memories of seeing the massive fire that tore through the Sanctuary de Amazon years ago as well as the devastation fire always caused if it ever got out of control, whether through carelessness or through deliberation, to both human places and forests alike.

"Travis and Sunset are gonna explode outright when they hear what those toucans had almost done to their only three offspring and four of their grandkids, I can tell you," murmured Ebony nervously. She had never seen Travis and Sunset explode into violent tempers for it was out of character for the two aging cockatoos to do this but it was without a doubt possible. Furthermore, Travis and Sunset may never associate with Rafael and the remainders of his family ever again apart from Diantha, Tom and their chicks, Aurora, Lillie and Gladion, the latter two who were still missing. The others with Ebony nodded in agreement to this.

Inside Tulio's Aviary, the humans continued their usual activities of caring for the birds and Luna. Chiquitita and Phobos had been placed in cages, alongside Saturn and Neytiri. The surgery on these four birds had been completed and now the four had been moved to the care unit to recover. Neytiri's broken wing was in a cast and Saturn's injured left leg was bandaged. Chiquitita and Phobos were also covered in bandages, with most of Chiquitita's head being wrapped in the white strips of fabric. Ashe bore a large bump on the head where one of the stones thrown by the toucans during the rescue of the kidnapped kids had struck and the rest of her injuries were the result of crow claws and beaks slashing her and biting her. Phobos also bore a great deal of injuries from the same source when he tried to rescue his mother. Mars was talking with his mate and son, Alexandre, Estelle, Deimos, both Xander and Kayley being cradled in their wings, asleep for it was indeed late.

"We're going to be a few days, Chiq," said Mars, the state of his beloved mate bringing his emotions close to the edge, "Hopefully, all of the missing kids including Sandalwood, Sirius and Bellatrix will be rescued."

Chiquitita gazed back at Mars through the cage bars and the bandana of bandages on her head.

"I hope you manage to find those kids and bring them home safely," she murmured, still clearly traumatised from the whole ordeal at the clutches of those crows and dogs. Phobos said nothing but he nodded in agreement. In the cage adjacent to Chiquitita, Saturn gazed at Mars. His entire left talon was wrapped in a bandage with only the toes protruding out of the bottom. Saturn's injury had been stitched up but the blue-and-gold macaw was still in a great deal of pain, and that wound was likely to scar, much like how Ceres's massive injuries on her torso and forehead had done after some flying foxes had slashed her with their sharp-sticks. Due to his injury, Saturn was unable to come with Blu and company on the massive journey to Peru, as much as he wanted to help, since eight of his grand-chicks were likely over there with Sandalwood and the others.

"You be careful out there," said Saturn firmly, "The last thing we want is you getting hurt as well."

Mars, a determined look on his face, nodded in agreement. He then turned to Deimos, Alexandre and Estelle, "You three be brave and look after Chiquitita, Phobos and your two chicks. Also help the rest of the group look after the other kids until we get back."

Deimos, Alexandre and Estelle nodded in agreement. Nearby, Neytiri was bidding Charon goodbye, tears falling from her eyes as she hugged her mate through the cage bars with her other wing.

"You be safe, meu amore," she said as she broke the hug with Charon, "And I hope you rescue both Regulus and Denebola, along with Saiph and the other missing kids."

"We will, my dear," said Charon. As he continued to bid his mate goodbye, Eragon, Ganymede, Luna and Vincent came in. Ganymede breathed a sigh for Mimas, having already said goodbye to her a minute ago.

"It's going to be a long few days," he murmured worriedly. He was clearly frightened for her and was tormented by thoughts of Mimas getting hurt or worse, getting caught by poachers or a predator. He had already lost Adenine, Cytosine, Thymine and Guanine, all four chicks in a single day, to a bunch of poachers; he could not the thought of losing the only remaining member of his family he had left.

"Someone will have to let Andromeda, Travis, Sunset, Rafael and the others know," said Eragon.

"Marella's got that covered," said Luna, "She, along with Iapetus and Ariel will be flying to that little orange bat colony's cave home and to the residents' evacuation area to report to those guys about those city cats and dog's findings."

"Diantha and Tom are going to be rather surprised to hear about that," said Vincent. The cockatoo's attention then turned to Mars as he departed Deimos, Alexandre and Estelle, Kayley, Xander, Chiquitita and Phobos and left for outside through a window to join with Blu and the others who will be leaving for Peru. However, Charon was reluctant to leave Neytiri's side. His eyes were weeping tears and he was trembling, his wings clasped into Neytiri's uninjured wing, the only one that was not in a cast. However, Neytiri was insistent.

"You HAVE to go with Blu and rescue our son and daughter, meu amore," she said, "Don't worry about me or Saturn or Chiquitita or the others. We'll be safe here."

"Besides that," said Saturn as he looked on with Chiquitita and Phobos, "Tulio's team will look after us."

Charon, however, was still rooted to the spot, hopelessly stretched like a rope in a tug-o-war game between going with Blu and the others to Peru and staying by Neytiri's side. But despite insistence from Neytiri, Saturn, Chiquitita and Phobos to go with Blu, the poor glaucous macaw remained rooted to the spot, unable to make up his mind. Alexandre gazed at Deimos and Estelle.

"He's clearly reluctant to leave," he murmured.

"This is much more intense than when he had to leave for Guyana with Carla and the others, among them Neytiri, to find the legendary Jurassic Jungle and treasure," mulled Estelle.

"Only this time, Neytiri is unable to go with him due to her broken wing," put in Deimos. The little green-winged macaw then gazed at Charon as he began to break down, his wing interlocked with Neytiri's.

"I-I-I can't do it," he wailed, tears falling from his eyes in great amounts and his body shaking like a loose object in an earthquake.

"But you HAVE to!" said Neytiri, "Blueberry, Aiden and your father Pluto need your help."

"As do Blu and the others," put in Saturn. As the blue-and-gold macaw said this, Alexandre's eyes caught movement out of their corner. At this, the youngest but larger brother of Phobos and Deimos turned but when his eyes fully picked up a moving shadow on the wall, suspicion splashed over him, prompting the green-winged macaw to open his wings and take off to investigate, leaving Deimos, Estelle, and a sleeping Xander and Kayley to watch Charon with Chiquitita and Phobos.

Back outside, Blu and the other goers including Mars were prepared to leave for Peru but Blu had written down some plans on a sheet of paper with a human stick thing he and the other formerly domesticated macaws and the city animals called a pen. Nearby, the Control de Plagas Squad including Velocity, Cometa, Lightning, Orion and Hermione were talking with Carla, Bia, Tiago, Zephyr and the others. Some of the gang, among them Justin, Matilda and Virgil, stood aside with many of the remaining kids in their wings, among them Sonia, Melody, Einstein, Miles and Bartholomew who were asleep. Blueberry and Aiden waited impatiently with Pluto for Charon.

"What's taking Charon so long?" asked Aiden impatiently, his wings crossed and his talon tapping on the floor.

"We haven't got all night," put in Blueberry.

"Oh, do try to be patient, you two," said Pluto, his eyes gazing at the window leading into the medical room of Tulio's Aviary, "I think he's reluctant to leave Neytiri behind."

As he said this, Broccoli, Dash, James and Ebony came in, a bag full of fruit they had managed to find in the food storage compartment of the building.

"Here," said Dash as he and the other three set the food down before Pluto and the others, "You'll need this for the long journey."

"Oh, thanks, Dash," said Pluto as Ceres, Mercury, Venus and Neptune came in and took hold of the food bags.

"It will give us a start," said Neptune with a smile.

"But we're likely to find some fruit stands on the way to Iquitos," said Venus as she lifted up one of the bags. Dash, James, Broccoli and Ebony all stood back as Ceres, Mercury, Venus and Neptune and Pluto left with the fruit to take to Blu and Jewel as they continued discussing things and writing them down. Mars, Jupiter and Uranus and Augustus watched on.

"It's going to be a long few days until they return," murmured Dash.

"It's just like Carla and company's trip to Guyana so many years ago," said Broccoli.

"Yep," said James. Ebony was about to say something when suddenly, a massive smashing noise of shattering glass rang out, followed by human shouts of surprise, sending everyone leaping into the air. Blu and the others stopped their discussion as did Cometa and the other birds of prey and Carla's group and within a second; all eyes were directed to the source of the sound. But the moment their eyes landed on Tulio's Aviary, very pale blue tinged white smoke began to billow out through the open windows from within the medical room, much to the immense horror of Blu's group. As the smoke continued to billow through the windows, spluttering and coughing erupted from within.

"I hope that's not a…" began Blu but he restrained himself from saying the 'f' word, the word that began with this letter and ending with 'e', and the word that Jewel detested the most. However, Jupiter knew what Blu was referring to. His wings shot out and he lofted into flight towards the smoking building but he noticed something unusual about the smoke.

"I don't know but I don't see any orange glow," he said, shuddering as he remembered one of the toucans nearly burning Eustace and company with it in the birdhouses back at Tulio and Linda's cottage. As Jupiter shot towards the smoking building and the coughing and spluttering, both from the humans and from the animals inside, emanating from within the Aviary, Blu, Jewel, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Uranus, Neptune, Ceres and Pluto followed. Carla, Bia and Tiago, Justin, Charlotte, Matilda and Virgil attempted to follow but Zephyr restrained them.

"No, you stay here, you seven," said the latter four's father. Zephyr had sensed something very suspicious about the smoke and knew that it was not from a fire. Carla and the other six, at this, exchanged glances and retracted their wings to watch Zephyr, along with Roberto, Brisa, Sapphire and Lapis Lazuli, follow Blu and the others to investigate. However, as Blu and company, along with Dash, Ebony, James, Daisy, Collette, Ginger and Broccoli, approached the smoking building, several birds, among them Milo, exploded from the streaming, puffy snake of smoke as they darted out of the open window, dispersing some of the smoke on their way. The Major Mitchell's/sulfur-crested hybrid, together with a parakeet and a military macaw (not Ash for he was with Carla's group), then collapsed like a wet piece of paper onto the floor, coughing and spluttering to clear their lungs of the polluting gas. Blu and Jewel touched down before Milo as he heaved his upper body with his wings, coughing and hacking, gasping and straining to breathe. Jupiter looked on with worry. Milo had been through enough traumas for one night after that ordeal with the toucans.

"A-a-a c-c-canister… (cough, cough)… j-j-j-just app-p-p-peared through (cough, cough, wheeze)…" began Milo as he struggled to form words. Then his wing went to his throat and chest as he continued to cough. Blu caught the cockatoo in his wings as he flumped down, his other wing having lost its strength to support his upper body.

"What canister!?" demanded Blu. Behind and around him, Jewel, Mercury, Sapphire, Venus, Zephyr, Roberto, Brisa, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Ceres, Lapis Lazuli and Pluto, Broccoli and the other cats and dogs, and now Ruby, Orquidea, Esmeralda, Cobalto, Cometa and Lightning as well as they had come to investigate, exchanged glances and looked on in worry. Broccoli and Daisy supported the military macaw and the parakeet as they continued to cough as well but then the two birds began to slow their movements down. Blu, however, was focussed on Milo whom he held by the cheeks in his wings.

"What canister?" he demanded again. Milo tried to form words but he felt drowsiness come over him and consume him. In his vision, Blu, Jewel and the others behind the former two began to merge into a blurry, indistinguishable mess. Then the cockatoo's wings and legs suddenly flopped down as they lost their strength and his head bowed in Blu's wings. And soon, snoring sounds began to emanate from Milo's beak and the beaks of the military macaw and the parakeet as well as drowsiness consumed them. At this moment, a two-legged figure, one of the humans, clumsily exploded through the door of the main entrance to Tulio's Aviary and collapsed onto his front. More smoke billowed through the door as the human's eyes slid shut and snores began to leave his mouth. Broccoli gazed at the three birds and then the human and frowned.

"They've slipped into slumber land," he said. Blu looked on in immense disbelief as Milo snored soundly in his wings, sleeping having gripped him hard. Not too far away, Orion had flown to the rising column of smoke as it continued to emerge from the open window. However, the moment the falcon's beak entered the plume of smoke and was sucked into his respiratory system, Orion's head jerked back and he began to cough and splutter.

"Orion, get OUT OF THERE!" shouted Lightning as his son flopped onto the ground like a wounded duck. Patters of talons and paws sounded as Orion was swallowed up by a crowd of colourful feathers and drabber coloured fur.

"Th-th-the gas is d-d-definitely the c-c-cause of the…" spluttered Orion as he struggled to breathe. He then tried to stand up with Jewel and Lightning's help but the falcon felt his head spin and his legs go weak as the gas began to take its effect on him. Then moments later Orion slipped into a light slumber, flopping in Lightning's wings. Cobalto was then about to dart towards the smoking window but Jupiter's wings hooked onto his shoulders and stopped him.

"Don't approach the window!" barked the hulking scarlet macaw. Venus was about to do the same but Blu also stopped her.

"Don't go anywhere near the window," commanded the brown-eyed Spix macaw, "That gas has a soporific effect."

"What's 'soporific' mean?" asked Brisa.

"It means 'sleep-inducing'," replied Mars. At this, Brisa and Roberto shot the green-winged macaw a horrified look as Blu then began to slowly approach the sleeping human as he continued to snore his head off, dread coming over him like a wave. Inside Tulio's Aviary's medical room which was completely foggy from the sleep-inducing smoke, the other humans and birds had all fallen into a deep asleep and lay like scattered toys all over the floor and tables of the medical room. Charon, Neytiri, Chiquitita, Deimos, Estelle, Xander, Kayley, Phobos, Saturn, and also Luna, Eragon, Ganymede, Vincent, Eustace and the other cockatoos were also sound asleep as the blue-white smoke continued to flood the room. A gas canister lay on the floor amongst some glittering shards of broken glass, the sleep-inducing smoke spewing from its nozzle beginning to slow down as the canister's contents were almost depleted. Near the canister, another human, a lady, had tried to contact Tulio on her mobile phone but had succumbed to the effects of the gas and had collapsed, her mobile phone tumbling out of her outstretched hand as she fell to the floor.

Then as soon as everyone in the medical room had entered a deep sleep from the effects of the gas canister, movement began at the smashed window through which the canister had flown in. Four humans; all dressed in black clothing with strange looking masks on their faces consisting of a pair of transparent eye parts and a nozzle-like protrusion from where their noses and mouths would be, climbed carefully through the shattered window and landed in the room. Two of them were carrying cages and as soon as the quartet was in the room, two of them immediately made a beeline for the breeding chamber, exactly where the two golden fruithawks were hiding, while the other two began to search the medical room for any rare individuals. Outside, Blu, Jewel and the others peered around the corner of the building, Azul and Fernanda having called the group over after spotting some shady figures lurking in the shadows of the building. As they gazed at the group of shadowy figures which resembled humans, four-footed animals and some birds, Blu scowled at them, especially as the shady group stood close to the smashed window.

"If my theories are correct," he murmured with a frown, "I believe those shadow creeps are the ones that threw in that soporific gas canister through that window right into the medical room."

"Why would they wanna throw that sleeping gas into the medical room and put everyone in there to sleep?" asked Mercury confused. Then Velocity, Stella and Soren felt an idea pop into their head: the incident involving those crows when they tried to take the golden fruithawks, resulting in Merlin's death in the process.

"Maybe they are after something?" asked Velocity. She then turned to Blu, Jewel, Jupiter and the others. Carla, Bia and Tiago, together with Justin, Matilda and Virgil who had a very tired and sleeping Sonia, Melody, Bartholomew, Miles and Einstein in their wings, walked in.

"What if they _are_ after something in there?" said Velocity.

"Then those workers and the other birds inside that building would be an obstacle for those creeps," said Blu. Then it dawned upon him. "And with those workers pushed out of the way can those creeps sneak into the Aviary to nab anything invaluable in there…"

At this, the Spix macaw's lower beak dropped open as he remembered something. Stella and Soren also felt dread come over them.

"(Gasp)! The GOLDEN FRUITHAWKS!" blurted out Stella.

"They could be after those two extremely precious fruit EATING HAWKS!" shouted Soren. As this realisation reached the ears of the others and their brains absorbed the information, Roberto began to sway as though he were about to faint while Jewel's wings darted out and she took off into the air.

"Jewel, where are you going?" asked Zephyr, "Jewel? Jewel? JEWEL!"

However, Jewel was already out of earshot, prompting Zephyr to follow her. Blu then shot Venus, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Ceres, Pluto, Lapis Lazuli, Roberto, Brisa, Ruby, Esmeralda, Orquidea, Cobalto and also Augustus, Broccoli, Daisy, Collette, James, Ebony, Dash and Ginger and many of the Control de Plagas Squad falcons a stern look and said, "Get Carla, Bia, Tiago and the others to somewhere safe, NOW!"

Then without a second's hesitation, the said birds and city mammals set to the task and commanded Carla and company, along with Stella, Soren, Sebastian, Anabelle, Ferdinand, Melissa and Augustus to move away while Blu, along with Lightning, Cometa, Orion and Hermione followed Jewel and Zephyr to further investigate the intruders' intentions.

Jewel and Zephyr arrived at the skylight, the roof window constructed above the breeding chamber with Blu, Lightning, Cometa, Orion and Hermione behind them. As soon as they were on the glass of the skylight, the group peered into the breeding chamber.

"This is HONESTLY like what happened to me and Blu and also Zephyr, Brisa, Venus, Pluto, Lapis Lazuli, Mercury and Sapphire when we were kidnapped by those pesky thieves…" muttered Jewel disgustedly. None of the others answered, however, for they were too engrossed in watching the drama begin to unfold in the breeding chamber.

"There," said Hermione as her hawk-like eyes spotted movement in the dark room and she pointed a talon claw at it. At this, the others followed her point and spotted a figure as it moved through the dark room. A metallic glint shone from something in the figure's hands as it continued to slink through the shadows. As Blu, Lightning, Cometa, Hermione, Jewel and Zephyr continued to watch the figure walk through the dark breeding chamber, Orion's ears picked up the sounds of talking. At this, the peregrine falcon gazed in the direction of the source's sound and flashed the others a glance. He then slowly crept away from the others and traced the sound to its source, which were some of the human figures talking gleefully below the roof. At this, Orion stopped and listened. While Orion listened to the taking, Cometa, Lightning, Hermione, Zephyr, Blu and Jewel continued to watch the action in the breeding chamber through the skylight.

"Do you think we should break through the skylight and rescue those fruithawks, Blu?" asked Hermione.

"I don't think it's a good idea," said Blu, "After hearing what happened to Merlin, you might end up badly hurt or worse."

"And besides that," put in Cometa, "Those intruders have backup and they might not hesitate to send them in and apprehend you."

"There they go," came Zephyr's voice. At this, Hermione, Cometa and Blu's attention were pulled back to the breeding chamber below them and they began to watch the action as it exploded within the room. Two bird shaped forms, specks of gold flashing from them, darted across the breeding chamber as the figure chased after them. Hawk screeches rang out as the bird-shaped forms flapped madly to escape the intruder. However, the two hawks did not get very far as another figure had entered the room. The second figure then pounced onto one of the birds and shoved it into a metallic glinting object it was carrying. Moments later, the other hawk was seized and stuffed into a similar glinting object. Cometa frowned.

"Looks like Velocity, Stella and Soren's suspicions are confirmed," she told the others. Blu, Jewel, Zephyr, Hermione and Lightning just gazed at her, speechless. Just then, Orion darted in, an alarmed look on his face.

"I've just overheard some of the shady figures as they were talking," he said, "And they were discussing something about giving the captured rare birds including the pair of fruithawks to some humans from that…"

But before he could finish the sentence, shouts erupted from below the roof.

" _Police are coming! Let's get outa here!"_

At this, Blu, Jewel, Zephyr, Lightning, Cometa, Hermione and Orion all bolted into the air as though they had been stung by bees and darted for the edge of the roof. The group then peered down and saw the shady figures as they launched into a frantic urge to flee. However, as the group turned up, Cometa's eyes landed on something familiar in the hands of some of the intruding humans but as identification took hold, her heart dropped like a stone, especially as those sleeping birds; two turquoise, grey-headed macaws, a metallic four-winged bird… and a white flying fox… were tossed into some of the cages.

"They've got NEYTIRI, CHARON, ERAGON AND LUNA!" she bellowed. At this, Zephyr was about to launch himself at the humans but Blu's wing appeared and seized him by the shoulder.

"Get BACK!" shouted Blu and with that, he dragged Zephyr away as he, Jewel, Cometa, Lightning, Orion and Hermione hastily retreated towards a protrusion in the roofs… just before some corvid birds appeared from below and began to examine the spot where they had been. However, those corvids had been called back by the humans and they disappeared below the roof, allowing Blu and company to emerge from their hiding place. It was then that three more Spix macaws appeared.

"Dad," said Carla to Blu, "We've just overheard from one of the shady humans that they are aiming to give their captured birds to their 'Peruvian clients'."

"Sounds like those poachers are definitely going to send their captured birds to Peru," put in Tiago.

"But we don't know where though," said Bia. Orion, at this, gazed at the trio with a frown.

"That's exactly what I've heard as well," he said.

"Call the others who have volunteered to go to Peru at ONCE!" barked Blu, "We're gonna follow those poachers."

"Hopefully, we'll follow those captured birds and Luna," added Jewel, "When those poachers give them to their clients and hopefully end up in Peru where we will rescue those captured birds, find the Paradise Sanctuary and find Sandalwood and the others."

Carla, Bia and Tiago nodded and darted off to call the other volunteers who had opted to go to Peru while Blu, Jewel, Orion, Hermione, Cometa, Lightning and Zephyr scattered, at the exact same moment the intruders wearing the gas masks emerged from the broken window to Tulio's Aviary's medical room, the caged pair of golden fruithawks in tow.

It was time for Blu's plans to be put in motion.


	48. Chapter 47

**Chapter 47- the ugly truth under the surfaces of Dalek the chameleon… and the Paradise Sanctuary humans' intentions**

 **Back at the Paradise Sanctuary**

Sandalwood, Sirius, Spica, Cytosine, Thymine, Antares, Steven, Lars, Connie and Finnick continued to follow the catlike creatures with glowing eyes as they continued to carry the struggling Betelgeuse through the dark jungle of the Compartment of the Carnivores. The surrounding artificial jungle in the compartment as seen during the day resembled a graveyard with piles of bones scattered here and there on the floor and the trees and bushes were often riddled with various carnivorous or meat-eating animals such as dogs, cats and meat-eating birds such as vultures. However, at night, the compartment looked even creepier than ever. Like in Dundee's jungle, the daytime animals had turned in for the night and the nocturnal animals had come out. The Carnivore Compartment in essence resembled a very haunted forest. Bare trees and skeleton piles sent out spiky appendages that kinked and curved like long claws into the dark air, sending shivers down the spines of Sandalwood and the other nine animals with him, and the bushes resembled ugly monsters. Flashes of star-like light indicated the presence of nocturnal animals as they darted through the dark leaves and branches but they did not have a beautiful aspect to them; they were far more terrifying than the nocturnal animals in Dundee's jungle.

Spica cowered against Sirius as she gazed timidly at one of the trees, its bare branches stretching out like thick arms and ending in claw-like twigs. In between the branches, three holes, two rounded and the third a large melon slice-shape with jagged edges running along its top edge appeared to be arranged into a face, giving the tree the appearance of having a leering glare with its arms spread wide as though to scare or worse, to pounce.

"I clearly don't like this area, guys," murmured the timid daughter of Carla and Justin, her azure blue feathers and Jewel-like crest spiking out and her amber eyes inflated with immense fear.

"This place honestly resembles Mom and Dad and Grandpa's description of what the colony flying foxes' territory had been like before the colony split up and abandoned the land," murmured Sandalwood as he also gazed timidly at the dark jungle, especially at the piles of bones that lay sprawled out beneath some of the bushes or in the clearing, indicating the previous meals the carnivores had eaten. Sandalwood also shuddered at the fate the two kakapos and the yellow-crested cockatoo, and perhaps dozens of other parrots, in these highly dangerous grounds. Pulling his gaze from the bone piles, he refocussed his attention on the cats as they continued through the dark jungle, one of them with Betelgeuse in its paws.

"We've gotta get Betelgeuse out of this place before any of those cats decide to turn her into a snack," said Antares, the fear brought on by the creepy jungle pushed aside.

"That Dalek chameleon has _definitely_ shoved that scarlet macaw chick through the barrier into the paws of those cats," said Finnick. He then began to shudder as a deduction of Dalek's possible connection to some of the carnivores in this place entered his head, but the question was which group? Pushing that question aside, the macaroni penguin chick continued following the cats with the Brazilian flying fox, two Spix macaws, two Catalina (or blue-and-gold/scarlet hybrid) macaws, the great green macaw, the grey-headed flying fox and two scarlet macaws, being careful not to alert the catlike creatures, their eyes glowing menacingly in the dark, of their presence. At one point, the ten had to hide behind a rock or tree trunk as one of the cats turned its head to examine the area behind its pack as though to check the group wasn't being followed. Its eyes glowed like harpy eagle eyes, striking fear into Sandalwood and the others as they carefully peered out from their hiding places but the cat could not see them. Taken to the conclusion that no-one was following the group after seeing nothing, the cat continued after its pack-mates. Sandalwood and the others, after breathing sighs of relief, then resumed their careful following of the cats. Then moments later, the cats, with Betelgeuse in their clutches, arrived at some sort of burrow lined with leaves and thorny snakes. Sandalwood, Sirius, Spica, Cytosine, Thymine, Antares, Steven, Lars, Connie and Finnick crept quietly towards a bush and entered it. Then Connie and Steven reached for some leaves and pulled them down, allowing them and the other eight to look out and take in the shady scene. A large shaft of moonlight shone through the window above the burrow, lighting up the area and making it appear more sinister. Several cat-like figures, all with glowing eyes, sat around the entrance to the burrow but their bodies were too obscured by the darkness for Sandalwood and company to make out their species.

"Looks like some sort of den," whispered Connie. Sandalwood, Sirius, Spica, Cytosine, Thymine and Antares gazed at the burrow entrance and shuddered. The burrow, which indeed appeared to be an entrance to a den, resembled a mouth full of razor sharp teeth lined with fearsome-looking leaves and thorns. The top rim of the entrance had jagged rocks protruding from the top, adding to the predatory mouth-like appearance. Sandalwood shuddered, reminded of how Sylvester was almost eaten by Carnassial the other day the last time he was in the Compartment of the Carnivores. The group's eyes then turned to watch the cats as one of them set Betelgeuse down onto the floor before the mouth-like den opening. Betelgeuse looked saturated with fear, and she indeed was. Her red plumage, especially the feathers in her pineapple stalk-like crest was spiked out all over the place and her amber eyes were fully inflated out of their sockets by immense fear. The little three-quarter scarlet macaw chick was trembling all over and her breathing rate was off the charts. It was clear that she wanted to flee but her routes of escape have been blocked by the cats. Sirius and Spica then got a glimpse of Betelgeuse's left wing. That wing was in tatters, the majority of the flight feathers, especially the primaries, having been torn out by Dalek. Sirius felt a flash of hot rage burn through him like a fireball.

"After we have rescued Betelgeuse and have returned to Dundee's land," he hissed volcanically, his bright white-tinted electric blue feathers bristling, "I'm gonna find that chameleon, take his hat and shove it down his throat and make him choke on it."

"Make him choke on his hat!?" snapped Spica, "I wanna skin that chameleon _alive_!"

"HUSH!" hissed Connie, prompting the two Spix macaws to be quiet. The two chicks did so and returned their attention to the cats and the burrow entrance. One of the cats had gone over to the den entrance and had tapped a paw on it.

"What is that cat doing?" asked Sandalwood quietly. None of the others answered but continued to watch the cat as it retracted its paw and called to whomever lived in the burrow, but what came out of its mouth sent shivers of immense flabbergast down Sandalwood and company's spines.

"Hey, Carnassial," called the cat, "We've got a little treat for us."

Finnick mouthed the name in disbelief while Sandalwood, Sirius, Spica, Cytosine, Thymine, Antares Steven, Lars and Connie watched on speechless, especially as they began to connect the dots between Dalek and Carnassial. First, Dalek shoves Betelgeuse into the Compartment of Carnivores to those cats and those cats take Betelgeuse to Carnassial. Does that mean that Dalek knows Carnassial and his gang, and that Carnassial and his gang know Dalek? Sandalwood and company did not want to find that out but they continued to watch the scene unfold.

A moment later, a number of small cats emerged from the mouth-like burrow entrance. Some of them had entirely sandy brown fur with tufts on the tips of their ears while some of the others bore a pale gold and white pelt with black spots and stripes strewn and scattered all over it as though they had had ink sprayed all over them. As these cats emerged from the burrow and stopped before the cat that had set Betelgeuse down on the floor, Sandalwood. Sirius, Spica and Finnick all shuddered.

"Those caracals and servals are the same ones you've met the other day with Bellatrix and some of the others, am I correct?" asked Connie.

"Yes," said Sandalwood darkly before pointing to the caracal at the front with a membranous wing, "And that's Carnassial, the leader of that cat pack."

Thymine, Cytosine, Antares, Steven, Connie and Lars who had never seen Carnassial in the flesh before, gazed at the fiercest caracal at the front of the new arrivals. Then the said caracal, his caracal and serval companions with mean and sinister facial expressions mirroring that of their leader flanking him on the sides and behind, gazed at the cats that had brought in Betelgeuse with his companions and Sandalwood managed to recognise several other servals and caracals, Alecto, Shenzi and Banzai.

"Unfortunately, our chameleon friend had only managed to catch one," said the cat and with that, its gleaming eyed glare was directed at Betelgeuse. At this, Sandalwood and company managed to stifle a horrified gasp.

"So it's TRUE!?" hissed Finnick in a low voice.

"Dalek is friends with Carnassial and his gang?" put in Sirius. Things were starting to fall into place now as the group continued to watch the dramatic scene at Carnassial's gang's burrow.

"That's okay, Narcissa," said Carnassial, his wicked glare also fixated on Betelgeuse, who cowered towards her secondary captor's front legs only for the cat to lift a paw and shove her back towards Carnassial again, "We'll give Dalek a request for more parrots tomorrow morning. For now, let's be satisfied with just this only red macaw chick."

Immensely shocked and disbelieving glances were exchanged amongst Sandalwood's group. Is Dalek working for Carnassial and company in bringing them prey from Dundee's land into the Carnivore Compartment? If so, was that the cause of the demise of that yellow-crested cockatoo named Claude and those two kakapos? And did Dalek intend the parrots, among them Sylvester who was almost eaten by Carnassial, and also Sirius, Spica and Bellatrix, to fall into the paws of Carnassial and company when the group was forced to enter the dangerous grounds when Dalek, along with Lusamine and her gang, had them cornered? Then Carnassial's voice pulled the ten's attention back to him and his gang as they glared menacingly and hungrily at Betelgeuse as she continued to shudder and shake.

"Yep, you might be utterly shocked, little morsel," said the lead caracal, his gleaming golden eyes fixated menacingly on Betelgeuse like a harpy eagle's moon-like eyes on its prey it is about to kill, dismember and consume, "But Dalek is our close friend who has provided us with some tasty live treats, mainly parrots," Carnassial's glare hardened, "Which are our fa-a-a-a-avourite food!" he finished this sentence with a licking of his lips.

"And he's very good at catching those birds and shoving them into here, especially with his camouflage ability and quick movements," said one of the servals, Alecto. Betelgeuse shuddered.

"W-w-why p-p-p-parrots?" she asked timidly, her fear breaking up her speech into a stammer and causing her feather-spiked body to shake like a leaf, "W-w-why n-n-not the f-f-food provided to you by the h-h-h-human carers?"

"Why parrots, you ask?" asked Carnassial, his appetite pushed aside for now. The caracal then turned to the left and sat down. Sandalwood and the others continued to watch as the other cats also sat down.

"Well, it's a long story, little meatball," said Carnassial, the word sending more chills down Betelgeuse's spine, "But to cut it short, it's because…" his gaze morphed into an angry look, "parrots are Dalek's most DETESTED creatures on planet Earth."

The way he said 'detested', send a shockwave coursing through Betelgeuse and also Sandalwood and the other nine with him like a jolt of electricity, making them flinch.

"Yes, whether it is macaws… parakeets… budgies… cockatoos… even the lowly flightless parrot species from New Zealand," explained another caracal named Shenzi, "Anything that has feathers… is very clever… and has a hooked beak and talons like yours… Dalek sees those birds as mere scum."

Sandalwood flinched harshly. This description brought to mind a certain cockatoo's hatred for exotic birds, the majority of them being parrots, and yet he was one himself. The colony flying foxes' detestation of all the birds of the Amazon Rainforest and how they viewed them also flashed through his mind, while Sirius, Spica, Cytosine, Thymine, Antares, Steven and Lars flashed offended looks while Connie and Finnick flashed a look of outrage.

"That's _horrible!"_ hissed the grey-headed flying fox in disgust. The others said nothing and continued listening.

"So he is putting his hatred of parrots into good use by capturing those birds and shoving them into here to be tasty treats for us," crooned Carnassial. He then closed his eyes and licked his lips greedily, "Hmmmm… I remember us sinking our teeth into those two kakapos and that cockatoo Dalek had managed to drive into here for us. They certainly were de-e-e-e-licious."

As he continued to lick his lips, his tongue sweeping the edges of his mouth, saliva dripped disgustingly down his chin. The other caracals and servals also greedily licked their lips and nodded to each other in agreement, one of them rubbing its tummy with a front paw in circles. Sandalwood and company hardened their glares.

"So… Dalek was DEFINITELY the one who had driven that cockatoo and those two kakapos to their demise by driving them into here," whispered Finnick.

"We would have had a tasty Cuban macaw chick as well but unfortunately…" said another caracal, Banzai, "In fact, Carnassial here would have eaten that extremely rare, supposed-to-be-extinct treat but unfortunately, it got away."

"As did the tasty Spix, glaucous and Lear's morsels," put in another caracal. As these words reached the cats' eavesdroppers' ears, something finally clicked into place.

"Dalek DEFINITELY had intentions of shoving us into this place to be eaten by those cats," hissed Sirius disgustedly.

"I think that's why he tore out Sylvester's tail feathers," put in Spica, "To prevent him from flying properly and make him easier to catch by those caracals and servals."

"And it appears that he has done the same to Betelgeuse's wing," put in Cytosine. Then Sandalwood frowned.

"We're gonna have to rescue Betelgeuse and report what our findings to Dundee right now," he said but before he could set to constructing a plan, Betelgeuse's screech pulled the attention back to the scene.

"WHY DOES THAT CHAMELEON HATE US PARROTS!?" screeched the red macaw chick at the top of her lungs at Carnassial and his gang, her tattered left wing flapping with her right wing as she forced the words out of her beak. Fury was exploding through her fear and she demanded to know why. Her cat captor, which was a serval, then darted in its paws and seized the red macaw out of the air to stop her flapping. Betelgeuse struggled in the serval's paws as Carnassial then sauntered towards her, a scowl on his face.

"You really wanna know?" he asked. Betelgeuse, her eyes blazing amber firestorms, glared back at the caracal and nodded. Alecto turned to the lead caracal.

"I think it's best if we tell that chick before we, or one of us, consumes her, Carnassial," she said.

"In other words, her last-minute request," put in Shenzi. Some of the other caracals and servals nodded in agreement. Carnassial, at this, hesitated but then relented.

"Alright," he said, "Since Dalek's backstory and how he came to detest parrots will be delivered to a pair of ears that will not be surviving, let's go ahead then. After all, that cockatoo wanted to hear it so let's grant the same request asked of this little scarlet macaw chick…"

Sandalwood and the others, at this, cocked their ears to receive this important information as Carnassial and his gang sat down and began to tell Betelgeuse Dalek's backstory.

"Before our chameleon friend was brought here, he had been a pet of a wealthy boy who loved sci-fi movies," Carnassial began. Sandalwood and the others, and Betelgeuse listened intently, "Like his owner, Dalek loved sci-fi movies as well, particularly the series containing that fictional race of aliens resembling the things humans call peppershakers from which he got his name from. Dalek and his owner did plenty of things together. They loved going out, they celebrated birthdays together, went to plays, and they even went to school together…"

"Sounds similar to what Grandpa Blu did when he was Linda's companion in the US…" whispered Spica but Steven hushed at her to be quiet. Carnassial then smiled, "It truly was the best part of Dalek's life; it was. Furthermore, the boy spoilt the chameleon with a wide variety of treats, toys and outings, and even brought him that Dalek dome cap you'll have seen him wear whenever you met or saw him. However…" Carnassial's smile faded to a frown. Sandalwood and the others intensified their intent listening. "One day, the boy's parents purchased their son three new pets, all of which were parrots. They were a hyacinth macaw, a scarlet macaw and a sulfur-crested cockatoo for the boy had wanted one since seeing the TV shows of the famous Nigel the Cockatoo, and as soon as the boy met these three new pets, it was love at first sight. That's where things took a turn for the worse for poor Dalek. Over time, the boy began to lose interest in Dalek and spend more and more time with the three parrots and soon, Dalek found that the two macaws and the cockatoo were beginning to displace him from the activities he used to do with his owner like going out, going to school and plays and celebrating birthdays…" Sandalwood and the others, at this, felt a pang of pity for the chameleon when they heard this before continuing to listen to Carnassial as he continued, "And eventually, the boy's interest became so fully focussed on the scarlet and hyacinth macaws and the cockatoo that he eventually lost interest in Dalek altogether, much to his immense jealousy. He was ignored… and any treats Dalek received were given to the three parrots in the form of fruit and not the chameleon food he used to receive…"

"Then…" continued Carnassial, "After an incident in which Dalek injured the cockatoo out of his burning jealousy much to the boy's distress, the boy's parents took the chameleon to a pet store where he was kept there for a while. It was there that he had developed his intense hatred for all parrots, especially after seeing the parrots in that pet store get more attention from the customers. Then eventually, Dalek was found to be a rare chameleon species and was brought here," Carnassial's mouth widened into a wicked smile, "Since then, he had been putting his sheer hatred of all parrots into practice by forcing them into the Carnivore Compartment for us to eat; he had made a deal with us to do just that after meeting us…"

Sandalwood and the others blinked in surprise. That seemed to explain Dalek's volcanic hatred for all parrots and his love for torturing them very well. He had been a favourite pet of a wealthy boy but that position had been taken from him by the cockatoo, the scarlet macaw and the hyacinth macaw. Furthermore, these events were eerily similar to Nigel's position as show bird, which he adored until that world was shattered when that parakeet came in, leading to Nigel's toxic, acidic hatred for all exotic birds and his application of it in capturing and torturing them the moment he joined Marcel's smuggling gang. Then after finishing Dalek's backstory, Carnassial shot Betelgeuse a glare.

"Happy now?" he asked. Betelgeuse said nothing.

"Oh, you're not gonna answer?" said Carnassial, "Well, that was a waste of time in telling you Dalek's backstory but now…" his gaze hardened, "It's time to prepare you for our rare treat. Narcissa," the serval, Narcissa, sprung to attention. "Take that red macaw chick and make sure that she doesn't get away," commanded Carnassial, before his gaze landed on Betelgeuse's tattered left wing, "Hopefully, Dalek would have made a start in hindering the chick's ability to escape should she ever slip out of our paws."

Then before Betelgeuse could protest, Narcissa's paws locked her in a grip and she was taken away. The red macaw chick squirmed and screeched as the serval carried her off.

"Let me go, you WRETCHED…" shouted Betelgeuse and with that, she began to spew an incredibly caustic concoction of foul words and threats. However, her feline captors took no notice. Sandalwood, Sirius, Spica, Cytosine, Thymine, Antares, Steven, Lars, Connie and Finnick exchanged glances and moved away to formulate a rescue plan.

 **Meanwhile**

Blu, Jewel, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Ceres and Pluto, together with Carla, Bia, Tiago, Charlotte, Kira, Lavender and Garrett; Mimas, Io, Europa, Byron and Athos; Stella, Soren, Augustus, Porthos, Titan, Enceladus, Trixie and Oberon; Miranda, Aramis, Titania, Umbriel, Indigo and Victor; Phoebe and Squaw'tagnan, Blueberry, Aiden, Azul, Frodo and Spyro, all flew close behind the truck on which the intruders to Tulio's Aviary drove. The night jungle (that is, the NATURAL jungle, not artificial like the one in the Paradise Sanctuary) resembled a black mass lit up by moonlight shafts. The sky was partly cloudy and the moon was a partial circle hovering in the sky like a silver berry against a sea of stars. However, Blu and company were not in the mood for stargazing. They had more important things to focus on. In the back of the truck, under a large cloak were the caged animals: the captured birds this group of humans had managed to nab with their dogs and crows. These captured animals were the two golden fruithawks, Neytiri, Charon, Eragon and Luna. Four of them were still asleep, the effect of the sleeping gas still lingering in their system but the other two were not. Around the covered animals were several of the humans, along with dogs and crows, and they clung onto the truck's sides and the cages as the truck drove along the bumpy road to prevent themselves and the prizes from tumbling out. As Blu's group flew along, Victor and Indigo glided alongside the truck, being careful not to get spotted, and began to listen to the riders in the trailer as they chatted triumphantly. The front of the truck was illuminated by streams of artificial light from the front lights.

The trailer riders were chatting in Brazilian Portuguese and Victor was translating it into English for he was better at it than Indigo even though she had spent her entire life living in Brazil. As the two hyacinth macaws translated the humans' conversation, Blu called out to the pair.

"What are they saying, Indigo and Victor?" he said, prompting Neptune to raise a talon to tell him to be quiet. Blu did so and continued to watch Indigo and Victor as they continued to translate the conversation of the trailer riders. Then after a few more minutes, the two hyacinth macaws returned to the others, but the looks on their faces implied that they had picked out something not good.

"Those poachers' clients seem to be the humans who work at the Peruvian conservation area for rare animals," said Indigo, "In other words, the Paradise Sanctuary place."

"And it is to them that the poachers are going to give the two golden fruithawks, Eragon, Neytiri, Charon and Luna when they arrive," added Victor, "To take to the Paradise Sanctuary to add to their collection of rare animals."

"Especially Neytiri and Charon since they are a breeding pair of glaucous macaws," added Indigo. At this, the colour drained from the skins under the feathers of Blu and the other birds' faces and the facial fur of Augustus, Stella and Soren as they took in this information.

"Is that what you've heard?" asked Blu in disbelief.

"You're kidding us," said Jewel. However, Victor and Indigo shook their heads to confirm that they were not. Then Mercury frowned suspiciously.

"Don't tell me those Paradise Sanctuary humans are _collecting_ animals like items rather than _conserving_ them, are they!?" he said.

"Tulio and his team would never, EVER treat rare animals that way," said Blu, before his brown glare rested on the poachers in the truck.

"Wait, there's more," said Victor, "We have also heard the poachers discussing something about another team capturing some adult breeding pairs of Spix, glaucous, Lear's, Cuban red and Dominican green-and-yellow macaws, archaeobirds and other rare creatures from the Sanctuary de Amazon for the Paradise Sanctuary group as well…"

"What!?" snapped Jewel incredulously.

"Now our HOME'S being targeted!?" asked Augustus. Blu's face then creased into an immense scowl.

"It seems that these poachers, along with their dogs and crows, are hired by those humans at the Paradise Sanctuary based on the sounds of things," he said to the others. At this, the younger adult macaws, among them Carla, Bia and Tiago, all shuddered.

"Hiring!?" asked Carla.

"Tulio and his team would NEVER hire animal thieves to poach rare animals for their own gain," snarled Bia.

"It would go against their aim to protect rare animals," said Tiago.

"Correct, Bia and Tiago," said Jupiter, "But let's just resume following those thieves and focus on getting to Peru," he then gazed ahead into the dark road and the truck, "Looks like we've got an even BIGGER problem to deal with besides those poachers roaming the Blu Bird Sanctuary, the Sanctuary de Amazon and Sandalwood and the other kids going missing."

Blu and the others nodded in agreement.

"And I sure hope the others back in Rio will help Tulio and company deal with the rest of the problems on the Blu Bird Sanctuary and also alert Travis, Sunset and Andromeda at the Linda's orange bats' cave home of what is happening as well," put in Venus.

"Tulio and his group are honestly not gonna believe who are behind these poachers running amok in Rio's sanctuary," added Mercury.

"It obviously explains those humans' persistence in the pair of golden fruithawks being handed over as well as their near kidnap that resulted in Merlin's death the other day," added Jewel. Then the group continued following the truck towards the poachers' base where Blu and company will then follow the poachers' clients to Peru… and hopefully to Sandalwood and the other missing kids.


	49. Chapter 48

**Chapter 48- suspicions confirmed and a wild rescue and chase**

 **Back at the Paradise Sanctuary**

Betelgeuse glared bitterly with fiery amber eyes at the piece of tough green tendril tying her by the leg to the stem of a leafless shrub whose bare branches and twigs clawed at the air like gnarled talons and spikes. This tendril was strong enough to resist the bite force of a parrot chick and provided an excellent unbreakable tether to prevent Betelgeuse from running away. Narcissa the serval and several other servals and caracals had hauled Betelgeuse, who had been constantly writhing like a fish caught in a predator's mouth, screaming at the top of her lungs like a distressed wild boar and spewing every possible caustic threat and word that came into her head, everything that her elders, especially her parents Io and Sheldon, maternal grandparents Jupiter and Ruby, and maternal aunts Callisto and Europa and uncle Ganymede, along with their respective mates Athos, Byron and Mimas, would surely cuff her if they heard those words come out of her beak in their presence. However, Betelgeuse was a respectable kid and she knew that the caustic venom she was spewing from her beak were utterly out of order for a chick her age but because she was being dragged away by these horrible wildcats to be eaten, she had resorted to throwing the wildest and worst possible tantrum she could muster in her entire life.

While throwing this volcanic tantrum, Betelgeuse had also scored her claws and sank her beak into Narcissa's paws, inflicting Narcissa with some painful scratches that oozed some blood but it only accelerated the serval into moving faster towards where the little chick was now. Betelgeuse continued her extremely violent temper tantrum as her captors tied her to the shrub by tying one end of the tendril to her leg and the other to the stem before leaving to tend to Narcissa's injuries but as the bleeding pawed serval and her companions left, Betelgeuse spat foul words and threats at the cats, alongside several globs of saliva at the floor after them, only to shut up when one of the caracals bellowed at her.

"SHUT UP, BEFORE I FLATTEN YA WITH MY PAW!" the caracal had screeched at the top of its lungs, making Betelgeuse jolt, stop her extreme tantrum and shut her beak, but the little red macaw chick continued to disgruntledly glare after the group of cats as they left with Narcissa who limped away, except for one of the other servals who opted to stay behind and keep watch over Betelgeuse to ensure that no rescuers came by. However, Betelgeuse, as well as the serval guard, was unaware that the former had some hidden companions hidden amongst the darkness of the surroundings, intent on rescuing her and getting her out of this hideous place. Sandalwood, along with Sirius, Spica, Cytosine and Thymine, Antares, Steven, Lars, Connie and Finnick, had been following her captors as they dragged her away, keeping to the shadows to avoid getting spotted.

As Betelgeuse continued to glare bitterly at the tether connecting her to the shrub, her anger simmering inside her and making her plumage dangerously bristle, especially the feathers in her pineapple stalk-like crest such that the little chick looked twice her usual size, her serval guard glared at her with a stern and intimidating amber-eyed eagle-like gaze.

"Glare like a spoilt chick at your tether all you want, feather-ball," he growled adamantly, "but you're goin' nowhere."

Betelgeuse turned to fiercely retort but the serval hardened his gaze and cut her off. "And don't even think about spitting backchat like a stubborn brat either, kid. I'm not settin' ya free and that's that. Now sit down and _behave!"_

Betelgeuse released a hiss and sat down with her wings; her left one tattered and missing its primary flight feathers, crossed, her face twisted into an immensely disgruntled scowl, rage making her quiver slightly. 'I hope that chameleon gets _flayed_ when Dundee and his group find out what he has done and catch him!' she thought volcanically.

"And another thing, brat; wipe that sour look off your face as well," added the serval, "Before I wipe it off for you."

Betelgeuse shot an extremely acidic glare at the serval, her unusual crest spiked dangerously out like a porcupine's quills. "Or WHAT!?" she snapped rhetorically and loudly. The serval replied by raising a paw and flaring its claws, a stern glare still on his face. From the shadows, Sandalwood, Sirius, Spica, Cytosine and Thymine, Antares, Steven, Lars, Connie and Finnick watched on, worried and awed looks on their faces.

"I would do as that wildcat says if I were in her feathers," whispered Steven. Sirius, Spica, Sandalwood, Cytosine, Thymine and Antares could not help but admire Betelgeuse's courage. She was just like her mother Io and in some ways, Jewel but the group could also clearly see that the little chick was putting her life on the line. Betelgeuse's fiery amber glare then moved to the flared claws of the serval.

"I'll jump at ya face and TEAR YA WHISKERS OUT!" she screeched in a voice tone that was remarkably reminiscent of Jewel's whenever she issued a defensive threat.

"I'm afraid you can't do that," retorted the serval adamantly, his paw still hovering with its claws flared, "One, you're a puny, useless little chick and two, your wing is missing some of its crucial feathers thanks to our chameleon friend who has purposely done that to help in our catching of you should you ever escape," Betelgeuse, at this, flashed a bitter glare at her tattered left wing, a massive flash of fiery disgust flaring like a volcanic eruption in her mind at the mentioning of Dalek but then the serval began to raise his threat. Suddenly surging like a water wave towards Betelgeuse, the spotted wildcat bellowed, "Now you STOP THAT ATTITUDE AND DO AS I SAY!"

This vaporised Betelgeuse's courage and rage in a blink of an eye and the red chick screamed and jumped back as the serval rushed towards her, fear instantly replacing her fury. Sandalwood and the others flinched violently as they watched the action. The serval smiled upon seeing the split-second change.

"That's better," he said, satisfied, "Now you STAY that way and BE GOOD! Your fate is fast approaching."

Betelgeuse continued trembling and whimpering timidly at the serval as he resumed his post and fixated his guarding glare on her. Just then, a caracal, Shenzi, melted out of the darkness. Sandalwood and the others crouched in the shadows as they watched the plain sandy brown wildcat with lynx-like ears walk over to the serval and Betelgeuse.

"Has Carnassial reached a decision on who will be eating that little chick yet, Shenzi?" asked the serval, a glance at Betelgeuse who winced. Shenzi also gazed at the red macaw chick with a satisfied look.

"Yes, Julius," she said, "Carnassial himself will be the one to eat her."

Horror tore through Sandalwood and the others and Betelgeuse emitted a frightened chirrup while a disappointed look came upon the serval, named Julius's, face.

"I'm sorry but there's only one macaw chick," said Shenzi, "We could have divided her amongst us if she were a larger adult macaw but she's too small," she gazed at Betelgeuse and her size before turning back to Julius, "So, it's been settled that Carnassial will be the one to eat her. In the morning, we'll request Dalek to catch more parrots, preferably the larger adults, and bring them here so that we can ALL get a fair share of treats."

"Right," said Julius, his glare on Betelgeuse as she continued to shudder, "When will Carnassial's treat be served."

"In a few seconds," said Shenzi. This sent chills coursing down Betelgeuse's spine and making her feathers rise, and her crest spike out. Only this time it was fear raising her feathers, instead of anger. Sandalwood and the others with him exchanged glances and began to set to formulating a plan in rescuing Betelgeuse before her fate was sealed but how were they going to get to her without getting spotted by Julius or any of the other servals and caracals? Then an idea entered Connie's head as the young grey-headed bat's gaze landed on the tether connecting Betelgeuse to the shrub's stalk. With this idea in mind, she began to discuss it with the others. After a few moments of discussion, Sandalwood's group left to implement the plan.

Shenzi and Julius continued to sit by Betelgeuse in waiting for Carnassial's arrival.

"Carnassial should be here any minute now," said Shenzi. Julius smiled when suddenly; a fluttering noise reached the two cats' ears. Betelgeuse's ears also picked up the noise. At this, the caracal and serval flashed suspicious glares into the darkness of their compartment jungle.

"What was that?" asked Julius. Shenzi continued glaring into the darkness when suddenly, her feline amber glare picked up a small, fluttering creature as it flashed past a shaft of moonlight beaming through the window from outside into the jungle. At this, the caracal blinked.

"Was that a bat?" she asked. Julius gazed at the moonlight shaft.

"I don't know," he replied, "Maybe it's one of the smaller carnivorous birds that lives in our compartment?"

Shenzi, however, put on a disagreeing face.

"I don't think so," she said, "I'm gonna investigate. You stay here with that red macaw chick and make sure that she behaves until Carnassial arrives, or until I get back."

Julius nodded and moved over to sit by Betelgeuse, who shuddered and backed away as Shenzi left to investigate the spot where she had seen the flapping thing. As the female caracal melted away into the darkness, Betelgeuse gazed at Julius and twisted her beak to form words but she shuddered as her mind replayed Julius's warnings.

"W-w-w-will I be eaten ali…" she began but Julius flashed her a fierce scowl and bellowed "SHUT UP!" sending a shockwave surging through the little chick's body and making her jump back.

"You're NOT to say a word until Carnassial arrives," growled the serval in a lower voice, "I want you to keep that little beak of yours shut or I'll be the one to shut it for you. Is that clear?"

He shoved his face dangerously close to Betelgeuse who at first, didn't answer, fear gripping her like a jaguar's jaws.

"I said IS THAT CLEAR!?" screeched the serval loudly, making Betelgeuse jump. Timidly, the little chick tried to form words.

"B-b-but…" began the chick but Julius let loose a massive screech in her face, prompting Betelgeuse to nod rapidly to confirm that she did understand, fearing for her life. Satisfied, Julius's mouth widened into a smirk and he backed away.

"Good, and make sure you STAY quiet until Carnassial shows up," commanded the serval, "Or you'll surely face some DIRE consequences."

Betelgeuse was too gripped by fear to speak and sat on the floor with her wings wrapped around her body, tears beginning to well in her eyes as her serval guard returned to his post. It was clearly a nightmare for the poor red chick. Unable to scream and shout, unable to protest, and unable to inflict physical injury with her claws and beak without potentially life-threatening consequences at the paws of these wildcats, in addition to not being able to break through the tether holding her to the shrub and not being able to fly at all due to her tattered left wing thanks to Dalek, Betelgeuse was practically out of options and was thus trapped in a pit of hopelessness. However, she was unaware that outside the pit, a lifeline was about to be thrown. While Betelgeuse continued huddling on the floor, her eyes shedding tears of despair and distress, the tether tied on her leg snaking out from under her colourful wings and towards the shrub stalk like a thin but tough green worm ending in a tight loop around the base of the leafless plant's trunk and Julius watching her like a hawk, his amber glare fixed on her like a jail guard, movement flashed behind the serval and the leafless shrub. Betelgeuse's tear-stained eyes caught a glimpse of the movement but she brushed it off as a mere animal that lived in this compartment. Julius's sensitive ears, however, had picked up the sound made by the movement. Alerted, the serval slowly turned round and flashed a suspicious glare behind him. Betelgeuse looked up at the serval in curiosity as the serval slowly rose to all four feet and turn further round, suspicion lacing his sinister amber glare. However, the moment Julius had his back fully turned on Betelgeuse; he was greeted with three pairs of small eyes laced with scorn scowling at him from the darkness.

"Hello, spot-face," growled one of the owners of the eyes. Then before Julius could act, a pair of cerulean comets shot in from behind him and before the serval knew it, his entire head was smothered by a large leaf but some more comets exploded from the darkness and pounced onto him.

"Who turned out the lights!?" screeched Julius as he writhed and screeched under the small leaf and the small forms, which Betelgeuse saw were some macaws and a penguin with straw-like feathers emanating from his head, much to her hopeful smile.

Meanwhile, Shenzi continued investigating the spot where she had seen the fluttering thing. Her eyes glowed menacingly in the moonlight as the light reflected by the moon struck a structure in the back of her eyes, making the caracal's eyes glow like a pair of sinister silver spots in the darkness. After examining the area for a few more minutes, Shenzi gave up and began to return to the spot where Julius and Betelgeuse were.

"Must have been a small nocturnal bird or something," she muttered quietly as she walked along. However, the caracal was in for a nasty surprise. As the spot where Julius, Betelgeuse and the leafless shrub were sat emerged into view, Shenzi's eyes landed on something but the moment they did, a sharp gasp of air was drawn through her mouth. Julius lay in a heap by the leafless shrub, his moth completely smothered by a large sheet of green plant material. His paws were tightly tied together by the same green tendril that tethered Betelgeuse to the shrub and a few claw marks dotted Julius's face, but to Shenzi's immense astonishment and horror, part of the tendril binding the serval's feet together snaked out from the loops around his legs and ended in the tight loop around the shrub's stem similar to how Betelgeuse's tether was tied. Julius had been attacked, bound and had somehow become Betelgeuse's substitute! The stricken serval gazed back at Shenzi, his gagged mouth emitting muffles as the caracal darted over to him.

"What happened!?" demanded Shenzi. Julius tried to reply but because of the large leaf binding his mouth shut he could not form meaningful words. Seeing this hindrance, Shenzi hooked her claws on the leaf and yanked it away from Julius's mouth, allowing him to speak properly.

"Where's the chick!?" asked Shenzi again.

"I-I-I've been attacked by some macaw chicks who clawed by face, smothered me with an enormous leaf and bound me to the shrub," replied Julius, "In the process, the red macaw chick had disappeared…"

Shenzi shot the serval a disbelieving glare before the look of suspicion displaced the incredulous one. "Looks like we may have some intruders that may have followed the cats that have brought that chick to us," she hissed. Shenzi then set to untying the vine binding Julius to the shrub and shackling his legs together. "We have to report this to Carnassial but he'll not be pleased."

The only reply Julius could give was a sigh as Shenzi started untying his bound legs.

Meanwhile, a group of young animals were frantically but carefully creeping through the dark, graveyard-like jungle clearing of the Compartment of the Carnivores, keeping to the shadows and flashing wary glances as the terrifying surroundings for any presence of carnivorous animals that may be stalking in the shadows, hunting for any morsel of food that may be on the move in the darkness. Sandalwood, Sirius, Spica, Cytosine and Thymine, Antares, Steven, Lars, Connie and Finnick, along with Betelgeuse who was clinging desperately onto Thymine and Cytosine's wings, were rapidly half-creeping and half-running at the same time. They were clearly desperate to get back into the safe grounds of Dundee's land and report to Dundee and the other inner circle animals of their findings, especially Dalek's connection to Carnassial and his gang and the parrots going missing.

"This is dangerous, scurrying through such a creepy place at night like this," said Steven, his gaze flickering at the surroundings for fear of any predator that may be lurking in the darkness, "What if we get spotted by a nocturnal dog creature or something?"

"That's why we wanna get back to Dundee's jungle on the double," snapped Sirius rather sharply than he intended. The stress and desperation had set his nerves on edge. Steven said nothing and continued quickly creeping along, Lars, Connie and Finnick right behind him. As the eleven passed by the clearing in front of the den in which Carnassial and his gang lived, Sandalwood and Sirius led the others to behind a set of stones where they ducked, their frantic eyes having spotted several servals and caracals pacing around and talking. After they had dived behind the rocks, Sandalwood peered warily out.

"Are any of those wildcats looking our way, Sandy?" asked Antares as Betelgeuse stuck close to him, Cytosine and Thymine. Sandalwood frowned at the spotted and bare sandy brown cats as they continued pacing around or talk before turning to the others to give his reply.

"No, but let's hug the shadows and sneak along more carefully," he said, "And as soon as we are a good distance from that den, we'll move faster."

"But what if we get spotted before we're clear of the den?" asked Spica, before her gaze turned to the number of cats in front of the den's mouth-like entrance, "By my calculations, there are about a dozen of those caracals and servals or more and all of them have excellent night vision and hearing. If any of us put one foot wrong, they could be alerted and could chase us."

Sandalwood shot Spica a look but Sirius backed Spica's theories up.

"She has a point, Sandy," he said.

"If those servals and caracals hear or see us," said Connie, "We _will_ have to pick up speed."

Sandalwood sighed. It was true. If the eleven young animals were to come out of this dangerous compartment alive but are spotted by the caracals and servals intent on eating them, especially the macaw chicks, they will have to move fast, and Betelgeuse shuddered at the thought of getting caught again, and the thought of any of the others getting captured too. After all, this was a daring, life-risking rescue Sandalwood and the other nine with him had been on. Sandalwood then relented to Spica's suggestion.

"Okay, we'll move slowly at first but if we're spotted," said the young amber furred flying fox, "I'll give the mark for us to run. Finnick," Finnick rose to attention, "You carry Betelgeuse for she will not be able to fly with that tattered wing."

Finnick nodded and turned to Betelgeuse who flashed a glare at her tattered left wing. Then the macaroni penguin chick picked the red macaw chick off the ground and got prepared to carry her. Cytosine then frowned.

"Is it just me, or is Sandalwood getting braver?" he asked.

"No time to talk about that," hissed Thymine with a frown, "Let's just focus on getting out of this horrid graveyard of a place."

The group then got prepared to make their next move. Sandalwood, Sirius and Spica gazed at the caracals and servals as they continued pacing about and talking while Cytosine, Thymine, Antares, Steven, Lars, Connie and Finnick who carried Betelgeuse crept by under Cytosine's lead. As soon as the other eight had passed behind them, Sandalwood, Sirius and Spica followed but kept their eyes continuously fixed on the servals and caracals. It was then that a pair of cats, a male serval and a female caracal, darted in. Betelgeuse shuddered as she recognised the two newcomers, especially based on the dreaded and alarmed looks on their faces. As soon as the two cats, which were Shenzi and Julius, screeched to a halt before their comrades, another caracal, Banzai, walked over to them.

"Whoa, you two," he said upon seeing the armed state of the pair, "Calm down. Has something happened?"

"The red chick's gone missing!" said Shenzi in a mixture of outrage and frustration.

"I was attacked and tied up," put in Julius, "And before I knew it, the red chick's disappeared."

"Where's Carnassial!?" demanded Shenzi. Then before she and Julius could let panic overtake them, some of the other caracals and servals came in to calm them down. Then Banzai turned to three more caracals and said, "Fetch Carnassial while we investigate the chick's disappearance."

The three caracals nodded and set off to find the gang leader while Banzai's group left for the site where Betelgeuse had been tied to a shrub.

"I hope that will buy us some time," said Sirius in a hushed voice. Then pulling his gaze from the caracals and servals, the Spix macaw chick and Bia and Virgil's oldest son turned round and followed the others as they continued to sneak away. However, the group did not get very far when suddenly, "HEY!"

Horror tore through Sandalwood, Sirius, Spica, Cytosine and Thymine, Antares, Steven, Lars, Connie, Finnick and Betelgeuse who cowered in Finnick's wing flippers like a massive blast shockwave. Sandalwood and Sirius and the others flashed a horrified glance at the caller and to their immense terror; a pair of serval eyes was glaring their way. More and more eyes; both serval and caracal, including those of Banzai, Shenzi and Julius, darted in Sandalwood's direction as well.

"THE RED MACAW CHICK!" barked Julius when he saw the bundle of red feathers in Finnick's flippers. The moment those words left the serval's mouth, a familiar caracal entered the scene and followed his gang's gaze. That did it. Sandalwood knew that it was time to make a break for it.

"RUN FOR IT!" he screeched at the top of his lungs and with that, the others launched into rapid escape mode. The wings of Sirius, Spica, Cytosine and Thymine, Antares, Steven, Lars and Connie shot out and they took to the air while Finnick and Sandalwood's legs began to beat like pistons.

"AFTER THEEEEEM!" screeched the caracal, Carnassial and with that, comets with four legs and either pale orange and black spotted or plain sandy brown pelts dashed off after Sandalwood's group. Then within moments, a wild chase started up. Clinging onto the terrified Betelgeuse with his wing flippers, Finnick rushed along as fast as he could but Cytosine and Thymine flew in and latched onto his wing flippers with their talons to help drag him along and move faster while Connie and Lars dragged Sandalwood along to increase his speed as well. Behind the group, Carnassial and his gang, outraged looks lacing their faces, gave chase.

"GET BACK HERE!" bellowed Shenzi furiously.

"WHEN WE GET HOLD OF YOU LOT," put in Carnassial who ran at the front, "Ya ALL gonna be CHOWED DOWN LIKE MEATBALLS IN AN INSTANT!"

Sandalwood and the others did not reply or flash a glance at their chasers behind them and continued running or flying for their lives through the dark jungle of the Compartment of the Carnivores, the caracals and servals in hot pursuit. As a group of birds and two flying fox pups with a pack of small spotted or plain sandy brown lynx-like wildcats shot by, glowing eyes followed the forms. Diurnal carnivorous animals, having been jolted awake by the commotion, had come to investigate what was causing it, while the other nocturnal animals looked on in astonishment, especially at the group of diurnal (daytime active) birds flying or running by with two flying fox pups accompanying them.

Finnick and Sandalwood jumped and sidestepped any obstacle lying on the ground such as bones, stones and fallen branches, Finnick barely avoiding tripping over when his foot snagged on an outstretched hard arm of a discarded femur bone, his grip on Betelgeuse tight as she threatened to fall out of his wing-flippers, while Sandalwood hopped over another pile of bones, his wings clinging onto Connie's feet and Lars's talons as they dragged him along. As the group charged along, panic began to set in especially as the group could not see ahead for they, apart from Sandalwood and Connie, were not built for navigating that well in the darkness.

"We can't SEE!" cried Spica as she flew ahead, "We don't KNOW WHERE WE'RE GOING!"

"It's TOO DARK IN HERE!" shouted Antares. No sooner than these words left his beak, an outstretched arm slammed into the great green/military hybrid macaw chick's face and knocked him clean out of the air. The others stopped dead as they watched Antares collapse onto the ground.

"ANTARES!" cried Sandalwood and with that, he shot over to the dazed green macaw chick. At this, Sirius, Connie and Lars followed him while the others looked on. However, Sirius shot them a desperate look.

"GO, GO, GO!" he barked, "Get Betelgeuse back to Dundee's land!"

At first, Cytosine, Thymine, Finnick with Betelgeuse, Steven and Spica were reluctant but after hearing the sounds if caracal and serval screeches explode behind them, the five sprang into action and disappeared into the dark jungle, leaving Sirius, Sandalwood, Connie and Lars to see to the battered Antares. The poor green macaw chick wore a dizzy face and was grasping the area of impact where the branch had struck him: right on the forehead. His vision swam in a sea of stars and his head felt light. As Sirius, Sandalwood, Connie and Lars set to heaving Antares off the ground, the pattering of cat paws reached their ears. At this, Connie shot a horrified gaze in the direction of Carnassial's gang, their faces laced with immense triumph, cackles escaping their mouths and their lips dripping with hungry saliva, close in on the group.

"We're NOT GONNA ESCAPE IN TIME!" cried the grey-headed flying fox, "Not with HIM badly dazed!"

She shot a worried look at the dazed Antares. However, Sandalwood glared bitterly at Carnassial and his gang and formulated an idea in his head, but it was a very daring, wild one. Perhaps the wildest idea he had ever concocted. Shooting Sirius, Connie and Lars a look, Sandalwood said, "I'll try and distract them while you leave with Antares."

"Sandalwood, NO!" cried Sirius, "That is NOT A GOOD IDEA!"

"Those caracals and servals could be even faster than you," put in Connie, "And in addition to your inability to fly…"

However, Sandalwood had already dashed off. Giving up, Connie, Sirius and Lars picked up Antares and dashed off. Sandalwood then screeched to a halt and glared at the incoming caracals and servals as they pursued Sirius, Connie, Lars and Antares. He paused for a moment, nervousness welling within him but as Carnassial's gang came closer, the Brazilian flying fox pup sprang into action. Inhaling deeply and puffing out his chest as his lungs expanded to their limit with air, the pup released a macaw chick-like screech at the top of his lungs. This stopped Carnassial's gang as they all screeched to a halt, before one of the serval's gleaming-eyed glare shot in Sandalwood's direction. However, the spotted wildcat had been fooled by Sandalwood's impersonation of a macaw chick and had not seen the pup at first and to Sandalwood's relief, the ruse worked.

"One of the macaw chicks is over there," he called the others. At this, the caracals and the other servals followed the first serval's direction. This provided Sirius, Connie and Lars the distraction needed to carry Antares away from the danger and they accelerated away with Antares in tow but this distraction did not last long. The moment Carnassial's eyes landed on Sandalwood and saw that he was merely a flying fox pup and not a macaw chick, he realised that it was all a trick. At this, the caracal released an extremely enraged screech, making Sandalwood jump into the air in extreme fright. The screech carried, reaching Sirius, Connie and Lars's ears and making them slow to a hover and look back. Dread flared within them.

"Now Sandalwood has DONE IT!" barked Connie, outraged at Sandalwood's apparent foolhardy idea, He's now in MORTAL DANGER!"

At this, Lars prepared to fly back the way they came, leaving Sirius and Connie to carry Antares to safety by themselves.

"You get Antares outa here while I help Sandalwood," demanded Lars.

"But Lars," said Sirius.

"No time to argue," snapped Lars and with that, the young scarlet macaw chick dashed off into the darkness, leaving Sirius and Connie, who gazed worriedly after Lars, to leave with Antares.

Carnassial glared fierily and dangerously at Sandalwood, his amber eyes ablaze with unspeakable wrath. Shenzi and Julius who stood with the other servals and caracals, also glared bitterly at the young bat; the glares of wrath on their faces matching Carnassial's one.

"I should have KNOWN that you little brat had come to interfere with OUR RARE AND SPECIAL TREAT, you LITTLE RAT WITH WINGS!" snarled Shenzi volcanically. Sandalwood just gazed timidly back at the wildcat gang and shuddered, especially as the group began to stalk towards him. Since his confrontation with the toucan chicks led by Isabella after his refusal to participate in the trouble they were about to unleash on some of the Blu Bird Sanctuary's residents back in Brazil, fear boiled dangerously within him and he could not speak. However, under that extreme fear, outrage was beginning to manifest.

"I will give you exactly THREE SECONDS…" snarled Carnassial threateningly, his fiery glare fixated on Sandalwood, "To TELL US WHY YOU CAME HERE and HELP OUR TREAT ESCAPE! WE…"

Around him, his underlings continued to glare furiously at Sandalwood as he continued to shake in fear. However, that fear was about to rupture as the outrage within Sandalwood eventually reached critical. Then in a critical moment, something Sandalwood had never done before, that rage eventually exploded through the flying fox pup's fear and brought with it a flash of confidence.

"Oh YEAH!?" snapped Sandalwood at the top of his voice, "WELL, JUST YOU WAIT UNTIL DUNDEE HEARS ABOUT YOUR CONNECTION TO THAT HORRID CHAMELEON and HOW SOME OF THE PARROTS THAT ENDED UP IN HERE HAVE DIED!"

Carnassial's face flashed a look of immense surprise and he actually stopped. The other caracals and servals also flashed astonished faces.

"How did you know of Dalek's friendship with US!?" demanded Shenzi. Sandalwood did not reply. Instead, the flying fox pup began to tremble with immense anger. His green eyes became green firestorms and his amber fur bristled. His teeth also gritted and under his facial fur, the skin flashed a fiery red. For the first time in his life, he was absolutely volcanically furious.

"Really?" asked Carnassial, surprised at Sandalwood's stubbornness, "You're not gonna answer Shenzi's question?"

Still Sandalwood continued to tremble with rage. Carnassial just rolled his eyes but then his frustration at his treat escaping thanks to Sandalwood and his group's efforts then resurfaced.

"Well in that case, I might as well KILL YOU INSTEAD…" he screeched and with an extremely loud screech and to Sandalwood's immense fright and terror, the lead caracal's back legs sprung the rest of him off the ground and he flew straight towards the flying fox pup. Sandalwood released a scream and darted off, moments before Carnassial's front paws, their claws flared, slammed into the ground just where he had been a moment ago. Sandalwood then scurried like a terrified mouse along the clearing as Carnassial, another screech exploding from his mouth, gave chase. The other servals and caracals rushed in to help but before they could join in the chase, a red comet with blue and yellow wings zoomed in and before any of the wildcats could spot him, Lars shot towards Shenzi and slashed his claws right over her face. Shenzi let loose a stunned and pained screech and covered her face with her front paws as Lars shot away. The other caracals and servals shot stunned glances this way and that but as they did, another comet, an electric blue one, charged in and hooked his beak right on the ear of Alecto, another serval. Cries of extreme pain and shock exploded from Alecto's mouth as she began to writhe and bolt as Sirius, his eyes blazing brown infernos and his electric blue feathers puffed out like an urchin's spines, then began to fiercely tug on her ear. Sirius and Lars had returned to help Sandalwood after Antares had been carried to safety. While Sirius continued sinking his beak ever harder into Alecto's ear to the point of drawing blood, Lars swerved round and launched himself into the crowd of caracals and servals. He scored his claws over each and every cat's face he could catch, inflicting small claw marks over their faces on the go. More cat screeches erupted as scratch pain tore through their faces and they began to flail their paws in an attempt to catch the scratcher but Lars had already disappeared into the dark air where he turned round and prepared for another attack.

Carnassial flashed and annoyed glance at his underlings and continued his savage chase after Sandalwood. Like a cat after a mouse, the caracal and the flying fox pup continued scurrying along the dark clearing. As Sandalwood swerved round a pile of discarded bones, Carnassial attempted to slash the flying fox pup with his claws, only to miss by centimetres. Sandalwood let loose a scream and continued charging on in the new direction, Carnassial hot on his tail. From the commotion of the servals and caracals in which several more furious comets, Cytosine, Thymine, Connie and Spica, had joined, Sirius flew out of the inferno and flashed a frightened look at Sandalwood as he continued to flee from Carnassial. His facial feathers and beak was smothered in blood from his savage assault on Alecto and had managed to inflict a nasty cut on her ear, the anger having added to the immense pressure of the little Spix macaw chick's bite force. However, that fiery anger had flashed to desperation as he watched his flying fox friend as he tried to outrun Carnassial whose temper was erupting full throttle.

Sandalwood swerved around a large bush with Carnassial in hot pursuit and hopped over a pile of stones. However, Carnassial jumped right over them and continued his relentless chase of the little bat pup, screeching loudly and explosively. Sandalwood flashed a terrified glance at his chaser and continued running like mad. His wing and leg muscles were straining hard and he was gasping for air but adrenaline continued propelling him on. However, Sandalwood knew that his muscles will eventually become too tired to propel him away from Carnassial and soon, he will be at the mercy of the extremely enraged caracal's fiery wrath. Desperately, the flying fox pup shot gazes this way and that, trying to figure out an alternative way of escape. Sirius continued to hover there; too afraid to intervene for fear that he may end up caught ion Carnassial's flames of fury. However, an idea entered his head.

"Sandalwood, SCURRY UP THAT TREE!" he screamed. At this, Sandalwood flashed a glance at the electric blue form as he hovered in the darkness. "Scurry up that tree!"

At this, the flying fox pup looked ahead and saw the trunk of a tree. Behind him, Carnassial was moments away from catching Sandalwood and possibly killing him. With no other options, Sandalwood darted for the tree trunk, hooked foot and wing thumb claws onto it and began to scrabble up the bark like a terrified cat escaping a dog, moments before Carnassial appeared and slammed his face into the tree trunk. However, the impact did not deter the enraged caracal from his relentless chase of Sandalwood and he also hooked his claws into the bark and began to scurry up the tree trunk after the terrified flying fox pup. Sirius looked on in terror as he watched Sandalwood continue to scurry up the tree trunk, Carnassial moments behind him. However, he realised that Sandalwood was traversing one of his most detested things that always sent crippling fear down his spine and turning his blood into ice: climbing and heights. However, Sandalwood was too blinded by immense terror to even notice that he was scaling higher and higher from the ground and up the tree trunk, especially with a maniacal, rage-crazed caracal right behind him. Carnassial then tried to slash Sandalwood with his claws as soon as he was close enough to him but the little flying fox pup heaved himself up just in time, the claws of the caracal barely missing his feet by centimetres. Sandalwood then strained into another heave and forced himself up the tree trunk further as Carnassial launched another swipe at him, an explosive screech erupting from his mouth. Sandalwood's wing arm, chest and leg muscles cried in agony as he continued to force them to heave the rest of his body further up the tree trunk.

"Sandalwood!" cried Sirius as he watched the horror. Behind him, the caracals and servals continued to try and swipe at Spica, Cytosine, Thymine, Connie and Lars as they continued to mercilessly claw and slash at them with their claws, beaks and in Connie's case, teeth. More and more scratches and bite marks were opening on the cats, along with more blood being drawn as the servals and caracals continued to desperately try and catch their attackers. Spica, her eyes blazing amber fire, then lunged at Banzai and scored her claws as hard as she could across his nose; inflicting a painful scratch, drawing quite some blood and making Banzai scream in agony.

Sandalwood continued scrabbling up the tree trunk with Carnassial continuously launching swipes at him only to miss, until he finally reached a node of a branch, the point where the branch joined the main trunk and as soon as he was on it, Sandalwood leaped from the tree trunk and clasped onto the horizontal arm, narrowly escaping yet another slash of sharp needle-like claws thrown by Carnassial. Carnassial then heaved himself onto the branch and began to advance towards Sandalwood who gazed back at the caracal's fiery glare with a terrified gaze. Below, Spica, Cytosine, Thymine, Lars and Connie then broke off their assault and darted off into the darkness, the servals and caracals, their faces covered in countless bite and claw marks, giving chase. Sirius flashed a glance at the group and then gazed back at Sandalwood, fear and worry gripping him as the flying fox pup continued to back away from the still rage-fuelled wildcat. Carnassial's amber eyes were practically blazing with wrath and his mouth was gritted, revealing his deadly set of needle-like teeth. His claws were flared as they gripped the bark on the branch, harpy eagle talon-like and just as deadly. Sandalwood let loose a timid whimper and happened to look down. To his horror, he realised he was on an elevated branch. At this, the flying fox pup released screams of immense terror as his fear of heights began to set in. Carnassial, when he saw the flying fox pup begin to cringe and whimper at the height, then put on a mocking glare. His mouth widened as he snickered at the timid flying fox pup.

"Well, it seems that you are the same flying fox pup that cannot fly at all…" crooned the caracal; his fire of anger briefly pushed aside, "All because you're afraid of heights. Quite ironic for a mammal that is built to fly…"

Sandalwood just gazed back at Carnassial as he continued to saunter towards him, mockery of his height fear continuously emanating from his mouth. Sirius looked on and began to think of a way to rescue Sandalwood just as Lars flew in. However, before Sirius could put his idea into action, Carnassial's wrath flared up once again.

"But that is not important…" growled the caracal as he crouched to spring at Sandalwood, "You're still a PESKY LITTLE WINGED RAT AND I'M DESPERATE TO SLAUGHTER YA…"

Then with an extremely enraged screech, Carnassial launched himself off the branch and flew straight towards Sandalwood, his front claws poised for the kill.

"SANDALWOOOOD!" cried Sirius. Then Lars was about to rocket in but before he could surge towards Carnassial, something amazing happened. Sandalwood, immense terror flaring within him once again at the sight of the enraged caracal leaping towards him, suddenly jumped off the branch… and right into the air! Carnassial landed on the spot where Sandalwood had been moments ago but to his frustration, he realised that he had missed. Enraged, he glared after Sandalwood. Sirius and Lars also looked on, their beaks agape in astonishment. Sandalwood had his eyes tight shut in preparation for a gruesome death at the claws of Carnassial but he realised that he could not feel any needles attacking him. Furthermore, he felt a rush of air blow through his pelage and his wing membranes and he did not feel any hard surface of the ground under him. At this, the flying fox pup slowly opened one eye and when he saw where he was, both of his eyes jolted open.

"Sandalwood, you're FLYING!" cried Sirius in immense joy. Indeed he was. Sandalwood was indeed airborne. However, he was only gliding, his wing membranes outstretched. Carnassial looked on in outraged astonishment as his target glided away. Sirius and Lars cheered but then Sandalwood's fear of flying kicked in and he began to freak out. A frightened squeal exploding from his mouth, Sandalwood began to flail and in the process, his membranous wings were withdrawn from the air, much to Sirius and Lars's horror. Then Sandalwood began to plummet towards earth, screaming for someone to help him. At this, Sirius and Lars surged forwards but as they did, three of the caracals from the rest of Carnassial's gang appeared. Carnassial shot the trio a glare.

"DON;'T JUST STAND THERE!" he barked, "SEIZE THAT BAT AND KILL HIM AT ONCE!"

Then without another second's hesitation, the caracals surged forward just as Sirius and Lars latched their talons onto Sandalwood's wings just before he hit the ground. However, the trio saw the three caracals surge towards them, their front paws poised to attack. Lars then made a split-second decision.

"LOOK OUT!" he screeched at Sirius and with that, the young red macaw chick tackled into the Spix macaw as he held Sandalwood by the wings in the side and knocked him out of the way. The moment he did that, a caracal paw appeared and slammed into Lars… hard. Sirius and Sandalwood watched on and screeched Lars's name as the scarlet macaw chick careened limply in Carnassial's direction and crash-landed at the foot of the tree, the same tree Carnassial had chased Sandalwood. Then before Lars could come round, a pale brown lynx-like cat was on top of him. Carnassial had dropped down from the tree and had pounced onto Lars the moment he had landed at the foot of the tree. Then without another second's hesitation, the evil caracal seized Lars, a grin stretching his mouth across the width of his face. Sirius and Sandalwood screamed as a gulp was heard. Terrified, the Spix macaw chick rocketed off in the direction of Dundee's land; Sandalwood safely in his clutches as Carnassial then subsequently released a burp, licked his lips and rubbed his belly, before congratulating the three caracals for whacking the macaw chick in his direction.


	50. Chapter 49

**Chapter 49- some out-of-place birds and here comes that cockatoo again!**

 **Back in Rio**

The night continued to roll by and along with it, the activities of the nightshift jobs of the people in Rio and activities of the nocturnal animals on the Blu Bird Sanctuary. Most of Blu and company's group members, or the remainders of them, had turned in for the remainder of the night, especially the remaining kids for it was WAY past their bedtime indeed, and had gone to Susan and Lucy's cottage attic with Broccoli, Dash, Ginger and James who had gone to help set up the beds in the place. some had managed to drop off into the world of sleep within minutes but for everyone else, because of the worry for Blu and company and their safety, alongside the shock of tonight's incidents, storming their minds, these individuals got off to sleep far later. However, a few of them did not feel like going to bed at all and had stayed up for the rest of the night.

In one part of Rio, just near the dark Copacabana Beach where few people dotted the night seaside and sandy landscape in front of the first line of city buildings and road, a certain pair of large navy blue birds, one who had a bandana covering his damaged left eye and most of his scars, was having a flight out to spend some time together and to get away from the stresses of the happenings and take a break from them. However, worry still churned inside their heads, especially after the most recent happenings at Tulio's Aviary. Triton and Iris were gliding slowly over the sandy beach, the very dark midnight blue-black water of the sea that reflected the light from the stars and the moon from the sky and the artificial lights from the city to the side of them, lapping against the sand. Triton looked badly shaken. His feathers were on end and he felt weak in the muscles as his nerves trembled, but it wasn't just from the sleeping gas attack and the subsequent theft at Tulio's Aviary resulting in the two golden fruithawks and several other individuals getting taken while everyone in the building was knocked out by the sleep-inducing gas cloud.

"I didn't like Tulio's reaction when he turned up at the aviary, Iris," murmured the one-eyed hyacinth macaw to his girlfriend, "Honestly; he was like Krakatoa going off, especially after finding those only two fruithawks missing and the staff and animals in the aviary knocked out when he, Linda, Fernando and several of the other workers turned up at the place."

"That was when we had to make a hasty retreat. I honestly think that's the breaking point for poor Tulio," said Iris, "Not to mention the fact that there are several poachers who have successfully intruded into the Sanctuary de Amazon to pinch some of the extremely rare animals there," she breathed a sigh, "Luckily they have been caught by the patrollers and have been questioned as reported by Fernando."

"It must have been the toucan incident when we had to beat as hasty retreat when those horrible birds attacked us at his and Linda's family's cottage," said Triton. Iris shuddered. She did not want to remember that incident and wanted to put it to one side. Then she moved on and gazed into the night sea, the glitter of stars rippling with the surface of the water.

"Anyway, I hope Blu and company are alright," she murmured, "I believe they must have reached those poachers' base by now."

"And have possibly found out their 'employers', or the group behind this poacher organisation," said Triton. Iris nodded. The couple continued to fly along when suddenly; the pair spotted a flying form approach them. The creature's plumage flashed in the artificial light from the city's streetlights, vehicles and building lights and based on the colour and shape of the form, it was a red macaw. Triton and Iris stopped to a hover in surprise. What was a red macaw doing flying out above Copacabana beach at this time of night?

"Excuse me," called Iris to the macaw, "What are you doing out here at this time of night?"

"Shouldn't you be back at either the Blu Bird Sanctuary jungle or Susan and Lucy's cottage?" asked Triton. Within moments, the red macaw flew towards the hyacinth macaws and slowed to a hover before them. To Triton and Iris's further surprise, this macaw wasn't any scarlet or green-winged macaw. In fact, he was a hybrid of the two for his wings bore both the green and the yellow contour bands and his eyes were blue. These features indicated that this macaw was a certain macaw Triton and Iris knew to be Io's mate.

"Sheldon!?" gasped Triton in utter disbelief.

"What are you doing out here?" asked Iris. The red macaw, Sheldon, then shot Triton and Iris an equally disbelieving look.

"I was gonna ask the same question, you two," he said. Triton and Iris flashed a glance at each other and gazed back at Sheldon.

"We were supposed to be at Susan and her family's house after an incident at Tulio and his family's cottage," explained Triton, "But between that and our move to Dad and company's former owners, something horrible has happened at Tulio's Aviary."

Sheldon blinked in horror. "Oh, no, what has happened?" he asked. Then desperation, and the reason for his flying out here at this time of night, took hold. "Don't tell me something _horrible_ has happened to Io, has it? I've been searching for her up and down most of the city of Rio in the past few hours."

There was genuine desperation in Sheldon's voice, and Triton and Iris had come to the conclusion that Sheldon was desperate to find Io and make up with her and put their relationship back together. However, the hyacinth macaw couple was reluctant to tell Sheldon that she had left for Peru with Blu and some of the others to find Sandalwood and the other missing kids.

"No," said Triton at last, much to Sheldon's relief, "But while we were at Tulio's Aviary after taking some of our injured comrades there to be tended to…"

"Has something happened?" asked Sheldon, interrupting Triton's explanation, "I've been to Tulio and Linda's cottage to look for Io there but to my horror and surprise, the things they call windows were smashed and the birdhouses looked a right state…"

Triton and Iris sighed and decided to tell Sheldon what had happened.

"We came under fire by a bunch of horribly vengeful toucans," said Triton after some reluctance. At this, the colour under Sheldon's feathers, as well as the white area around his eyes and beak, turned a funny colour and his eyes and mouth widened in utter horror.

"Oh, no, how did it happen?" he asked.

"Those toucans threw stones at us and forced us to hastily evacuate," said Iris, "Unfortunately, some of us got hurt. Neytiri suffered a broken wing; Eustace and company were almost burned alive…"

"And Tulio and Linda's cottage suffered smashed windows as some of those toucans went on a frenzy in throwing stones at them and breaking the glass," said Triton, "Alongside other things that I would rather not mention…"

"Has Io been hurt?" demanded Sheldon, desperation flaring up.

"No, she hasn't," said Iris immediately before worry could explosively consume the panicked ruby macaw. A flash of relief sparked within Sheldon but his worry for Io soon returned.

"Please, I'm trying to find her," said Sheldon desperately, "I wanna make up with her and fix our relationship. Do you know where she is? Have you seen her anywhere?"

This took Triton and Iris by surprise and stuck them in a pit of reluctance. They did not want to tell Sheldon that Io had left for fear of adding to the worry Sheldon already had for his scarlet mate, but Sheldon's face began to press the hyacinth pair further until finally, Triton relented.

"It's gonna take some explaining but you're not gonna like it," he said. Sheldon braced himself to hear the news but before Triton and Iris could enter that explanation, the trio heard the sounds of groans. At this, the two hyacinth macaws and ruby macaw froze and began to shoot confused glances this way and that. More groans emanated and soon, the trio realised that they were coming from the beach below them. This drew the trio's attention to the sand and lapping water below them.

"Sounds like someone's struggling," said Triton. Sheldon then spotted something in a spot of light on the dark sand. At this, alarm tore through him.

"Triton, Iris, LOOK!" he shouted and pointed a talon to what he spotted. Triton and Iris followed Sheldon's point and also spotted the something on the sand. What the three macaws saw were three bundles of soft feathers and those bundles were lying in the sand, struggling and groaning. It was clear that they were exhausted. At first, Iris, Sheldon and Triton thought the three feathered forms were some type of frigatebird, a species of bird they sometimes saw in the Blu Bird Sanctuary jungle for there was a small clan of them living near the water's edge and who used their red chest sacs as drums for the 'Real in Rio' song (and thankfully were nothing at all like the horrible frigatebird gangster leader Triton and company met during their trip to Guyana), but on closer inspection, these feather bundles appeared too chubby to be such birds. Furthermore, they did not have the forked tails and long, slender wings the frigatebirds possessed. Instead, the forms' tails were stubby and their wings, which the forms used to pull themselves along the sand, resembled the wings of a newborn macaw chick: flat and kinked but covered in feathers but not flight feathers. Triton immediately recognised the types of bird the three forms were for he had seen these birds in a book at Linda's bookstore.

"Are those three penguins?" he asked.

"Penguins!?" repeated Iris in shock, "B-but… Rio de Janeiro does not have any wild penguins living around here."

Sheldon then frowned and descended towards the three struggling penguins. As he and Iris and Triton touched down, they saw that the three penguins were massive compared to them, taller even than Triton and Iris. Two of the penguins' backs were blue-black in colour while their undersides were white. Bordering their black and white areas on their necks and chests was a splash of golden yellow, like the yellow on Sheldon's wing contours but with a darker orange tint added. The third penguin, however, was strange. Instead of being entirely black and white with the dividing yellow-orange mark on the neck, this penguin's upper half bore grey feathers which appeared to be downy. Its head was black with white patches around its eyes and its eyes appeared to be a shade of blue. The lower half of the penguin's body melted to the adult plumage characteristic of the species. Triton, Iris and Sheldon blinked in confusion. They had seen images of the chicks of this penguin species and how they looked in a book and yet this penguin was an _adult._

"They're emperor penguins, a species of penguin from Antarctica," said Triton as he identified the species of the three struggling penguins based on their features. This confused him. What were three penguins that normally lived in an area of the Earth's South Pole doing this far up north? Then Triton's gaze turned to the downy feather topped penguin, "But this one looks like a chick in an adult's body."

"Maybe this penguin is what Blu, Bia, Ganymede and some other nerd birds would call 'neotenous'?" asked Iris. When Sheldon flashed her a confused look, Iris explained, "It's a term in ecology used to describe animals that still have their baby traits as adults, like certain species of salamanders," her gaze returned to the chick-like penguin, "It seems that this penguin is either that or is very, very late in shedding its downy chick plumage."

Sheldon smiled; the first smile he had managed since his breakup with Io. Iris appeared to have a good understanding of fancy scientific terms like Blu, Bia, Ganymede and the others who were nerdy and science minded. He then turned his attention back to the penguins and checked their vital signs. When he saw that they were breathing and twitching, he said, "They're very exhausted but they're still alive," he then prepared to move one of the emperor penguins, "Let's get these three off this beach. It's not safe here."

Triton and Iris agreed to this and, together with Sheldon, they latched their talons onto the massive penguins and began to help drag them to safety. However, they were very heavy but Triton soon found an abandoned box. This box was red, had wheels beneath it like a cart and two flaps of cardboard extending from its sides, like the wings of an airplane. A pair of brooms was attached on its rear end with the bristles of the brooms pointing back. These bristles appeared to be painted in a colour of rainbows. On the front of the cart opposite the colourful brooms; a stick with a handle was attached. At this, Triton rushed over to it and seized it. As he brought back the wheeled box, which appeared to be an abandoned and disused toy left by some of the human kids who came here to play during the daytime, Iris and Sheldon set to helping the three emperor penguins climb into the red box part of the cart. As soon as the third one was in the box, Triton, Iris and Sheldon quickly pulled the box and its contents away from the seaside and in the direction of the city and out of danger.

Sometime later, Triton, Iris and Sheldon had hauled the penguins to a secluded area in the city, well away from the beach. Iris and Sheldon looked over the three penguins to check for any injuries while Triton splashed water over the three flightless seabirds' faces to help wake them up.

"No injuries, except for a few cuts and bruises," said Sheldon, "Which is good."

As Triton continued dowsing the three emperor penguins' heads, the chick-like one jolted awake and opened its blue eyes. As it raised its head, it began to look around just as the other two were coming round, the coolness of the water pulling them out of near-unconsciousness.

"Oooh, where am I," murmured the massive Antarctic bird. As the penguin's blue eyes found Triton, Iris and Sheldon, who at first appeared as blurry red and navy blue shapes before its eyes, at first, the penguin thought it was dreaming but as reality set in, the penguin suddenly jolted, rolled onto its back and tried to scrabble away from the three macaws, its back pressed against one side of the cart the macaws used to transport it and the other two penguins from the beach.

"Who are you, and where are we?" asked the penguin, its blue eyes laced with immense fright, "And ow-ow-ow!" it felt a surge of pain from its wing muscles and clasped its chest, "Why is my chest hurting?"

"It seems that you've journeyed all the way from Antarctica to here," said Triton. He then gazed in astonishment at Sheldon and Iris who put on equally astonished faces. Triton returned his gaze to the penguin. "That's a long, long, long way."

"It's gotta be about WELL over 8000 kilometres," said Iris. The chick-like penguin just gazed back at the macaws and said nothing. Just then the two other penguins came round and as their gaze landed on Triton, Iris and Sheldon, they also flinched in fright and huddled against the first penguin.

"What sort of seabirds ARE those, Mumble!?" said one of them, a female. Triton, Iris and Sheldon exchanged perplexed glances. Then the first penguin began to examine the three macaws and saw their talons.

"I don't know but they don't have webbed feet," it said, before its blue gaze ascended the macaws' bodies, "and their feathers certainly don't seem to be suitable for water…"

"Of course we're not suitable for water," said Triton with an amused frown, "We're macaws."

"We live in trees," said Sheldon. The three penguins exchanged confused glances. It was clear they had never, ever heard of a type of bird called a 'macaw' before, much less seen one, or rather _three_ , of those kinds of birds in the flesh. Then the downy feather topped penguin moved on. "Anyway, where are we?"

"You're in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil," said Iris. Another confused look flashed on the penguins' faces.

"A what?" said one of the other two penguins, a male.

"Ree-oh duh… something or other?" asked the female penguin.

"What sort of a place is that? A tropical island?" asked the chick-like penguin. At this, Iris, Triton and Sheldon exchanged glances again.

"No, it's a human city," said Triton. At this, the penguin shook its head in disbelief. The words 'city' and 'human' appeared familiar to it. However, the other two penguins appeared to have not heard those two words before.

"Are we in the land of the aliens?" asked the female penguin.

"Aliens!?" snapped Sheldon in disbelief. At this, Triton just raised a wing.

"Let's just cut to the chase, shall we?" he said before turning to the penguins, "So who are you and what are you three doing all the way up here?"

"Since you normally live in the Antarctic," added Iris. The three penguins took their turn to exchange glances and gazed back at the macaws, unsure as how to answer the question at first speechless at first. Finally the chick-like penguin, which was a male, spoke.

"We come from a place called Emperor-Land," he explained, "It's a place where our emperor penguin colony lives."

Iris, Triton and Sheldon just exchanged more confused glances as the female penguin continued. "We are on a search for a penguin chick named Atreyu. He is me and my mate Balthazar's son and he was separated from the rest of us during a fishing trip."

Shock tore through Triton's trio.

"That's horrible," said Triton in immense horror.

"And tragic," put in Sheldon.

"It was," said the first penguin, the downy feather covered one, wincing from his tired and pained wing flipper muscles, "It devastated Ginny and Balthazar here, as well as the rest of us including my mate Gloria and son Erik who loved him dearly."

"So, how did you three end up washed ashore on the beach here?" asked Sheldon.

"We left Emperor-Land to search for Atreyu despite our colony's protests of the dangers," said the female penguin who the macaws assumed was named Ginny, "but we got lost," the penguin breathed a sad sigh, "Then after a series of complicated events such as escaping some predatory sharks and ending up on an island where we took a rest before continuing, we somehow ended up here."

"And here we are," said the other male penguin, the one who did not have the downy chick-like feathers covering the upper half of his body. He then gazed at Triton, Iris and Sheldon hopefully, "Have you seen an emperor penguin chick named Atreyu? That's who we';re looking for."

The other two penguins gazed at the macaw trio desperately as they exchanged confused glances. Then after a few moments, the three penguins' hopes were dashed ass Sheldon said, "We've never heard of a penguin chick called Ar-tree-yoo or however it's pronounced. Sorry."

The three penguins breathed sad and extremely disappointed sighs. Then tears of distress began to well in their eyes.

"We've been searching the oceans for _weeks,"_ cried the first penguin in despair, "Don't tell me our mighty journey's been all for nothing has it?"

The other two penguins then began to weep as Triton, Iris and Sheldon could only look on in sympathy. They were clearly stuck for words for one, they knew nothing of these penguins' search and two, they had never heard of a chick called 'Atreyu'. Then suddenly, some noises reached the macaws' ears and Triton and Iris jumped up in alarm. Those noises were grunts from a bird, but those grunts were laced with anger and hatred. And they were emanating from not just any bird.

"Sheldon!" called Triton, "Help us take this cart and the penguins out of here. Nigel's coming."

Sheldon nodded and rushed to behind the cart where the colourful bristles of the brooms were attached and began to push it while Triton and Iris worked to pull the wheeled box. The three penguins looked on in confusion.

"What's going on now?" asked the chick-like penguin. Iris turned to him.

"Sorry, but a nasty and extremely dangerous bird is coming our way," said the three-symmetry crested hyacinth macaw, "Just hang on while we take you to safety."

Confusion saturating them, the three penguins exchanged glances and did so.

"Is it some sort of skua?" asked the female penguin. The three macaws did not answer and continued pushing or pulling the penguins in the cart through some discarded trash and hanging cloth, moments before a ragged grey bird with brown eyes, bags under those eyes, a pale, tatty crest and a black beak and talons, as well as an awfully tatty plumage and wings, appeared and began to examine the spot where Triton and company had been. In those brown eyes were a poisonous cocktail of hatred, malice, bitter rage and something else and those eyes began to examine the surroundings. Not too far away, Sheldon, Iris and Triton continued to push the penguins in the red box with wheels, running under a large table. Triton pushed another flap of cloth and helped Iris to pull the cart and the penguins under it. Sheldon flashed a glance behind, hoping that the familiar cockatoo wasn't following. Back in the spot where Triton and company had been, the cockatoo's head turned in the direction of the sounds. At this, the cockatoo began to trace the sounds and follow the path taken by Triton and company. His glare hardened with the poisonous cocktail as he increased his pace rate.

Through the table, Triton, Iris and Sheldon were flapping along, the red macaw pushing the cart from behind and the two hyacinth macaws pulling on the handle at the front. The three penguins shot confused glances this way and that at the passing humans and the four-legged things called tables.

"So this must be the land of the aliens?" said the female penguin in a mixture of awe and fear at the same time.

"I've been in a place like this before while I was investigating what was really causing the fish shortages the other year, Ginny," said the chick-like penguin as he also shot awed gazes in various directions, "But there's something different about this land for some reason…"

"Maybe the aliens' land is bigger than you thought previously, Mumble?" asked the other male penguin. Iris, Sheldon and Triton did not listen to the three penguins' comments about the street and the humans around them and continued pushing and pulling the cart and the penguins. Behind the six, the bedraggled cockatoo emerged from under the table and turned his acidic glare at the group as they hurried down the street. Sheldon flashed a glance at the cockatoo and as he did that, the cockatoo, which was indeed Nigel, then began to follow them. His bedraggled feathers bristled dangerously and his brown glare became engulfed with the familiar brown flames of wrath, the same sort of glare Sheldon had received during his previous visit to Rio with Io and her family. The acidic glare and the way Nigel was picking up speed behind the group sent alarm tearing through the ruby macaw.

"FLY, IRIS AND TRITON!" barked Sheldon, "Penguins, hang ON!"

Triton and Iris also flashed a glance at Nigel as he picked up speed and obeyed Sheldon's command. The three penguins flashed the macaw a confused look.

"Hang on?" repeated the chick-like penguin. However, he got his answer when he and his two companions suddenly felt the cart pick up speed, sending the three rolling back. An alarmed shriek exploded from the penguins' beaks as Triton, Iris and Sheldon accelerated, and their wing-flippers shot to the sides of the crate and the broomsticks and clung onto them. Soon, the colourful crate pulled and pushed along by three macaws with three large penguins sitting in it went shooting through the street and behind it came a bedraggled cockatoo. As he pursued the group, Nigel began to spew a river of caustic words at Triton, Iris and Sheldon.

"GET BACK HERE, you GOOD-FOR-NOTHING PRETTY BIRDS!" he screeched and this was followed by every kind of gory and gruesome threat that came into his head. The three penguins shot a flabbergasted look behind at the cockatoo as the caustic words reached their ears.

"What in ANTARCTICA!?" barked the chick-like penguin in immense shock.

"That crested skua sounds like he's been swimming in polluted water!" added the female penguin in utter disgust. The other male penguin covered his ears with his wing-flippers to block out the caustic music.

"You WON'T hear our son Atreyu spit things like THAT, honestly!" he cried. Iris, Sheldon and Triton, however, wore unsurprised faces.

"That bird isn't a skua, penguin," replied Iris, "It's a cockatoo."

"A what?" asked the chick-like penguin.

"Never mind," said Triton, "Just hang on and let's ESCAPE THAT FOUL-MOUTH!"

The three penguins said nothing more after this and gripped the sides of the crate hard as the three macaws push and pulled the crate at high speed through the street with Nigel right behind them. Several humans jumped and dived out of the way as the crate shot through, followed by a savage cockatoo as he let loose a screech. The chick-like penguin continued flashing confused glances at the passing surroundings, especially at the bizarre fruit and items sold on the passing stalls, things he had never seen before in his entire life. Then Triton, Iris and Sheldon cornered a stack of crates, taking the cart and the penguins with them, and passed another fruit stand. At this, Triton seized one of the fruit, a dragonfruit, with a talon and without a second's hesitation, tossed it at Nigel, away from the crate so that it did not hit the penguins or Sheldon.

"You want some fruit, you vulture pest!?" snarled the one-eyed hyacinth macaw wrathfully, "have a DRAGONFRUIT!"

The bright purple and green scaly fruit flew from Triton's talon and careened straight towards Nigel. The cockatoo did not have time to react and his talons stepped right onto it. The next thing he knew, he was running on a rolling dragonfruit like a log! Nigel's vengeful determination to get his talons on Triton, Iris and Sheldon turned immediately to horror as he realised his situation. His tatty crest stood erect and his eyes inflated out of their sockets. His wings also went out and began to flap and a scream exploded from his beak. Triton, Iris, Sheldon and the three penguins watched as the cockatoo zoomed past on the dragonfruit and then crash into a pile of old soft toys. The six birds winced but then another horrified scream pulled their attention back to Nigel as he careened over the toy pile and landed… right into a massive plastic box full of stationery glitter! A massive shower of colourful sparkles flew absolutely everywhere, accompanied by the horrified screams of onlookers as they watched Nigel plummet onto the floor in a pile of tiny and colourful sparkly flakes at the foot of the table. The cockatoo seethed as he glared at his plumage which was now strewn with lots and lots and lots of the glitter before shooting Triton and company an extremely bitter glare. Triton, Iris and Sheldon were laughing out loud as they went past with the crate containing the while the three penguins who were struggling to hold down giggles at the sight of the mess. Then Iris's talon went to the lower eyelid of her left eye and pulled it down while her tongue protruded out of her beak as she made a taunting facial expression referred to as an Akanbe at the cockatoo, much to his outrage. Sheldon and Triton, however, threw on cheeky smirks. Then Iris emitted a cheeky, "'Bye'" and with that, the three macaws turned another corner and disappeared down another street with the crate and the penguins.

Nigel then stood up and shook his plumage to rid the glitter from his ragged feathers, sending sparkles flying everywhere and then launched into a furious pursuit after the macaws. Triton, Iris and Sheldon continued to laugh at the sight of Nigel in the glitter.

"That reminds me of the incident when he fell into a pot of azure paint when Carla, Bia and Tiago taunted him," tittered Triton, one of his talons adjusting his bandana to cover his damaged eye and the upper part of his left face, "He sure looked a mess."

"Blu and Jewel would have burst out laughing if they saw him in that state," said Sheldon, laughter boiling within him for the first time in days.

"Nice one, Triton," said Iris. Triton just shrugged while the penguins looked on.

"I can see that you three strange birds enjoy that poor skua's mishaps," said the chick-like penguin.

"We have a leopard seal bully that likes to cause us penguins trouble on the edge of our homeland," said the female penguin but her face turned serious, "But he usually tries to catch and eat us."

"Does that skua try to eat you?" asked the other male penguin. Triton, Iris and Sheldon gazed at the penguins, about to reply when suddenly, the three macaws' eyes caught sighted movement behind the cart.

"Oh, no," shouted Sheldon.

"Here he COMES!" said Iris and with that she and Triton seized the front handle and began to pull the cart while Sheldon pushed from behind. The three penguins held on to the sides with their wing flippers as they were [pulled at a speedy rate by the macaws again, moments before the bedraggled form of Nigel, his tatty plumage still with some sparkles of glitter lingering and an extremely acidic, vengeance saturated glare on his face drilling into the macaws, launched into a dash after the group, the determination of seizing three of his most detested types of birds volcanically erupting within him.

"WHEN I GET HOLD OF YOU, YOU COLOURFUL FEATHERED RATS," he bellowed, his crest fully flared, "I'm gonna FLAY YA!"

Triton, Iris and Sheldon did not reply and continued pulling the three penguins in the cart to safety. The chase then resumed as Triton's group and Nigel tore down another street, this time a path or sidewalk next to a road, and through some human legs. Triton and Iris weaved in and out of these legs, making some humans jump and dive out of the way while Sheldon pushed the cart behind, the penguins hanging on for dear life. Nigel did the same behind them, shouting and screeching acidic curses at the passers-by and telling them to move.

"Outa my way, you PESKY PATH-HOGS!" screeched the cockatoo at one point before resuming his bitter glare on Triton's group and accelerating. Triton's group continued zooming down the street until Iris spotted a large bush around a corner.

"In there, in there!" she called and with that, Triton, Iris and Sheldon pushed the cart towards the bush and then under it the leaves, the penguins ducking. Not too far away, Nigel screeched to a halt and began to shoot acidic glares this way and that, wondering where his targets had gone. One of the penguins, the chick-like one, peered out at the cockatoo as he climbed out of the cart.

"Shall I?" he asked.

"Okay but be careful," said Sheldon, "He's an extremely dangerous bird."

"Yes, we don't want him to find us," said Triton as he helped the other two penguins out of the cart with Iris. Outside, Nigel continued scouring the surroundings for any flash of colour until his brown glare picked up movement from a certain bush. At this, the cockatoo snapped his glare in that direction and darted off to investigate.

"You cannot HIDE FROM ME, you GOOD-FOR-NOTHING PRETTY BIRDS!" he screeched as he zoomed towards the bush, "Certainly NOT I, Nigel the cockatoo, who is CUNNING ENOUGH TO SNIFF YOU FILTHY FOWL OUT…"

But before he could finish, his talons snagged onto something. Nigel's wrath turned to immediate horror as he found himself falling forward, before entering a violent tumble. A massive scream erupted from him as he spun like a tumbleweed ball of bedraggled and ragged white and grey feathers, some of which flew from him, down the path. From their hiding place, Triton, Iris, Sheldon and the three penguins, the chick-like one who had stuck his foot out and tripped Nigel, watched on as the cockatoo continued spinning down the path until a massive metallic crash, followed by the sound of things falling out, made all six of them wince violently and screw their eyes shut violently. After the six opened their eyes to look at where Nigel had crashed, they saw that the cockatoo had tumbled into a setup of dustbins, or trash cans, set outside someone's door. Two of the trash cans lie on their sides, their contents spilled onto the path; some of them had fallen over Nigel, festooning him with bits of banana peel, apple cores, bones, food wrapping and many other kinds of trash pieces and scenting him with the smells of decaying fruit and other foul smells. Nigel had obviously slammed into them and knocked them over, sending litter flying everywhere and showering himself. Nigel's face was twisted into an extremely outraged look as several pigeons appeared and laughed at the state of the cockatoo. Triton, Iris, Sheldon and the three penguins looked on.

"I think he'd look great for a parade HIS type with all that rubbish all over him," sniggered Sheldon.

"Definitely," said Iris. Triton and the three penguins just smiled at Nigel as he directed his glare at the six birds, wrath at being outsmarted and winding up in a humiliating mess yet again boiling within him but before Nigel could open his beak and spit another river of caustic threats at Triton and company, a massive scream erupted from behind him. That scream sent the pigeons lofting into flight and Nigel shooting a terrified glance in the screamer's direction. Then to his horror, he saw a woman, her face plastered with extreme shock, gaze at him. To make matters worse, she had a mop in her hands and had been mopping the floor by her front door. Then her extreme horror flashed to outrage and as it did, the mop in her hands was raised as it aimed for the bundle of bedraggled feathers that had bowled into the bins.

"GET OUTA HERE, you DISGUSTING FERAL ANIMAL!" screamed the woman and with that, the mop came down and struck its target, making it emit a screech. Triton, Iris, Sheldon and the three penguins watched on as the cockatoo, bits of trash still coating him with some of it falling off, scrabbled to escape the woman's wrath concentrated at the end of her mop. As Nigel dodged another mop strike, Sheldon said, "If only his day couldn't get any worse."

"That sure was one disgusting skua with an equally _disgusting_ beak," said the female penguin.

"Let's just get out of here," said Triton. With that, the six prepared to move out as Nigel continued screaming and running away from the screaming and angry woman down the road, her mop striking down on him again and again.


	51. Chapter 50

**Chapter 50- the explanation and the taking of the safety measures of the parrots begins**

 **The Paradise Sanctuary**

Back at the barrier and the exact same area where Betelgeuse had her wing flight feathers torn out by Dalek and subsequently shoved through the mesh, a group of chicks and adult birds and some other animals waited anxiously for Sandalwood's group. Sylvester, Polaris, Vega, Petunia, Deneb, Mira, Regulus, Denebola, Castor, Pollux, Procyon, Fomalhaut, Achernar and Capella stood with several adult animals including Greg and Sardonyx, the parents of Lars, Steven and Kevin; Shade and Sadie, Connie's parents and Mulan the panda, Reepicheep the platypus, Kiara the echidna, and kiwis Flax and Harakeke stood peering through the mesh into the dangerous compartment, worried looks on their faces. Spica, Cytosine, Thymine, Steven, Connie, Antares, Betelgeuse and Finnick had arrived back safely but there were no signs of Sirius, Sandalwood or Lars who were still missing. Betelgeuse was having her tattered wing looked at while Antares was having his head bump treated by some chimps, among them Herbert, and some other animals who were skilled in treating injuries, while a patrol group, six Tasmanian devils led by Mina, and two chimps, had entered the compartment of the Carnivores to search for the missing three youngsters for it was too dangerous for any of the other animals to enter for the carnivorous animals on the other side of the barrier had many of Dundee's community members on their menu, especially parrots, and Dundee did not want to take any chances.

When Sylvester, Polaris, Vega, Petunia, Deneb, Mira, Regulus, Denebola, Castor, Pollux, Procyon, Fomalhaut, Achernar and Capella arrived back at the animals' 'village', they had been confronted by Sardonyx and Shade who were anxiously searching for Connie, Steven, Lars and the other missing kids along with a number of other adult animals including Dundee after they had been alerted that those kids had been missing. Achernar and Capella had been the ones to explain their observations to Dundee and the other searchers, including how Dalek had grounded Betelgeuse and deliberately shoved her through the barrier to some cat like creatures. Antares's younger sister had also added that Sandalwood and company had gone after Betelgeuse, much to the immense alarm of the adults and also the other kids of Sandalwood's group such as Bellatrix, Gladion and Lillie, and Atreyu. Then without hesitation, Dundee had organised a search group consisting of the six Tasmanian devils and two chimps to enter the Compartment of the Carnivores, commanded Sylvester's group to take them and some of the other adult animals to the barrier while he set up the meeting tent. Sylvester and company obediently darted off with the selected animals following while Dundee commanded Olympia the cassowary to organise more search groups to hunt down Dalek and also set up the meeting tent. After hearing that two of their sons had entered the dangerous grounds, Sardonyx and Greg had been flooded with immense terror and worry, as had Shade and Sadie regarding their daughter Connie and thus had left with Sylvester and company to the barrier to the Compartment of the Carnivores.

While Betelgeuse and Antares were being looked over, Spica, Cytosine, Thymine, Steven, Connie and Finnick were being fussed over by the other adult animals, and some of them were getting annoyed by this.

"Seriously, Mom and Dad," muttered Connie as Shade and Sadie constantly checked her over for injuries, "I'm fine."

At this, Shade's wings seized the little grey-headed flying fox pup's side and violently shook her.

"Connie, you've been wandering around the _Compartment of the Carnivores!"_ retorted the stressed father as he shook Connie, "Of course you're not fine."

"You could have been KILLED!" put in Sadie, before her flustered gaze travelled to Spica, Cytosine, Thymine, Steven and Finnick and also Antares, "And so would the rest of you!"

"We had to do something," protested Antares who had recovered from his daze from flying into a branch, "Otherwise, Betelgeuse would have likely been eaten."

"Not to mention the fact that we've picked up some vital information in the process regarding Dalek and his association with Carnassial and his gang," put in Steven.

"We'll get to that later," said Kiara, before the echidna's gaze turned to the barrier and the dark forbidden lands beyond, "Our top priority is waiting for Lars, Sandalwood and the other Spix macaw chick to return alive and well."

"Mina, Maxie," called Sardonyx through the mesh at the search group frantically, "Have you found any signs of the missing three yet?"

She said this in an edgy voice, the worry for Lars clearly saturating her speech. Greg also gazed at Mina's group anxiously. Mina then turned to look at the scarlet macaw and company.

"I'm afraid not, Sardonyx," said the Tasmanian devil, "But we'll continue our search."

However, as if on cue and to reverse Mina's statement, a chimpanzee's voice rang out, "There are two of them."

At this, Sylvester, Polaris, Vega, Petunia, Deneb, Mira, Regulus, Denebola, Castor, Pollux, Procyon, Fomalhaut, Achernar and Capella, and Spica, Cytosine, Thymine, Steven, Connie, Antares, Betelgeuse and Finnick all scurried to the mesh to the alarm of the adult animals and peered through the holes. Some of the other animals did the same. Then within moments, out of the darkness, an electric blue macaw chick zoomed towards Mina's search group with an amber furred flying fox pup in his talons. Immense relief tore through the waiters at the barrier.

"Sirius, Sandalwood!" cried Connie, Steven, Spica and the other kids together. Mina's group followed the late arrivals, which were indeed Sandalwood and Sirius, the latter carrying the former in his talons, as they made a hasty beeline for the barrier. As the two passed through the hole in the corner, both Sirius and Sandalwood were enveloped in a blanket of colourful wings and paws. However, the Spix macaw and the flying fox were both too shaken to relish the relief of the hugs from their friends. After the group broke the hug with Sirius and Sandalwood; Kiara, Flax, Harakeke, Greg, Sardonyx, Shade, Sadie and Reepicheep gazed at them, as did the others.

"Did I just see you get carried in Sirius's talons?" asked Cytosine in surprise.

"I thought you hated being carried since you're afraid of heights," said Connie. Sandalwood, however, did not reply. He was too consumed by immense grief and stress to even care, and Sirius was no different. Then Kiara and company moved onto the next big thing.

"Where's Lars?" asked Kiara. At this, Sandalwood and Sirius's faces fell and their eyes began to well tears. Sardonyx, Steven and Greg, as well as Connie, Shade and Sadie, gazed desperately at the Spix macaw and the Brazilian flying fox. The rest of the group also gazed at the pair.

"Please," begged Steven, "You have to let us know. What has happened to my brother?"

"Is he still in the Compartment?" asked Reepicheep. Sandalwood, Sirius, Spica, Cytosine, Thymine, Sylvester, Polaris, Vega, Petunia, Deneb, Mira, Regulus and Denebola, Castor, Pollux, Procyon, Fomalhaut, Achernar, Antares and Capella, Connie and Finnick gazed at Sirius and Sandalwood as they began to quiver, reluctance blocking their choice of words at first. Finally, Sirius spoke.

"I'm afraid you're not gonna like this," he murmured, a tear falling from his left eye and a sob escaping his beak. Sandalwood also felt sobs threaten to erupt. At this, the others exchanged dreaded glances.

A few minutes later, a heart-wrenching scream pierced the night air of Dundee's artificial jungle. This scream was far more ear-piercing than any screech or claws across wood, and the hearers had to cover their ears to block out the sharp screech. Sirius, Sandalwood, Spica and the others with them didn't just that, their eyes screwed shut as the piercing screech continued to erupt from Sardonyx, the one who was doing the immense screaming. However, it was not from physical agony, but from the heart. After Sirius and Sandalwood had explained how Lars had sacrificed himself to save these two from Carnassial's minions, resulting in himself in getting swiped and subsequently eaten by Carnassial himself, anguish immediately took hold of Steven, Connie, Greg, Sardonyx, Shade and Sadie and Sardonyx had fallen to her knees, her wings on her head, and had entered into the extreme scream. Sandalwood and Sirius felt extreme guilt pierce them like long thorns laced with poison, and had begun to tremble at the possibility of facing a fiery maelstrom from Dundee and the other animals of the community for Lars's death as well as entering the forbidden Compartment of the Carnivores, along with Finnick, Spica, Cytosine, Thymine, Antares, Steven and Connie, for rescuing Betelgeuse and their attempts to escape Carnassial and his gang leading to Lars's demise, and these nine actually trembled with immense fright, and Steven felt especially guilty for allowing Lars to participate in the rescue. While Sardonyx, Greg and also Steven continued to grieve the loss of Lars, Sardonyx now having entered into an uncontrollable sobbing fit with Shade and Sadie placing their wings on the orange scarlet macaw's back in consolidation, Kiara turned to the others, a stern look on her face.

"We have to head back to Dundee's tent now," she said, before her glare travelled to Sirius's group. Sirius, Sandalwood, Finnick, Spica, Cytosine, Thymine, Antares and Connie all flinched but Kiara did not bellow at them. However, there was severity in the echidna's voice as she spoke.

"We need YOU guys as well," said the echidna, making the group flinch. When she saw how frightened Sirius and the others looked, she said, "Don't worry, you're not in trouble."

This eased the fear of Sandalwood, Sirius and the others and they allowed the relief to flow through. Then Reepicheep came forward.

"Since you guys, along with this young scarlet macaw here," the platypus said; his gaze on Betelgeuse as well, "will have overheard some vital information regarding Carnassial and his gang's connection to Dalek, we have to know at once."

"Let's return to Dundee's tent," said Herbert, a severe and urgent look on his face.

"What about Greg and his family?" asked Mina, her sympathetic gaze on the weeping scarlet macaws with Shade, Sadie and some of the other animals surrounding them and consoling them. Kiara gazed at the family too.

"You take those scarlet macaws back to their tree," she said, "While the rest of us take these kids to Dundee's tent. Steven!"

At this, Steven, grief and anguish saturating him, turned and gazed at Kiara, his eyes flooded with tears.

"You're needed as well," said Kiara, "Since you've likely been a witness to Carnassial's connection to Dalek as well."

"Um, Kiara," objected Flax.

"I don't think Steven's in the right state of mind for this important meeting," said Harakeke. At this, Kiara gazed at Steven as he broke down and began to sob uncontrollably. At this, she reconsidered her decision. Steven was clearly not mentally fit in the meeting with Dundee ahead.

"All right," she said, before turning to Mina. "Mina, can you also escort Steven back with his parents as well. He's too anguished for this important information reveal."

The Tasmanian devil nodded and went over to Steven.

"Come," she said. At this, Steven obeyed and went with Mina and as soon as the two were with Sardonyx and Greg, Mina's group escorted them away, before Kiara and company began to make their way back as well.

Although it was not their fault that Lars has met his demise at the teeth of Carnassial, Sandalwood, Sirius, Finnick, Spica, Cytosine, Thymine, Antares and Connie still all felt extremely guilty for the heart-breaking loss, but also extreme rage at Dalek for causing the whole mess in the first place by shoving Betelgeuse into the Compartment of the Carnivores to be eaten by Carnassial and his gang. Tears continued to fall down the eight kids' faces as guilt continued to burn within them but then another thought came to their heads: will Dundee and the other animals believe their observations and what they heard come out of Carnassial's mouth? The group hoped so but out of these two troubling sets of emotions, it was the guilt as Lars's demise that churned the most. Finnick, Spica, Cytosine, Thymine and Connie and also Steven felt extremely guilty for not returning to help Sandalwood and some of the others when Antares had his accident; Antares himself felt guilty for not looking where he was flying and causing the delay, but the one who was one who bore the most immense guilt of all was Sandalwood. His insides churned at the boiling and burning acidic pool of guilt at his decision to distract Carnassial and his group from Antares, Sirius and several others after the former had hit his head on the branch and fell to the floor as well as climbing up that tree though Sirius was the one to suggest it, much to the Spix macaw's immense guilt as well but the most largest contribution to the boiling guilt within the Brazilian flying fox pup and the Spix macaw chick was seeing Carnassial seize Lars and swallow him alive, leading to the two to be the only witnesses to the scarlet macaw chick's demise, having substituted himself in their place to save them from that potential fate. Pulling their focus from this devastation, as well as the heartbreak it had caused Lars's family and friends, Sandalwood and company turned to focus on the more important and upcoming task as they left with Kiara and the others in the direction of Dundee's tent.

 **Meanwhile**

Blu hid amongst some crates, his worried brown gaze fixated on the stash of caged feathered, furred or scaly cargo as they tried to miserably sleep, and among these caged animals, Blu managed to pick out the familiar bubdles of grey and blue or turquoise feathers of Neytiri (her wing in a cast) and Charon in one cage; the metallic feathers of Eragon and Marella in another; and the bundle of white fur of Luna in a third as they continued to sleep. Nearby was the pair of fruithawks in another cage, their golden feathers shining beautifully in the shaft of moonlight that shone through one of the windows. Two humans lay nearby with their eyes fixated on the caged cargo, obviously keeping an eye on the animals and making sure that they were alright. However, Blu had suspicions bubbling within him that the two humans weren't just keeping an eye on the animals' wellbeing, and it troubled him as this scene brought back memories of his own smuggling as a chick out of Brazil.

Blu and company which consisted of Jewel, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Ceres, Pluto and also Carla, Bia, Tiago, Charlotte, Kira, Lavender and Garrett; Mimas, Io, Europa, Byron and Athos; Stella, Soren and Augustus; Porthos, Titan, Enceladus, Trixie and Oberon; Miranda, Aramis, Titania and Umbriel; Indigo and Victor, Phoebe and Squaw'tagnan, Blueberry, Aiden, Azul, Frodo and Spyro, had followed the poachers all the way to their base where they hid and watched from their hiding place as the poachers sorted out their newly caught animals, among them Neytiri, Charon, Eragon, Marella, Luna and the two fruithawks named Aurum and Gylfie. Then when the clients of the poachers, which turned out to be some of the humans from the Paradise Sanctuary place in Peru based on Indigo and Victor's translation of the conversation exchanged between the newcomers and the poachers, Blu and company prepared to follow the second group as they took the fruithawks, Neytiri, Charon, Eragon, Marella and Luna and some other animals, paid the poachers and congratulated them on getting the fruithawks in addition to a breeding pair of glaucous macaws and left. Blu and company then followed these humans all the way to their plane where they snuck aboard during the loading process, hiding among the crates and keeping out of the humans' range of sight all the way.

As Blu continued gazing with a troubled and shivering look at the caged animals, Pluto and Aiden crept up behind him. The rest of the group was asleep amongst the crates and other equipment.

"I guess seeing that scene brings back vivid memories of when you were smuggled out of Brazil as a chick, am I right?" asked Pluto. Blu snapped his gaze to the two glaucous macaws.

"Um, sorry," he said, "I was too engrossed in gazing at those caged animals over there," a sad sigh entered and escaped his beak, "If you think this is a strong reminder of that event in my childhood, you're right."

Blu then returned to gazing at the caged animals as Pluto and Aiden sat on either side of him.

"Before we boarded the plane," said Pluto in a low voice to make sure that the watching humans did not hear him, "I, along with Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune and Ceres almost freaked out and became reluctant to board the plane."

"Especially Mercury and Venus," said Aiden, his gaze turned back at the two said macaws as they slept, "remembering how those two had suffered a severely traumatising time when they were smuggled out of Brazil as chicks."

"It seems that I, along with Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune and Ceres and also Saturn," said Pluto, "have also suffered a similar incident as chicks," the glaucous macaw shrugged, "I think Nigel was right in…" suddenly Blu's talon appeared and seized him by the beak. Pluto gasped in surprise as he found himself dragged into the face of the talon's owner and into the fiery brown eyes of an angry Spix macaw.

"You mention the name of that sewer cockatoo again and I'll give ya a good hiding!" hissed Blu ferociously, much to Pluto's alarm. Aiden also flashed an alarmed look.

"Hey, hey, easy!" he said as Blu released Pluto with a hefty shove. Aiden then shot Blu an indignant glare. "You didn't have to do that!"

"Sorry but I can't stand the mentioning of that cockatoo nemesis of mine and Jewel's," muttered Blu, before he shot Pluto another glare. Pluto, however, threw on an indignant look as well.

"Um, as I was saying," he said, "it seems that we somehow have suppressed memories of our traumatic ordeal in getting smuggled out of South America and to the UK but on the way, those memories had been erased when we were subjected to violence of…" he poised to react in case Blu seized him again, "THAT parrot's violence…"

"It seems likely," said Blu, all hostility faded, before his gaze returned to the caged birds, "Just like how I seem to have suppressed memories of when I was smuggled."

Pluto and Aiden just sighed. Then Pluto moved on, a glare at the two humans as they continued keeping watch on the cargo. "But to hear that a 'conservation' group has hired poachers to kidnap specimens of rare species for their collection is utterly shocking, I think."

"It's disgusting at worst," growled Blu, "Like I've said before, it would NOT be something Tulio and his team or any other true conservation human groups who genuinely care for the environment and its inhabitants, especially rare species, would EVER do."

"But wasn't Jewel caught and brought to your human friends' Aviary?" asked Aiden. Blu gazed at him.

"That was different," he replied, "That was because Jewel and I were the last pair of Spix macaws known and Tulio and company wanted to breed us," Blu breathed another sigh, "They were too insistent, I know but Tulio and company never had collecting us as mere rare objects in mind. They treated us as living things as every conservationist should."

"The same applied to me and Lapis Lazuli, Zephyr and Venus and also Mercury and Sapphire," put in Pluto, "Though Tulio and company did have in mind to establish a Lear's macaw population on the Blu Bird Sanctuary but they would never, ever treat us as rare objects."

Aiden nodded in understanding, before his gaze turned to the pair of fruithawks as they timidly and disgustedly glared at the two watching humans from their cage. It was clear that these only two known golden fruithawks left alive in the world wanted out of here but were trapped. Aiden could not imagine Sandalwood and the others having to go through that on their flight to Peru but the very thought of those humans from the Paradise Sanctuary place hiring poachers to collect them as part of their rare animal collection under the guise of conservation, especially Regulus, Denebola and Saiph, his nephew, niece and son respectively, sent utter disgust tearing through him.

"That sort of business those Paradise Sanctuary humans are running is gonna make Tulio and his team and everyone else who work to preserve rare species and their habitats look bad, you know," muttered the young glaucous macaw and Pluto's son-in-law indignantly, "And it's not just their treatment of the animals they are collecting as mere rare items despite any good care they may give them…"

Pluto and Blu gazed at Aiden and had to agree with his statement. What really made the Paradise Sanctuary business so criminal was the fact that they were hiring poachers to steal animals to bring to their conservation region. 'No!' thought Blu indignantly, 'the word 'conservation' does NOT apply to what those Paradise Sanctuary people are doing. They're a bunch of ANIMAL COLLECTORS in DISGUISE and their place is nothing more than a collection PLACE!'

Furthermore, the name 'Paradise Sanctuary' seemed to be nothing more than a mere sham, a façade Blu theorised was purposely designed to cover up the true intentions of the group. Not to mention the reinforcements they had in caring for the animals to make it look to the public that they were helping to conserve the rare animals and hide their real collector intentions. However, Blu, Pluto and Aiden had hoped that amongst the dark clouds was a silver sliver in the form of some humans who had developed a conscience and see the error of the Paradise Sanctuary's ways similar to how Fernando, Jack and Jill had done when they worked with Marcel and Frank's smuggling groups.

 **Back at the Paradise Sanctuary**

Sandalwood, Sirius, Spica, Cytosine, Thymine, Antares, Betelgeuse and Finnick stood before Dundee and many of the other animals, especially the parrot community in the gathering tent. Among the crowd of listeners were Bellatrix, Petunia, Vega, Deneb and Polaris, Adenine and Guanine, Rigel (who had been greatly worried about Betelgeuse), Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka, Canopus, Procyon, Castor, Pollux, Mira, Fomalhaut Capella and Achernar Aldebaran Gertie Arcturus Saiph Regulus and Denebola Carmen Sylvester, Alegria, Pitaya and also Altair, Gladion (despite his broken wing), Lillie and Acerola, and Atreyu and some of the other penguins. When Sandalwood and company had arrived back, they had been greeted with hugs from Bellatrix and company before going to the meeting tent. Olympia had gathered many of the other animals to come to the tent in order to hear what Sandalwood and the others had to say. Now that they were standing before the gathering of animals, the amber flying fox, two Spix macaws, two Catalina macaws, the great green/military macaw, the red macaw and the macaroni penguin had just started delivering the vitally important information to the listeners including Dundee as they braced themselves to hear the shocking findings.

"Carnassial and his gang are definitely responsible for the deaths of those two kakapos and yellow-crested cockatoo," said Betelgeuse. She had decided to do most of the explaining for she had been the one to directly receive the information from Carnassial.

"Claude," said Kiara the echidna. The kakapos present also gazed at the red macaw chick in shock.

"According to him, they were purposely driven into the Carnivore Compartment to be devoured by him and his gang," continued Betelgeuse.

"Who was the culprit who shoved those three parrots into the Compartment of the Carnivores? Did he tell you?" asked Dundee. Flanking him were Olympia, another emu and some other inner circle animals. Betelgeuse shot the emu timid look. "Dalek the chameleon," replied the red macaw. Shock tore through the listeners. Among the crowd were Lusamine, Guzma, Plumeria, Cato and their families and they were utterly flabbergasted.

"WHAT!?" barked Lusamine's mother in disbelief while her daughter and her friends exchanged horrified glances.

"What do you mean Dalek's the one who is responsible for Claude and the kakapos," said Reepicheep the platypus, "and perhaps countless other parrots, ending up in the Carnivore Compartment."

At this, Sylvester stood up and went to the front. He showed the audience his tattered tail.

"This, and Betelgeuse's tattered wing," he said, "were done purposely to prevent us from escaping Carnassial and his gang should he get hold of us," the Cuban macaw's face then formed a frown, "I, along with Sirius and some others, had been forced into the Compartment of the Carnivores by Dalek and it is clear that he had done it deliberately so that we macaws could be eaten by those caracals and servals."

At this, Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Saiph, Arcturus and the other macaws that had been forced into the Compartment the other day nodded. Then deep regret pierced Lusamine and company and they winced violently.

"Dalek, in fact, tore feathers out of Sylvester's tail and the primary feathers from my left wing to prevent us from flying away to make it easier for Carnassial and his gang to catch us should we attempt to fly away," added Betelgeuse, backing up Sylvester's statement. Horrified glances were exchanged amongst the crowd while Lusamine and her gang continued to feel the sting of regret stab at them. They had been totally unaware of Dalek's true intentions and just thought that he was merely attacking them.

"That's why that chameleon refused to listen to us when he forced Atreyu and the others with him through the barrier to the Carnivore Compartment the other day," murmured Guzma quietly and in disbelief. The others said nothing. Then Mina shot Dundee and the other inner circle animals an immensely awed look.

"It seems to make sense, Dundee, leaders," said the Tasmanian devil in a dodgy voice, for the shock of the revelation was beginning to overwhelm her. Betelgeuse and Sylvester could clearly see that the Australian Tasmania island wolf's skin under her fur was losing its colour, "Dalek, who we know to detest parrots, seems to be putting his hatred to use in catching parrots for Carnassial and his gang."

"That's true, Mina," said Sandalwood who had managed to get up the courage to speak, "Dalek used to be the beloved pet chameleon of a rich young human boy until he was displaced from that position by a hyacinth macaw, scarlet macaw and a sulfur-crested cockatoo, leading to his bitter hatred of all parrots."

"Which is why he treats all parrots here like dirt and occasionally catches and delivers them, or rather, drive them, to Carnassial and his gang to eat," put in Sirius, "Like he had done to Betelgeuse who would have been that group of caracals and servals' latest 'treat'."

Betelgeuse sighed. She clearly did not want to be reminded of almost getting eaten by those ghastly wildcats.

"In fact," added Finnick, "Dalek is friends with Carnassial and his gang and has made a deal to bring the caracals and servals parrots whenever possible."

Then Mina began to sway as though she had been spinning around. The other Tasmanian devils, including her four offspring, and some of the chimps gazed her way. Dundee and several others did the same.

"Mina, are you alright?" asked the emu.

"You've gone a funny colour under your facial fur," put in Mulan the panda who sat with her panda comrades. However, Mina tried to deny it.

"I-uhh…" murmured the doglike marsupial but then her legs gave out. Gasps rolled through the crowd and also Sandalwood, Betelgeuse and the others as the black doglike mammal collapsed into the forelimbs of her cubs and the hands of Herbert, one of the chimps. As the other animals gathered round, one of the other Tasmanian devils began to prevent them from coming closer to the passed out Mina.

"It's alright, everyone," he shouted, "Mina's just fainted."

"Get her out of the meeting tent," commanded Dundee, "And take her to the medical zone."

The Tasmanian devils and some of the chimps did so and began to drag the limp Mina, who had indeed fainted, past the crowd and out of the tent. Mulan followed for she was one of the medical animals. After this distraction had been sorted, everyone else retook their seats and Dundee gave the command for Sandalwood and company to continue. "Go on," he said.

"Will Mina be alright?" asked Sandalwood worriedly.

"She'll be fine, she's just fainted," said Olympia, "Please continue."

Sandalwood and company did so and launched into the next part of the explanation.

"Before we escaped those savage servals and caracals after rescuing Betelgeuse," continued Sandalwood, until his face fell, "with Lars not being able to make it, we heard that Carnassial and his gang are going to meet Dalek and request that he capture and bring in larger, grownup parrots for Carnassial and his group to eat…"

More horrified gasps rolled through the crowd and the parrots all shuddered huddled together, especially the kakapos.

"Are you meaning to say that that chameleon might be prowling around looking for potential parrot victims to nab and shove into the Compartment of Carnivores?" asked Reepicheep in utter disbelief. Sandalwood and the others nodded. Flax and Harakeke then gazed at Dundee.

"We cannot allow that to happen to the parrot residents here, Dundee," said Flax.

"That chameleon's now a serious threat to them," put in Harakeke.

"Got that, my two kiwi friends," said Dundee. He then turned to a group of monkeys and apes led by Wally the orangutan.

"Wally," commanded the emu, "I want you to evacuate ALL the parrots and bring them into here for their safety. Also, I want you to establish some search groups to find Dalek and bring him to me. I do NOT want to risk any more parrot individuals getting caught and potentially killed."

Wally nodded and turned to the other apes and monkeys with him to deliver the instructions while Dundee turned to Sandalwood and the others. Then something popped into Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka and Acerola's heads.

"Dundee," said Acerola.

"Yes," said Dundee in a gruff and stressed voice.

"There's something else you need to know," said Acerola.

"While we, along with Betelgeuse, Rigel, Guanine, Adenine, Saiph, Arcturus, Bellatrix, Atreyu, Altair, Lillie, Pitaya and Alegria were doing some investigating in the humans' rooms," said Alnitak, "We discovered something else."

"Those humans are collecting us rather than conserving us," said Alnilam. Mintaka nodded in agreement as did the other kids mentioned by Alnitak. At this, Dundee flashed another disbelieving look but he pushed it aside.

"We'll talk about that later," said the emu firmly, "Let's just get this parrot thing out of the way first. You lot stay here while I help evacuate the parrots and set up some nests and gather some food."

At this, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka were about to leave but Flax and Harakeke stopped them.

"You're parrots," said Flax, "You need to stay here."

Harakeke then turned to the other macaw chicks in Sandalwood's group and called them over. As the macaw chicks obediently gathered around the kiwis, Sandalwood walked over to Atreyu, Altair, Lillie, Gladion and Acerola, a worried look on his face.

"Things aren't becoming good, folks," murmured the amber flying fox, "I feel strongly for all the parrots including the kakapos."

"Finding Dalek is going to be easier said than done," added Lillie worriedly, "He's excellent with his camouflage skills and is capable of eluding even the most skilled of searchers."

"Hopefully, Mr Dundee's plan of evacuating the parrots will move them out of the reach of that horrid chameleon's grasp… and subsequently that of Carnassial and his gang," said Altair. The archaeobird chick then felt his skin prickle. Sandalwood, Atreyu, Lillie, Gladion and Acerola nodded in agreement as they began to watch Harakeke and Flax begin to sit with Sirius and the other macaw chicks while everyone else left to help the other parrots to evacuate into the tent.


	52. Chapter 51

**Chapter 51- your love lifts me up like helium**

 **Meanwhile**

Triton, Iris and Sheldon continued to push the red cart with a pair of rainbow tipped mops, wheels and cardboard wings containing the three emperor penguins who have told the macaws that their names were Mumble, Ginny and Balthazar, the uncle and parents of a penguin chick named Atreyu, in the direction of Susan and Lucy's cottage after spending some time getting some rest and sleep. As the three macaws pushed or pulled the penguins in the cart along the path, Sheldon was very worried for Blu and company, especially Io. Triton and Iris had explained to the ruby macaw of Sandalwood and company's possible whereabouts and that Io had left for Peru with Blu and the others to find them, among them both their daughters, Betelgeuse and Rigel who are believed to have been taken to the Paradise Sanctuary as well though the evidence in the magazine found by Broccoli, Daisy, Collette, James and Ebony was rather patchy, like an incomplete jigsaw puzzle, with only a few of the missing kids being completely visible in the pictures such as the ones of Alegria, Sylvester and Altair but Sheldon, Triton and Iris had hoped that all the kids were there besides the ones visible. The three penguins were laced with worry and despair for a chick called Atreyu who they told Sheldon, Iris and Triton was torn from a fishing trip by an illegal fishing boat. They kept referring to the city of Rio and the world outside as 'alien land' and the macaws as 'alien birds' or 'colourful skuas', which the macaws found rather puzzling and at times irritating but then it dawned upon them. The penguin trio's place of origin was isolated from most of the rest of the world, especially human-dominated places with the emperor penguin colony only going to the ocean to fish. Apparently the other animals that lived near and around 'Emperor-Land', the name of the emperor penguins' habitat as stated by Mumble, Balthazar and Ginny were the only animals familiar to the emperor penguins. All the other animals were completely unheard of by these three penguins, such as the macaw, cockatoo (which Mumble and his two companions kept calling a skua after seeing Nigel) and human place-living animals like city cats and dogs, which the penguin trio continued to awe at as the macaws pushed them along in their cart.

"So do you colourful skuas come from a colony of your own kind?" asked Mumble as the three macaws continued pushing or pulling the cart with him, Balthazar and Ginny along.

"We live in flock groups referred to as tribes, clans and simply smaller groups in a rainforest called the Amazon Rainforest," replied Sheldon as he pulled the handle at the front of the cart while Triton and Iris pushed from behind. At this, Mumble and his two companions threw on confused looks.

"It's a massive expanse of trees," explained Triton, "Sort of like your icy expanses but with big plants instead."

"Do you alien birds sing and dance like we emperor penguins do?" asked Ginny with an intrigued smile.

"We each have our own songs and dances, yes," said Triton, "But we don't normally use singing and dancing to attract mates and pair up like how you penguins claim to do in your own homeland."

Mumble, Balthazar and Ginny gazed at the hyacinth macaw with intrigued looks. Then Iris said, "Here we are."

At this, the other five looked ahead and saw the familiar cottage, at least to Sheldon, Iris and Triton, and its garden melt into view. The lights were out for Susan, Lucy, Bernardo, Jack and Jill were out and Molly and Mary had been given into the care of a babysitter during this time but flying forms were going to and from the roof. However, as the three macaws and their new penguin friends approached the cottage more, they found two familiar macaws standing by the gate to the garden. However, they did not look welcoming, relieved or worrisome as Triton, Iris and Sheldon initially thought. The two macaws, which were Brisa and Ultramarine, were standing with their wings crossed and their faces laced with stern indignation, the same sort of posture and facial looks Triton, Iris and Sheldon knew were used whenever there was trouble afoot, and based on how the two macaws were directing those stern glares at the trio, they knew it meant one thing. As this realisation came upon them, the three macaws exchanged glances.

"Oh, dear," murmured Iris, "We're in trouble."

"Is it because we've been out for too long?" asked Triton. Sheldon, however, said nothing, for he had not been present when Triton and Iris left the cottage's attic to spend some time alone together, while Mumble, Ginny and Balthazar only looked on in curiosity.

"Looks like there are more of these colourful skuas," said Ginny as she gazed at Ultramarine and Brisa.

"Are they relatives of yours?" asked Mumble.

"That large navy blue bird over there is my mother," said Triton, a nod to Ultramarine, "While the smaller, lighter blue one is another type of macaw, or 'alien bird' as you seem to call us."

"Alongside 'colourful skuas'," put in Sheldon rather irritably. He did not like being called a predatory seabird for macaws were not ocean-going birds like real skuas, but the three penguins were still completely unfamiliar of their bird type. As Triton and company got closer, Ultramarine was the first to move.

"We want a word with you, son," she said in a gruff voice that sent chills down Triton's spine. Triton shot Iris and Sheldon a worried gaze before returning it to Ultramarine and Brisa. "Is it because we're late?"

"We're sorry if we are," said Iris, before turning to Mumble and his two companions in the cart, "We stumbled upon these three penguins on Copacabana Beach and had to rescue them."

Brisa, at this, went over to the three emperor penguins. "I'll see to these three penguins," she said firmly, "You two get off to the attic, NOW!"

Triton and Iris flinched at the way the final word came out of Brisa's mouth and obeyed.

"We'll see you three later," said Triton to Mumble, Balthazar and Ginny as he and Iris released the cart's handles and sides, "We have some sort of matter to discuss."

The three penguins only gazed at the hyacinth couple in confusion before watching them leave with Ultramarine. Sheldon then began to explain to Brisa about the three emperor penguins as well as his regret for breaking up with Io and how he wanted to reunite with her.

Moments later, Ultramarine had led Triton and Iris through the opening in the roof and into the cottage's attic. As the two hyacinth macaws entered the attic after the older one, the pair's eyes spotted a small gathering of other birds, all with the same indignant and cross facial expressions as Brisa and Ultramarine, and to Triton and Iris's surprise, four familiar small birds stood at the front.

"Nico, Pedro, Sparkle, Rose!?" said Triton in utter surprise. The four small birds who stood with an equally angry Zephyr, Sapphire, Chiquitita (who still had her bandages), Ruby, Esmeralda, Cobalto, Orquidea, Lapis Lazuli and also Travis and Sunset, Rafael and Eva (who had returned from Basil's colony's home and the residents' evacuation respectively), and the glares of all these birds were converging on Triton and Iris, but most especially Triton. Roberto was with Dash, Ginger and the other cats and dogs including Broccoli, and also Andromeda who had also returned from helping Basil the Linda's small orange bat and his colony after hearing what had happened to Eragon and Marella, helping the remaining kids and the young parents and other young adult macaws, such as Phobos, Deimos, Ariel, Rhea and Iapetus, and also Eustace and his family including Milo and Rosa, his brother and sister, and also Vincent, one of his sons, to get some sleep but not in the attic. They were in another part of the house. Saturn and Ganymede were also back but they were still recovering from the effects of the sleeping gas thrown into the Aviary a good few hours ago, along with the few others that had been exposed to it. Furthermore, Cometa, Lightning, Orion, Hermione and Velocity were out keeping an eye on Tulio and his team, only returning to bring updates, and had left Zelda and Spike in the care of Ultramarine and company as well, while they were out.

As Ultramarine led Triton and Iris to the floor and touched down with them, Iris was the first to speak.

"Has something happened?" asked she. Pedro, at this, stepped forward.

"Yes it has," he growled. Then Nico and Sparkle the canaries stepped forward.

"We have just had a bunch of marmosets suddenly appear and wreak havoc in our club a while ago," explained the former, the cap-wearing canary, "Not only have they attacked us and our clubbers," Nico's gaze turned to Rose, Pedro's partner, "they have also seriously injured some of them and almost got a few more, such as Kipo and Orton, two of our rosette spoonbill friends, and my buddy Pedro's partner there," he nodded to Rose, "killed."

"Those monkeys also ransacked and overturned our instruments and other clubbing equipment, torn down our tent covering and even pelted us with fruit and stones," put in Sparkle, her gaze laced with outrage. Her gaze then turned to Rafael and Eva, "And when those two toucans heard what had happened to our club as reported to them by Ruby and Esmeralda, they rocketed over to here with the two said macaws."

"We could NOT believe that such a thing would happen to our four small bird friends," growled Rafael in his raspy voice, indicative of his age. Eva nodded in agreement but said nothing. Triton and Iris flinched in horror, flashed each other a gaze and returned it back to the group of angry birds.

"Did those marmosets plan an attack on the Welcome to Paradise Club by themselves?" asked Iris. At this, Cobalto stepped forward.

"No, the leader of that gang, who we managed to catch and interrogate, told us that someone commanded him and his gang to carry out the attack," he said. Cere's mate then nodded to Chiquitita, Sapphire, Orquidea and Lapis Lazuli as he said, "Which brings us to the reason why we want you (to Triton and Iris but specifically to Triton) here. You four."

Chiquitita, Sapphire, Orquidea and Lapis Lazuli then took their turn to step forward. Triton and Iris flashed each other a confused glance again.

"Why us!?" retorted Triton in disbelief. Sapphire replied by brandishing something, a flight feather but it was not any flight feather. This feather was navy blue, like those on Triton, Iris and Ultramarine, but it was not from Sapphire or any other Lear's macaw for the feather was too long to be from a navy blue and dark teal macaw that was the size of a Spix macaw. Triton and Iris gazed at the feather in Sapphire's wing in utter astonishment.

"This," said Sapphire harshly, "Is a hyacinth macaw wing flight feather."

"The lead marmoset gave it to us during our interrogation of him and his gang," said Pedro, "And he said that it had come from a hyacinth macaw who told those pesky monkeys to destroy our club."

"What did this hyacinth macaw look like and did the marmoset get its name?" asked Triton who was beginning to quiver.

"According to that marmoset," said Nico with narrowed eyes, "The hyacinth macaw was a male and had a bandana over his left eye and face, and he was the one who told that marmoset and his gang to go to 'that birds' club' and destroy it."

"And the identity of the macaw brings us to one conclusion," said Ultramarine and with that, she glared fiercely at Triton. After all, he was the only hyacinth macaw wearing a bandana over his left face. As the realisation on which macaw matched the description dawned upon him, shock tore through him. Then Iris stepped forward.

"What are you talking about?" she protested in defence of Triton, "Don't you folks realise that we've just got back?" her frantic gaze turned to Triton who wore a disbelieving look on his face, "and besides that, don't you realise that Triton here has been through enough trouble already?"

Ignoring Iris, Pedro and Nico hovered in front of Triton, their glares a few inches from the right side of his face and his only seeing eye.

"Did you talk those marmosets into attacking our club!?" demanded Pedro. Triton gazed back at the samba duo with his tongue stuck in his beak and began to shoot pleading glances at the surrounding macaws including Ultramarine for defence but to his dismay, none of them stepped forward to defend him. Then finally, rage exploded within him.

"This is utterly _ridiculous!_ " he snapped, "You know I would never, ever get myself involved in those troublemaking primate furballs."

"Well it seems that you have, son," said Ultramarine firmly, "The evidence and the marmoset's description of that bird's identity matches you very well."

Sapphire, who still had the hyacinth macaw feather, nodded in agreement. Iris then flashed a look at Triton and said, "He couldn't have had that bunch of marmosets attack Nico and Pedro's club," her glance darted from Ultramarine to Nico and Pedro and from this pair to the other birds gathered for the confrontation, "This does not make any sense. I was with him the whole time, as was Sheldon…"

"He seems sly enough to slip away to send those marmosets into attacking my friends' club," said Rafael angrily, making Triton shoot a disbelieving look at the toco toucan and his keel-billed mate, "No different from the slyness of our deranged older offspring who have entered the territory of utter madness and insanity that is no different from that of that foul cockatoo…"

"Wait, are you saying I'm like NIGEL!?" retorted Triton in outrage. His outraged glance then darted about the room at the other birds. Iris's glances also shot this way and that.

"B-b-but he's been with me the whole time we were out, like I've said," she protested, "The only time he left was to get me some fruit while we were in a tree with some other parakeets…"

"Perhaps he sent the marmosets to our club while he was away from you at the time," said Nico, his glare fixated on the disbelieving and outraged Triton, "And must have used that statement of fetching you some fruit as a cover-up to divert your attention away from his true intentions…"

"WHAT!?" barked Triton, "NO! I REALLY WAS getting Iris some berries and a papaya. I did NOT go to ANY group of marmosets…" rage then began to make him tremble, "And besides that, why would I LIE to her to do some malicious deed on someone else!?" he continued to gaze at Rafael, Eva, Nico, Pedro, Ultramarine and the others while Iris looked on, "It's clear that I have been set up…"

However, this only fell on deaf ears, much to the hyacinth macaw's chagrin. Then Ultramarine stepped forward.

"Come on, Triton," said Ultramarine, "As punishment for sending a bunch of troublemaking monkeys to ransack Nico and Pedro's club and almost causing loss of life, you are BANNED from leaving this cottage attic for the rest of the time we are here."

"B-b-b-but, MOM!" protested Triton as Orquidea and Esmeralda seized him but Zephyr cut him off.

"Shut your beak or we'll shut it for you, young man," he snapped.

"And when this is over when Blu and company come back with Sandalwood and the others safe and sound from Peru," put in Orquidea, "and we get back home after that, YOU will be facing whatever consequence you father and I will decide…"

Triton then turned to protest to Iris but Ruby appeared and came between him and his girlfriend. Iris looked on in utter disbelief. At the entrance, Sheldon came in but Travis and Sunset appeared and blocked him from entering the attic.

"Iris, PLEASE!" cried Triton as he struggled in Orquidea and Esmeralda, and now Ruby, Cobalto, Lapis Lazuli and Sapphire's grasp, "YOU KNOW I WOULD NEVER associate with a bunch of TROUBLEMAKING MARMOSETS, much less SEND A GROUP OF THEM TO CAUSE DESTRUCTION…"

"Come on, Triton," said Cobalto. Triton continued to utter protests as he was dragged away. Iris then tried to run in but Ultramarine blocked her path.

"I'm afraid you are gonna have some time away from him, Iris," she said casually, "You're not to go anywhere near him for the rest of the trip."

At this, Iris's heart began to lurch and thrash like a fish caught in a net. The female hyacinth macaw's green eyes then began to ooze tears, her unusually purple-tinted feathers began to bristle and her iris flower-like crest began to rise slightly at the sounds of her boyfriend's protests and sight of him being pulled away. Furthermore, her heart lurched at the thought of being banned at the possibility of ever seeing him again. Sheldon at the entrance began to protest and fight his way past Travis and Sunset but the two cockatoos refuse to budge. Sheldon then glared bitterly at the macaws as they continued to drag the protesting Triton away. Then in a flash, fiery outrage surged through the scarlet/green-winged hybrid macaw and set his blue eyes on fire. This time it was not at Io for taking her anger out on him. The rage had been ignited by the injustice that played out before his eyes. Jerking out of Travis and Sunset's grasp, Sheldon turned tail and rocketed out of the attic like a fireball.

"Sheldon!" barked Travis but the ruby macaw refused to look back and continued surging away from the cottage. On the ground, Brisa, together with Mumble, Ginny and Balthazar, gazed in surprise at the red streak that shot across the dark night sky, his colourful wings beating furiously on the go.

"That red skua looks extremely angry," said Ginny. Brisa did not reply but opened her wings and took off after Sheldon, joining Travis and Sunset and also Ruby who had seen her son-in-law charge off in a rage, leaving Ginny to gaze at Balthazar and Mumble who shrugged. Sheldon continued rocketing away from the cottage, fiercely kicking at some leaves with his talons on the go.

"SHELDON!" barked Travis again. No answer. Sunset, Brisa and Ruby threw on angry looks.

"SHELDON!" called these other three birds. Still Sheldon didn't answer. Finally, the ruby macaw whirled round and shot the four chasers a volcanic glare. This glare was far fierier than the glare he shot at Io before flying away from her after their heated fall out.

"Get away from me," snarled Sheldon, his feathers bristled like a sea urchin's spines as the quartet flew over to him, "Get AWAY FROM ME!"

"SHELDON," barked Ruby in retort, "Let's talk about this."

Sheldon, in response, whirled round again and shot off into the open space above Rio. Ruby's talon went to her forehead and slapped against it.

"Oh-ER" yelled the scarlet macaw and with that, she began to give chase, Sunset, Brisa and Travis following, Sheldon's name flying from her beak in protest for her son-in-law to return.

"SHE-E-E-ELDON!" screeched Ruby. Back in the attic, Rafael and Eva watched through the opening, disbelieving looks lacing their faces.

"NOW what's up with Sheldon?" asked Rafael grumpily.

"Is it to do with Io again?" added Eva. Zephyr came in.

"Just leave Sheldon to Ruby, Travis, Sunset and Brisa," he said. As Zephyr said this, Iris had sneaked away towards the loft opening while Triton had managed to escape Orquidea, Esmeralda, Cobalto, Lapis Lazuli and Sapphire's grip by distracting them and quickly slipping away. The bandana-wearing hyacinth macaw darted out of the attic through the ceiling entrance, entered the hallway, and rocketed towards one of the rooms where Mary and Molly slept (based on the presence of two cots decorated with baby toy mobiles dangling above them, alongside a variety of other baby toys scattered across the floor and placed neatly on furniture such as drawers and chairs) and a window in that room. As Triton began to undo the lock to the window to unlock it, his eyes oozing enraged and distressed tears, shouts of his name rang out behind him.

"Triton!" came Esmeralda's voice.

"Triton, get back here this MINUTE!" barked Orquidea's voice. Triton flashed an enraged glance at the callers and continued unlocking the window. Finally he managed to get the lock undone and as soon as he had shoved open the window, Triton squeezed through the opening and made a hasty break for it. Iris saw Triton's navy blue tail disappear through the open window through the door to Susan and Bernardo's twin girls' room, as well as his form rocket away from the cottage through the glass. At this, Iris dashed for the window to follow him, moments before Orquidea, Esmeralda, Sapphire, Cobalto and Lapis Lazuli turned up and met in the middle of the hallway. In the baby's room, Iris also squeezed through the window and closed it to prevent the other macaws from following, before tearing off after Triton.

"I can't believe we allowed him to slip away like that," cried Lapis Lazuli in disbelief.

"We're gonna HAVE to get him back somehow," said Esmeralda. Orquidea, Cobalto and Sapphire just sighed.

"I guess he's at it again with his slyness like how he sent those marmosets to attack Nico and Pedro's club," said Sapphire. Just then, a new voice sounded, "What's going on?"

At this, the five macaws all turned and, to their surprise, they saw a group of macaws, a flying fox, a cat and two dogs gaze up at them, their eyes laced with surprise but also irritability and tiredness. Then one of the macaws, Iapetus, his eyes drooping from the weight of tiredness, stepped towards the hovering Orquidea, Cobalto, Esmeralda, Lapis Lazuli and Sapphire and said irritably, "Can't you see that we and the kids are trying to sleep?"

Behind him, Phobos, his bandages still on him, and Deimos, Ariel and Rhea nodded in agreement while Melissa, Broccoli, Dash and James gazed up at the five macaws, the irritable looks from tiredness mirroring that of Iapetus as well. At this, the five hovering macaws lowered to meet the newcomers.

"We're ever so sorry to jolt you from your sleep, you lot," said Lapis Lazuli apologetically, "But we're looking for Triton."

"He's caused Nico, Pedro and their clubbers a great deal of trouble by sending a bunch of marmosets to ransack the place," added Esmeralda. At this, Phobos, Iapetus, Deimos, Ariel and Rhea, and Broccoli, Dash and James all flinched in disbelief and exchanged glances while Melissa looked on confused.

"What do you mean Triton's caused a lot of bother for Nico and Pedro?" asked Phobos irritably.

"By sending a gang of marmosets into attacking them?" put in Rhea in confusion.

"Why would he do that?" asked Broccoli.

"Look, we'll explain later," said Esmeralda, "You get yourselves back to bed and we'll deal with this, okay?"

The five macaws were about to take off to resume their search for Triton when suddenly, Broccoli, a look of outrage suddenly flaring on his face, darted round the macaws and rushed to the front of them before they could increase their height from the ground.

"We demand to KNOW!" shouted the tabby cat fiercely. At this, Lapis Lazuli, Esmeralda, Orquidea, Cobalto and Sapphire flashed taken aback looks at the tabby cat's behaviour. Then Dash and James joined Broccoli, alongside Iapetus and Rhea, their faces mirroring that of Broccoli's.

"Why would Triton send a bunch of marmosets to cause Nico and Pedro trouble!?" asked Iapetus again, this time in a demanding voice rather than a tiredness-laced one. The five hovering macaws exchanged glances until finally, they relented.

"Okay," said Sapphire and with that, she began to explain to Iapetus's group.

 **Meanwhile**

Triton continued charging through the trees, desperate to get away from the cottage as quickly as possible. In his mind was immense chaos, a maelstrom of things whirling around in his mind. Confusion, outrage, betrayal, distress... all kinds of churning emotions were churning violently in his mind like the waters of the Amazon River during a storm. As Triton continued to zoom along, his large wings beating furiously, his eyes, both his seeing right eye and his blind and damaged left one, beginning to weep tears, and his bandana flying from his face, having been dragged away by the wind that surged over Triton's face, exposing the tiger-stripe like scars and his faded left eye where the evil flying fox had struck him several years ago while he tried protecting Stella, Luna and Sebastian from that same bat resulting in those scars and damaged eye, a familiar female voice called out behind him.

"TRITON!" shouted Iris who was desperately trying to catch up to him. Her heartstrings were pulled to breaking point as she watched her beloved boyfriend break down in anguish. "Triton, come BACK!"

"Please LEAVE ME ALONE!" retorted Triton in a voice that sounded like breaking ice, "NO-ONE TRUSTS ME ANYMORE!"

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" retorted Iris loudly. She flew upward to avoid crashing into a cluster of leaves before continuing her chase after Triton, "LISTEN! YOU'VE BEEN SET UP BY SOME SPITEFUL WRETCH! I KNOW IT! YOUR mother Ultramarine and the others, along with Nico and Pedro, have been DUPED!"

But Triton was too consumed by immense grief and the maelstrom of other emotions, his mind too warped and swamped with these, to answer. Iris continued trying to catch up to Triton in a desperate attempt to snap him out of his frenzied anguish, ignoring the growing ache in her wing flight muscles as they strained to pump her wings harder and harder, along with her lungs and heart inhaling in and out and beating furiously to provide power to her straining muscles but Iris didn't care. All she cared about was catching up to her boyfriend, who she now saw as her true love, and bringing him out of his immense anguish. As the two hyacinth macaws shot past at an alarming speed, the draft of air whipped up by their large wings and blowing the leaves and flowers, curious eyes flashed out of the darkness of the branches and holes in the surrounding tree trunks as curious animals gazed at the two massive navy blue comets as they surged past. The furious chase continued for a few more minutes, right out of the patch of jungle and into the air above Rio until finally, both Triton and Iris's muscles became too tired and fatigued to allow the two hyacinth macaws to fly any further. Not to mention their rapid breathing rate as they ran out of breath from flying so fast. The pair was eventually forced out of the sky and descend towards the city below. Tiredly, and puffing and panting, Triton clumsily glided downward towards the houses and crash landed onto the flat roof of one of the buildings, his eyes tearstained, and began to wheeze and gasp for air, and clasp his chest as his muscles ached immensely. Iris also crash-landed clumsily onto a building's roof but on the one adjacent to the one Triton had landed, and began to burst into an episode of puffing and panting. Then after recovering, Iris fluttered over to the roof on which Triton had landed, barely making it for her flight muscles were too tired to allow flight, and landed on the slab of metal. There, she began to confront Triton as he broke down and wept hard.

"Triton," begged the female flower crested macaw, "Triton, listen, you need to get yourself together!"

Triton continued to sob hard and did not hear Iris's pleas but Iris refused to give up. "Both you and I KNOW you didn't send those marmosets to attack Nico and Pedro's club. It is clear that you have been set up! TRITON!"

Triton continued to sob which tugged on Iris's heartstrings harder than ever. Iris then began to weep and continue to beg. As she did so, a flash of outrage fired up within her at whoever was responsible for getting Triton into such trouble and based on Nico and Pedro and the others' description of the culprit, it was apparent that some bird has dressed him or herself up as Triton and send those marmosets to destroy Nico and Pedro's club but Iris wasn't certain, but she knew full well that Triton would never, ever get involved with a bunch of mischievous monkeys, and certainly not a bunch of deranged toucans who have pretty much descended into insanity based on the latest incident they have caused Blu's group including Triton and Iris. Pushing that aside, she continued to beg Triton but rather than using words, she instead went over to the sobbing facially scared macaw and threw her wings around him. Triton, at first felt shock surge through him but Iris refused to let go.

"I NEVER liked seeing you break down like this," sobbed Iris, her green eyes beginning to shed tears, "And I CERTAINLY never like anyone getting you into trouble over something you haven't done…"

Iris then closed her eyes, making tears seep through her closed eyelids and run down her cheeks. Triton, as the warmth of his girlfriend's hug took hold, then began to feel his anguish fade and the maelstrom of negative emotions slowly subside, but the hurt still remained. Slowly and reluctantly, his wings snaked around Iris's body and soon, he had Iris in an embrace as well. As the two macaws remained in their tearful embrace, the sound of a song emanated from below the flat roof from some sort of human device for a human was playing a song on her CD. This song sounded romantic, sung by a famous artist who also sang a song called 'Breathe Me'. As Iris's ears picked up the music, she looked up at Triton with tearstained eyes.

"Listen," she said in a soft voice. At this, Triton, a few sobs escaping his beak, paused to listen to the music.

"… _Your… love…lifts me up like helium; your… love… lifts me up when I'm down, down, down…"_

"I know this song," said Triton in a calmer but still fragmented voice, the maelstrom of negative emotions having calmed down. Iris, her eyes filled with tears, smiled and nodded once.

"Sounds romantic, doesn't it?" she cooed. Triton, at this, gazed at Iris but soon found himself captured by her emerald green eyes, and Iris captured by his dark blue eyes, one of which was faded and laced with scars but Iris didn't mind. She was going to let Triton know that he had dropped his bandana but decided to delay that to spend some time in this moment. The pair of hyacinth macaws continued to stare into each other's eyes, locked in their embrace as the song continued to play.

"… _You lift me up when I am found, you lift me up before I hit the ground, you lift me up when I'm down, down, down…"_

The hyacinth macaw couple continued gazing into each other's eyes, their sobs and tears slowly subsiding until finally, an unknown force pulled their heads together such that their foreheads were touching. After a spending a moment in this, Triton's beak slowly closed in on Iris's and enclosed it in a kiss. After breaking the kiss, Triton gazed at Iris in surprise.

"Did I just…" he began but Iris took hold of his head and smiled mischievously.

"Come here, my lovely heartthrob," she cooed and before Triton could protest, his beak was locked in a passionate kiss with Iris's. Triton was immediately pulled into a calm state of mind as the kiss of his girlfriend sent warmth coursing through him. Naturally, he pulled Iris in his embrace and returned the kiss.

The song, which was 'Helium', by Sia, continued to play from below as the two hyacinth macaws continued to remain in their kiss and embrace.


	53. Chapter 52

**Chapter 52- dismalness, guilt, despair, frustration… and a joyful reunion**

 **Morning**

The sun had just started to ascend into the sky from its dawn point in the eastern horizon. As it made its climb, its rays bathed the city of Iquitos in a golden dawn sea, and the people were waking up to a new day ahead. In the Paradise Sanctuary, the animals of Dundee's community, or some of them, were also waking up to the rising sun though most of them had hardly slept at all last night due to the emergencies involved such as the evacuation of every parrot to Dundee's tent for their safety. The searchers had been searching high and low for Dalek while more animals had been gathering food for the evacuated parrots. Furthermore, Sandalwood and the others who had been in the Compartment of the Carnivores, especially Betelgeuse, had not been able to sleep much at all as a result of the trauma from the events of last night with Betelgeuse suffering torn out feathers from her wing by Dalek and almost getting eaten and Sirius and Sandalwood witnessing Lars get eaten by Carnassial. For those who did get some sleep, their dreams had been saturated with nightmares of glowing eyes in the dark, caracal and serval claws and chameleons prowling around looking for a parrot to seize and deliver to the Carnivore Compartment. These dreams had especially plagued the minds of Sirius, Spica, Cytosine, Thymine, Antares and Betelgeuse while Steven, his grief for the loss of Lars still gripping him and Greg, Sardonyx and Kevin who had been told all about Lars's loss, had cried himself to sleep with his remaining family after their evacuation to Dundee's tent last night. Even now it was morning; the family of scarlet macaws continued to weep and had been offered consoling from their friends, among them Shade, Connie and Sadie, for their loss.

As the activities of the diurnal animals rose, Dundee walked through the community as they went about their business. However, the livelihood of the community was not as cheerful and as joyous as it had been when Sandalwood and company had arrived. Instead of the sunshine of joy and other joyous emotions shining in the artificial jungle, the grey clouds of dismalness, sadness, worry and nervousness saturated the air of the community, and the leading emu could see it in the gazes of his community members. Worry especially plagued everyone for the parrots since there was a parrot-detesting chameleon, who they now know was involved a lot with Carnassial and his gang in the next compartment and had been feeding them parrot victims, among them Claude the cockatoo and two of the kakapos thanks to Sandalwood and company's account last night, prowling around, and Dundee had hoped that the evacuation of everyone who was a parrot, even the small parrots such as Cody, Sparky and Lilo and their cockatiel group, to his tent with guards stationed at the entrance would keep them safe but Dundee knew that Dalek had to be caught pronto and dealt with before any more victims were caught and forced into the Compartment of the Carnivores, and to a gruesome demise at the clutches of Carnassial and his gang.

As Dundee continued to pace through the activities of the animals, nearby, Sandalwood was sitting in front of a shrub, not in the mood for playing with the other bat pups and the chicks, among them Atreyu. The Brazilian flying fox, guilt over Lars's death last night still saturating him, gazed up at the emu ass he sauntered past, a dismal and concerned look on his face. Some of the other flying fox pups, and also their foraging parents, also stole glances at Dundee and felt a pang of pity for him, before continuing their activities. Then Connie came in.

"He's not at all happy, our emu leader," she murmured. Sandalwood just sighed and raised his sad gaze to look at the grey-headed bat.

"I'm not surprised," he murmured, "Everyone's disturbed by our revelation," another sigh then escaped Sandalwood as he began to wallow once again in his guilt, "If only I hadn't put myself in the path of those caracals after leaping from that branch to escape Carnassial's wrath leading to Lars getting swiped and subsequently eaten…" his membranous hand-like wings then went to his face and he began to weep again. Connie put a comforting wing on his back.

"It's not your fault," she said, "Even though you were rather reckless, endangering yourself by putting yourself in a life-threatening situation like that by distracting those wildcats, you brought us enough time to carry Antares to safety when that green macaw hit his head on that branch and knocked himself out."

Sandalwood blinked as Connie continued. "And don't forget it had been pitch-black in that graveyard of a place, and our macaw friends cannot see very well in the dark, unlike us flying foxes," Connie sighed, "Which I think is why Antares crashed into that branch. He failed to spot it and dodge it in time."

"We've heard all about your brave and courageous acts while in that dangerous place," came a new voice. At this, Sandalwood and Connie looked up but the moment their eyes landed on the speaker, which was the familiar female Madagascan Livingstone's flying fox, and three more flying foxes, two more Livingstone's and a third of a species Sandalwood could not recognise, flanking her. At this, Connie took up a defensive pose, a hostile scowl appearing on her face.

"What do you want, Lusamine!" snarled the grey-headed flying fox. At this, and to Sandalwood's surprise, the large bat at the front flinched and threw up her wings, an alarmed look on her face.

"Whoa, easy, Connie," she said, "We're only checking on you."

"Yes, absolutely," said one of Lusamine's friends. Sandalwood continued to examine Lusamine and her three friends in surprise. There was something different about these bats. When he first met them, they had been bratty and condescending with Lusamine behaving sort of like a 'queen-bee' of the group but now, those behavioural traits seemed to have disappeared, a regretful and concerned behaviour having taken their place. As he realised this, Sandalwood put a wing on Connie's shoulder, "Wait."

At this, Connie flashed Sandalwood a surprised glance and lowered her hostility. Then Lusamine gazed at Sandalwood with another new look, a guilt-ridden one.

"We had no idea that Dalek had a connection to those horrible caracals and servals," she said in an edgy voice, which was indeed laced with genuine guilt, "We thought he was just burning with immense hatred to the point of purposely shoving you and your friends, among them Atreyu, through that barrier and into the Carnivore Compartment," Lusamine sighed, "In fact, we had absolutely no idea that he had forced you with the intentions of getting your macaw friends killed at the clutches of that Carnassial caracal and his gang…"

"Well, now you know," said Connie in a stern voiced, traces of hostility still lacing her tone, "That is why all the parrots have been evacuated to Dundee's tent."

"Has that chameleon been found yet?" asked another of Lusamine's friends. At this, Sandalwood shook his head.

"Not yet," he said, "But Dundee's patrollers will provide updates. In the meantime, y-y-you'd better keep an eye on your family or perhaps help some of the other kids check on the macaw and other parrot chicks…" shyness and timidity was beginning to well within Sandalwood as he talked with this apparent former bratty Livingstone's bat. Connie continued to glare at Lusamine, dislike clearly lacing her scowl. Even though Lusamine had reformed, Connie still didn't like her. Just then, and to Connie's relief, Lusamine heard her name get called. At this, she flashed a glance behind her.

"Oh, aye, Mother wants me," she said, before turning back to Sandalwood and Connie, "I'll see you guys later. We'd better go."

'Then LEAVE!' thought Connie hostilely as she watched the large Livingstone's flying fox leave with her three friends. Sandalwood, however, had a different attitude.

"Thanks for checking on us and asking how we are," he said gratefully, much to Connie's surprise. However, Lusamine was already out of earshot. Connie shot Sandalwood a frown.

"How could you thank that brat for 'checking on us'?" she hissed. Sandalwood returned Connie's glare with a slight frown of his own.

"Haven't you heard the regret in her voice, Connie?" he snapped back, "She is clearly ashamed for allowing Dalek to participate in chasing us when they were picking on us. She had no idea of Dalek's true intentions," Sandalwood then gazed after Lusamine as she met her mother, "And I believe her other friends, among them Guzma the spider monkey, are ashamed of allowing Dalek to chase us alongside them as well."

Connie said nothing and continued glaring at Lusamine with a dislike-saturated scowl.

Meanwhile, Dundee continued observing the dismal activities of his community members when his name reached his ears.

"Dundee," called the voice. At this, the emu turned and saw an orangutan, Wally, half amble; half trot towards him with three chimps and Kiara the echidna.

"What is it, Wally?" asked Dundee as the five halted before him.

"We've just heard from our human carers that new animals are set to arrive in an hour or so," said one of the chimps, a female. At this, Dundee managed a smile. "That sounds good," he said, but then that smile fell as something troubling inside his mind bubbled. However, the emu pushed it aside. "I look forward to meeting them. Keep an eye on our carers until those arrivals arrive."

The four apes and Kiara nodded. Then Dundee saw someone else run in, Mulan the panda. However, she wore a frustrated look on her face.

"What's the report on the search for Dalek, Mulan?" asked the emu. As the panda stopped, she gave her updates. Since frustration was mounting up within her, she barely managed to control her urge to let it erupt in the form of a shout.

"Dundee," she muttered, "We've been searching _high and low_ for that chameleon _all through_ the remainder of _last night_ and we still haven't found any TRACE of that lizard!"

As the stressed panda said this, Reepicheep and two other platypuses appeared; equally frustrated scowls on their faces as well.

"We've got well over a DOZEN search parties hunting for that chameleon in every single SQUARE METRE of this jungle and STILL nothing!" shouted Reepicheep, his temper, combined with the tiredness from last night, threatening to erupt as well.

"Honestly, Dundee," added Mulan, her paws thrown downward and open with the 'palm' sides upward to emphasize her frustration, "That chameleon must have disappeared somewhere where we can't find him…"

As the panda continued to vent her frustrations to Dundee, Sandalwood, together with Acerola, Connie, Finnick, Atreyu and also Lillie and Altair, and some of the macaw chicks in Sandalwood's group hiding in Dundee's tent with the other parrots: Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine and Guanine, slowly walked in, their ears cocked on the conversation. Dundee's face then put on a perplexed look.

"You cannot find him anywhere at all?" asked the emu. Harsh shakes of 'No!' came from the heads of the panda and the three platypuses while the faces of Wally, the three chimps and Kiara put on concerned and worried gazes.

"But you HAVE to find that chameleon or else another parrot or a group of them could end up becoming the next victims of being shoved into the Carnivore Compartment and to Carnassial and his gang," protested Kiara. Sandalwood, Connie, Finnick, Atreyu, Lillie and Altair, and also Gladion who had his broken wing in a stiff leaf cast, having just walked in, all flinched at Mulan's response in the form of a paw-palm to the forehead to Kiara's statement. Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine and Guanine, however, just looked on in concern. Then Dundee stepped in before an argument could erupt.

"Whoa, break it up, will you!" shouted the emu, his authoritative gaze flashing from Kiara's group to Mulan's. The emu then shot Kiara a stern look.

"Look, just do as I say and keep an eye on our human carers regarding the new soon-to-be arrivals with Wally and the three chimps," commanded he, "And let me talk to Mulan and the platypuses about Dalek. I appreciate your concerns for the parrots but you've got other things to focus on."

Kiara then put on an apologetic look at Mulan before turning and calling the four apes to follow her. As the quintet left, Wally flashed a concerned glance at the stressed panda and platypuses before resuming his follow. Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine and Guanine continued to watch Dundee as he turned his attention to Mulan, Reepicheep and the latter's two companions. Betelgeuse, her tattered wing wrapped in a leaf, came in with Rigel, Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka, and two of their new friends, Sugilite the galah and Opal the rainbow lorikeet.

"Did you hear Mrs Mulan, Sugilite," said Opal to the unusually purple galah, "She sounded so upset."

"You can see it clearly on her face," said Sirius. The newcomers gazed at Milan's face and saw that Sirius was right. There clearly was stress and frustration saturating the poor panda's eyes and mouth.

"I'm not surprised," said Sirius casually, "That chameleon SNAKE," he shouted this with pure malice, and the desire to get his claws into that chameleon's scales flaring up within him even thought that might be dangerous, "sure is a sly one."

"With his colour-changing abilities?" said Finnick, "Absolutely."

"No wonder he's a serious danger to all the parrot members living here," said Connie. Her gaze then turned to the macaw chicks and Sugilite and Opal who shuddered. When Sugilite and Opal had heard what had happened to Lars, with Betelgeuse also being very close, last night and how Dalek was friends with Carnassial and his gang, the pair had been stricken with immense terror and anguish. Lars had been one of their closest friends and it had torn their hearts into two when they heard of his death, but the fear of Dalek prowling around and seizing them plagued the galah and lorikeet more than their grief for Lars. The same was true for all the other parrots including the cockatiels, and there was worry for the new soon-to-be arrivals that were also parrots. Then Connie turned to Sandalwood as something crossed her mind from last night, but it was not one of the frightening and dark aspects.

"Anyway, moving on, Sandalwood," said the grey-headed flying fox pup, "When Sirius carried you back to the barrier, I noticed that you didn't freak out at all."

Sandalwood shot her a surprised look while Betelgeuse, Rigel, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka flashed astonished gazes.

"Did I just hear that right?" asked Alnitak, "Sandalwood was carried by Sirius… and did not scream and demand to be put down?"

"Whereas he usually would each time someone tried to lift him off the ground," said Alnilam. Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine, Betelgeuse, Rigel, Mintaka and Guanine, however, exchanged glances while Sandalwood continued to gaze at the macaws.

"I… um…" said the amber flying fox pup, "I think it was probably I was so desperate to get out of that Compartment of the Carnivores place that I must have allowed Sirius to carry me rather than run out myself…"

As he said this, a massive wave of guilt over Lars's death took hold of him, resurfacing like a massive bubble, and the flying fox pup's ears began to droop and he sunk to the floor. "If only I hadn't set off that chain of events leading to Lars getting eaten… he would have been… been… here…" as his voice began to break, tears began to well in his eyes and he began to emit sobs, especially as his distraught gaze turned to a familiar orange scarlet macaw at the entrance to Dundee's meeting tent, which was fortunately large enough to house all the parrot members of the community with plenty of room to spare, lean against one of the posts with her head on her wing and gaze out into the artificial jungle, great tears falling from her already bloodshot, tearstained eyes. It was clear that Sardonyx was still saturated with immense grief and anguish over Lars's death and had spent the rest of last night grieving with Steven, Greg and Kevin. However, Connie came in and put a wing on Sandalwood's shoulder.

"Look, like I've said before, it is not your fault," she said firmly, somewhat irritated by Sandalwood's grief over the loss of Lars.

"Yes, if it wasn't for Lars," said Sirius, "WE would have likely been eaten instead," However, as he said this, he also felt a wave of guilt take hold of him as well, "Mind you, having said that, I feel the same way about being responsible for Lars's death as well…" a sniffle escaped his beak and his wing went to his eye and wiped away a tear. Then the macaws, Sugilite and Opal heard their names get called by one of the hyacinth macaws at the entrance of Dundee's tent. At this, Sugilite flashed a glance at the macaw and turned back to Connie and Sandalwood, "Oh, aye, we'd better return to our place of stay. We'll see you guys some other time."

And with that, the purple and grey galah, together with Opal and Sirius, Bellatrix, Spica and the other macaws left for the said destination.

"And please don't blame yourself for Lars's loss, Sandy," said Spica as she followed her two cousins, a gaze back at the despondent Sandalwood, "If you hadn't taken action, according to Sirius; Antares, Connie, and some of the others that went with you into the Compartment of the Carnivores would likely have met the same demise."

And with that, she turned and followed the other macaws and Sugilite and Opal back to Dundee's tent. Sandalwood just breathed a sad sigh and sat with Connie, a remorseful gaze still on his face with Connie trying to comfort him once again.

 **A few hours later**

The activities of the animals in Dundee's jungle continued like usual, but the dismal and fearful atmosphere still remained. This atmosphere placed a burden on the animals' progress in foraging and their other activities, slowing them down like heavy air. The searchers for Dalek also had frustration mounting up within them as they continued to search the jungle high and low for the chameleon with still no results. At his large meeting tent, Dundee continued to watch the evacuated parrots, a worried gaze on his face. As he continued to keep an eye on the parrots, Wally the orangutan came in.

"The new arrivals are due to be imported into here any minute now," he said.

"That's great," said Dundee in a rather dismal voice, "Call Kiara, Reepicheep and kiwis Flax and Harakeke and prepare to meet them when they arrive."

Wally, a concerned look lacing his face at the miserable gaze on Dundee's face and sombreness lacing his voice as he spoke, nodded and left to call the said animals, leaving Dundee to continue to watch the parrots. As the orangutan left to find Kiara, Reepicheep, Flax and Harakeke, Reepicheep came in as if on cue, accompanied by two others of his species.

"Dundee certainly looks troubled," murmured the platypus with concern.

"We all are," said Wally, before turning to the three bizarre duck-billed mammals, "The new arrivals will be here any minute, so I suggest you get ready to meet them."

Reepicheep and his two companions nodded and left to do just that while Wally left to find Kiara, Flax and Harakeke.

"If any of the new arrivals are parrots, Reepicheep," said one of Reepicheep's companions, a female, "We're gonna have to take them straight to Dundee's tent because we can't risk them getting kidnapped by that horrid chameleon and fed to those caracals and servals in the Compartment of Carnivores."

"We'll get to that, Adelaide," replied Reepicheep, "But let's just find Kiara, Flax and Harakeke and then focus on waiting for the arrivals, okay?"

The female named Adelaide nodded and continued with the two male platypuses.

As the activities continued to flow by at a slower pace than usual due to the dismal air burdening the animals, Sandalwood was being taught by a friend of Shade and Sadie, another grey-headed flying fox named Tatiana, how to fly. Tatiana was one of the bats' flying lessons teachers and apparently the best one, and has been teaching countless flying fox pups how to fly. Shade and Sadie had thought that Sandalwood had better start learning to fly now and had put him under the care of Tatiana for that. Sandalwood stood nervously before a tree trunk as Tatiana explained how flying foxes and other bats had to use overhangs to get airborne.

"We bats except a few species, cannot take off from the ground like flying birds can," explained Tatiana, "Instead, we must _drop_ into the air and allow our wings to catch it rather than push off from the ground and flapping into flight."

Sandalwood took in this information with some difficulty due to the nervousness clouding it.

"Um… you mean… we're gonna have to… FALL into the air… from an overhang… a-a-am I right?" stammered the Brazilian flying fox timidly.

"Yes, that's the idea," said Tatiana, much to Sandalwood's surge of fear which caused him to back away from the tree trunk. Tatiana's face morphed into a gentle but firm look.

"I'm sorry, Sandalwood but there's no other way around getting airborne," she said, "If we were flying birds like a macaw or something, it would perhaps be easier but we're not. We're flying foxes and we're bats, mammals with membranous wings."

Sandalwood shuddered but he was forced to admit that Tatiana was right. Bats could not get airborne by taking off from the ground. They needed to fall into the air, quite unlike most flying birds which can simply push themselves off the ground to get airborne with their feet. Then Tatiana went on to explain how bats get airborne after dropping from an overhang and to do that, she opened a wing.

"As we drop into the air from a chosen overhang, such as upside down from a branch," continued the teacher, pointing to her expanded wing with the thumb of her other wing, "We then open our wings. This is essential since the air flow will pull us out of the fall…"

Sandalwood shuddered more and backed away. At this, Tatiana gazed at him with concern.

"Problem?" she asked. Sandalwood said nothing.

"I'm afraid it's something you're gonna have to get used to," said Tatiana, "Like I've said before, we bats cannot take off from the ground…"

Finally, Sandalwood snapped and began to weep as panic began to set in.

"Hey, hey, calm down," said Tatiana and with that, she went over to the panic-stricken flying fox pup and began to comfort him. From a distance, Acerola looked on with concern.

"His fear of heights certainly is rooted very deeply," she whispered to herself. Sandalwood then sat down and continued to cry his eyes out, Tatiana with her wings around him.

"I can't do it!" he wailed, "I CAN'T DO IT!"

He then launched into an uncontrollable sobbing fit like a newborn pup. Tatiana just remained speechless. She did not know what to say to this. This was obviously a massive obstacle for poor Sandalwood: climbing onto an overhang and dropping into the air. Then Acerola walked in.

"Didn't he or I or any of our bird friends tell you that something horrible has happened to him leading to his immense fear of heights, Mrs Tatiana?" asked Sandalwood's cousin. At this, Tatiana looked up at Acerola. As Acerola walked in, Lillie, Altair and Gladion, his broken wing in a cast, also walked in.

"Why, what's happened?" asked Tatiana as Sandalwood continued sobbing, the thought of standing on an overhang sending his emptions into a churning chaos.

"Some HORRIBLE toucan chicks bound him wing and foot and carelessly shoved him off the end of a branch," said Gladion, outrage burning against Isabella and her comrades who were responsible for Sandalwood's mess.

"And because they had his wings tied to his sides, Sandalwood could not pull himself out of that fall," put in Lillie, "and as a result, he almost fell into a thorn bush."

"And since then," said Altair, his sorrowful gaze on the sobbing Sandalwood, "He's been very afraid of heights ever since."

As Tatiana took in this important information, immense shock overcame her.

"Oh, that's utterly HORRIBLE," she said after a minute of stunned speechlessness.

"And incredibly dangerous," added Gladion bitterly, "Binding a bat or flying bird's wings to their sides and then pushing them off the end of a branch or any other overhang a massive height above the ground risks that bird or bat falling to his or her death," the little toucan chick then began to tremble with extreme rage as it began to boil dangerously inside him, "What those stupid COUSINS of ours have done to that poor flying fox pup was BEYOND DIABOLICAL, HONESTLY!"

And with that, he lashed out at a stone and kicked it hard. However, doing so sent searing pain tearing through his talon and he yelped.

"Careful, little toucan!" rebuked Tatiana, "You've got a broken wing in the process of healing."

Then Lillie began to break down as Sandalwood managed to regain control of his sobbing but continue to weep.

"Those cousins of ours called it a PRANK," she sobbed as her brother Gladion took a minute to calm his fiery rage, "But it was no PRANK AT ALL…"

As Lillie took her turn to shout and rant, Bellatrix listened at the entrance to Dundee's tent. Tears began to ooze from her eyes and fall down her cheeks as she remembered zooming towards Sandalwood when those toucan chicks led by Isabella had him bound wing and foot and placed on the end of that branch, only for the toucan chicks to scatter and knock Sandalwood off the end of the branch in their panic. Tearfully, the Spix macaw chick and the dark version of Matilda turned round, backed against the leafy wall and slumped down. Tatiana continued gazing at the two toucan chicks continued to simmer in rage and distress at what their cousins had done to Sandalwood while Acerola and Altair looked on. Sandalwood also gazed at the two toucan chicks, tears still falling from his eyes.

"I-er…" said Tatiana in a stunned whisper, "…don't know what to say except call those stupid toucan kids extremely careless and attempted murderers," an outraged look then came upon her face, "But you're absolutely right. Binding a bird or bat wing and foot and then shoving them off an overhang is extremely dangerous," her gaze turned to Sandalwood, "but it's a wonder that he survived that ordeal…"

"If it hadn't been for Bellatrix and a couple other of our friends' intervention," said Altair. Bellatrix flinched at the mentioning of her name by the archaeobird chick in Dundee's tent.

"I think those toucan kids should be severely disciplined," said Tatiana with a growl, "If any of MY pups did something like that to another pup or chick, I'd have done just that…"

Altair, Gladion, Lillie and Acerola gazed up at the adult grey-headed flying fox and nodded in agreement while Sandalwood continued to weep. Just then, a "They're HERE!" rang out from across the jungle air, jolting the group to attention.

"That was Reepicheep," said Lillie, "Sounds like the new arrivals have come."

Tatiana, Altair, Gladion, Acerola and Sandalwood all looked up and saw many of the animals apart from the parrots scurry to the two-door pocket opening as two of the humans prepared to open the first door on the other side, something in their hands. At the entrance to Dundee's tent, Bellatrix, along with Sirius, Spica and the other macaw chicks, prepared to zoom out, having also been alerted by Reepicheep's shout, only for Dundee to stop them in their tracks by lifting a long leg (emus don't have large wings) and blocking them.

"Oh, stay in here, macaw chicks," said the emu. At this, Sirius and the others obeyed and returned to inside the large tent. Moments later, the humans with the cargo in their grasp were inside the artificial jungle compartment. The animals were gathered round as the humans brought in the newcomers. From Dundee's tent, Sirius and the other macaw chicks tried to get a glimpse of the cargo in the humans' grasp but could not see for a screen of animals blocked their view. Reepicheep was talking with Dundee (who had left to see in the newcomers), Kiara, Flax, Harakeke, Wally and two more platypuses with him not too far away.

"Can you see the new arrivals, Canopus?" asked Sirius to the young ruby macaw chick as he tried to get a glimpse of the cargo. However, all Canopus could see were the heads of the animals obscuring his attempts.

"No," he snapped in frustration, "The animals are blocking the way."

Sirius, along with Bellatrix, Spica, Petunia, Vega, Deneb and Polaris the other Spix macaws; Adenine, Thymine, Guanine and Cytosine the Catalina macaws; Betelgeuse, Rigel Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka the other red macaw chicks; Procyon, Castor and Pollux the blue-and-gold chicks; Mira the blue-and-gold/hyacinth macaw chick; Fomalhaut the blue-and-gold/great green macaw chick; Capella, Achernar and Antares the green macaw chicks; Aldebaran the scarlet/great green macaw chick; Gertie the hyacinth macaw chick; Arcturus the Lear's macaw chick; Saiph, Regulus and Denebola the glaucous macaw chicks; Carmen the blue-throated macaw chick; Sylvester the Cuban red macaw chick; Alegria the Dominican green-and-yellow macaw chick and Pitaya- purple-and-pink macaw chick all sighed and exchanged glances.

"We'd have got a proper glimpse of the newcomers if that chameleon wasn't such a massive THREAT to us!" muttered Carmen bitterly. As she said this, Steven and Kevin came in, the grief over the loss of Lars still gripping them hard. However, they pushed that grief to the side to ask Sirius and company about the newcomers.

"Can you see any of the new arrivals yet?" asked Steven in a dismal voice. Sirius was about to reply when suddenly, the flapping of membranous wings reached his and the other macaw chicks' ears. Acerola had rocketed in and to the group's surprise, her face was laced with immense joy, the first one she had managed since the group's arrival in this place and in ages.

"Hey, guys, you're not gonna believe this!" she cried. Sirius and the other macaw chicks gazed at the auburn Brazilian flying fox pup.

"Did you see the newcomers, Acerola?" asked Spica. Acerola was so saturated with excitement that she spoke very fast, but she managed to form meaningful words.

"They're Aunt Luna, MR CHARON, MRS NEYTIRI, MR ERAGON AND MRS MARELLA!" shouted the flying fox in joy. Glances were exchanged between the macaw chicks but the sound of two of the names brought Saiph, Denebola and Regulus to attention, hope flaring within them like an explosion.

"Mom and Dad are here!?" asked Saiph.

"Sandalwood, Altair, Lillie and Gladion have already gone to meet them," continued Acerola, "I think we should meet them as well!"

And with that, the flying fox pup launched like a rocket in the direction of the newcomers before Sirius could protest. Saiph, Denebola and Regulus also exploded into flight.

"Glaucous macaws; WAIT!" shouted Arcturus but the trio had already gone. A frustrated glance at the other macaw chicks, the Lear's macaw said, "Don't those three know that we parrots aren't allowed there for our safety?"

However, Sirius and some of the other macaw chicks were already prepared to launch into flight.

"I'm sure Dundee wouldn't mind us flying out there to see the newcomers," said Sirius and before Arcturus could protest, the Spix macaw chick had shot off, Bellatrix, Spica, Petunia, and some of the others able to fly following. As these chicks left the tent entrance, Steven came in.

"What was all the excitement about?" asked the scarlet macaw chick.

"The newcomers turn out to be some of our relatives," said Arcturus with a smile.

"Relatives?" repeated Kevin in confusion.

"Two of them are the parents of two of the glaucous macaws as well as the aunt and uncle of the third," said Betelgeuse who had decided to stay behind because of her tattered left wing, "One of them is the aunt of Sandalwood and Acerola and the other two are the mother and grandpa of Altair."

Before the animals, the five newcomers, which were indeed Neytiri, Charon, Luna, Eragon and Marella, had been gently placed on the floor by the two humans who had brought them in. however, they were drowsy and confused.

"Alright, where were we?" asked Charon, "We were back at Tulio's Aviary, talking… I was reluctant to leave with Blu and company…"

"I don't know," said Neytiri, "Everything just suddenly blacked out."

"There was a smash of the hard, transparent stuff you guys call glass," added Eragon, "And then a cylinder of some sort just appeared in the middle of the room we were in spewing out some sort of smoke which made us begin to cough and splutter… and the next thing I know, I suddenly felt extremely drowsy and just collapsed."

The older male archaeobird then placed his wing claws on the cast still holding his other wing in place while Neytiri gazed at her own casted wing. Then Luna wearily began to take in the unfamiliar surroundings.

"By the way, where are we?" she asked. Her weary gaze then began to travel over the gathering of animals, many of which were bizarre and of forms she had never, ever seen before. Marella also examined the surroundings, a confused and weary look on her face. It was then that the sounds of a struggle flooded with angry bird screeches and human shouts of pain, sounded nearby. At this, Marella, Eragon, Neytiri, Charon and Luna snapped their gazes in a certain direction and to their surprise, they saw something through the mesh separating the jungle from the human zone. Two more humans were struggling with two more birds, both of which sent good coloured feathers flying and their claws lashing at the faces and arms of them. As more workers rushed in to help restrain these birds, Eragon drew in a very sharp, horrified gasp.

"The GOLDEN FRUITHAWKS!" squawked the archaeobird in immense alarm, "That pair of GOLDEN FRUITHAWKS ARE NOT IN WHERE WE WERE!"

"But HOW!?" shouted Neytiri in disbelief. Charon, however, wore a very disgusted look on his face. An idea had entered his head but it was not one he liked one bit at all.

"They must have been stolen from Tulio's Aviary by those poachers, along with us," he said. This was met by disbelieving gazes from the other four.

"How can you tell?" asked Marella. Charon just frowned.

"I just know," he snapped, "How else could we, along with the two fruithawks, have been taken from Tulio's Aviary?"

"Well, if that is true," said Luna, her gaze on the humans as they left the compartment via the pocket entrance, "Then it seems that we have been rescued by those humans."

The other four just gazed at the albino flying fox when a voice, a very unfamiliar one, reached their ears.

"Well, you five, along with those two hawks, will settle in here, anyway," it said, bringing the attention of the five to the speaker, "But first, let's get you settled in. Reepicheep."

The strange creature that resembled a furry creature with long legs and neck and no wings then turned to a bizarre looking furry thing with a flat bill. Immense awe and astonishment took hold of Luna, Neytiri, Eragon and Marella.

"What on earth is THAT creature!?" shouted Neytiri as she examined Dundee.

"That's an emu," said Charon who had seen this strange bird in one of Linda's books, before nodding to Reepicheep and two other creatures like him, "And those three are platypuses. Both are animals native to Australia."

"You mean that strange furry creature that lays eggs like a reptile?" asked Marella who had also seen the platypus in a book shown to her by Bia. Charon nodded. It was then that some more voices, this time familiar ones, rang out.

"DAAAD, MOOM!"

"AUNT LUNA!"

"MOTHER, GRANPDA!"

At this, the five shot confused gazes about the room.

"Now what?" asked Luna with a frown. However, hope and joy gripped the other four as recognition took hold, so they froze.

"Could it be?" asked Charon. Neytiri, Eragon and Marella continued looking around until finally, the ladt one's eyes landed on something. At this, immense joy tore through her.

"Guys, LOOK!" barked the archaeobird and pointed a wing claw in the direction of the callers. Neytiri, Charon, Luna and Eragon followed Marella's point and sure enough, their eyes landed on the callers too. Emerging through the crowd of animals, much to the surprise of some of them, were a few familiar forms. One of them had aurburn fur with black membranous wings while another furry form ran on the ground, its fur amber coloured. Behind the auburn form were a number of feathered forms. Three of the forms were blue or turquoise with grey heads, some more were blue or cerulean; and some were red or multi-coloured. Another form was behind the amber coloured form and it had metallic purple and green feathers. Then as soon as the forms melted into view, full recognition finally took hold within Marella, Eragon, Neytiri, Charon and Luna. The moment it did, immense joy exploded within them.

"SANDALWOOD, ACEROLA!" cried Luna and with that, she shot off for the two incoming flying fox pups. Neytiri and Charon also screeched Saiph, Regulus and Denebola's names and tore for the three glaucous macaw chicks and the other chicks behind them. Eragon and Marella also charged for Altair as hue came running towards the five newcomers close behind Sandalwood as well. Dundee then returned with Reepicheep, Adelaide and the other platypus, Kiara, Wally, Flax and Harakeke when the sounds of joyous shouts, followed by the collisions of fur and feathered forms and subsequently joyful sobs, reached their ears. At this, the emu and the others with him flashed a surprise glance in the direction of the commotion and to their further surprise; they saw a cluster of colourful feathers and fur embracing each other tightly. Among the cluster were the five newcomers. Kiara managed a smile.

"Well, looks like we have a happy reunion," she said.

"I can see that," said Dundee with a flash of joy but then his seriousness returned. Turning his gaze to the platypuses, Wally and the kiwis, the emu said, "You six escort the two new macaws to my tent. Explain to them if they ask why, while I help the other five newcomers, among them the two hawks, settle in," Dundee's gaze turned to the humans as they continued to struggle with two gold feathered birds through the mesh separating the jungle's edge and the human zone, "and we'd better be careful with those two hawks as well. They don't seem very friendly to our human carers…"

Reepicheep and the other two platypuses, Kiara, Wally, Flax and Harakeke just flashed a glance at the commotion outside and returned their gazes to Neytiri, Charon, Luna, Eragon and Marella as they remained in their reunion embrace with Sandalwood, Acerola, Altair, Saiph, Regulus, Denebola and also Sirius, Spica, Petunia, Bellatrix, Lillie, Gladion and many of the others in Sandalwood's group.


	54. Chapter 53

**Chapter 53- Triton's innocence is confirmed**

 **Back in Rio**

The cityscape of Rio was greeted as usual by the rising sun as it ascended from under the oceanic horizon, its reflection in the sea rippling like a pool of runny honey. The usual daytime activities of Rio also rose with the sunrise and people were preparing for the next day. However, in the jungle there was little activity from the diurnal birds. Normally the song 'Real in Rio' flooded the jungle air with the dance of the colourful feathers but the mornings of the past few days has been different; the joyful song and dancing of the bird community was pretty much absent, likely because so many of the residents of the Blu Bird Sanctuary had evacuated due to the massive toucan problem, and there were still a lot of those troublemaking toucans scattered throughout the Blu Bird Sanctuary although Tulio's team may have successfully captured a vast number of them and had sent the caught toucans away to other sanctuaries outside Rio and perhaps Brazil. It truly was a worrying sign in the Rio sanctuary and Tulio's team was working hard to restore the jungle to its former glory by catching as many of the toucans as possible to reduce their number to a reasonable level and have the other birds return to the safety of the protected reserve and out of the poachers' reach.

Somewhere in the city of Rio, a certain pair of hyacinth macaws woke up after spending the rest of the night in a secluded hole in one of the human made buildings out of the sight of its occupants, and also anyone else outside that might be looking for them. Triton, his head initially tucked under his wing with Iris next to him with her head also tucked under her wing, removed his head from under his wing and gazed groggily at the shaft of light from the rising sun streaming into the hole through the entrance like a golden beam. At this, the hyacinth macaw, his left facial side and blind eye still exposed for he had to replace his bandana to cover the disfigurement, opened his wings and stretched them out while at the same time releasing a yawn. After he had withdrawn his wings, Iris woke up and let loose a yawn as well.

"Morning, Triton," murmured Iris groggily as she rubbed her eyes, "Looks like morning has finally arrived."

"It sure has," replied Triton as he shook away the drowsiness. He then peered out of the entrance to observe the rising sun and the incoming day fully.

"Well, now that it is morning," said Iris, "I think it's time we considered the next step of our plans."

Triton, at this, turned his head back into the hole and gazed at the female hyacinth macaw, "And what's that?"

"Have you ever considered moving away from here and settling out in the Amazon jungle?" asked Iris, before her gaze caught Triton's exposed scarred left face and faded eye, "Obviously, you'll need a new bandana to replace the one you lost last night, of course."

Triton, at this, lifted wing and brushed the tiger stripes running down the entire height of his face and sighed.

"That's an obvious requirement," he said, but then his mind moved to the previous suggestion Iris had mentioned. At this, he shook his head in surprise, "What do you mean moving away from here?"

"Well, since your mother and the other older macaws and birds might still believe that you are responsible for the incident regarding Nico and Pedro's club even though you've not done it," said Iris, "They might still want you to face the consequences by staying with them in the attic until your father gets back from Peru with the missing kids and the others including Blu and Jewel and tell me to leave your side, which I don't want," Iris sighed, obviously finding that idea repulsive, "And since there seems to be little chance of vindicating you, I would rather flee into the jungle with you and perhaps settle down in a little hollow of our own until things calm down back here. What do you think?"

Triton, at this, gazed at his girlfriend and mulled over the suggestion in his mind. He was clearly reluctant to leave Rio but he was also refusing to face the consequences proposed by the elders, including his own mother Ultramarine for something he knew he had never done. Finally, he said, "Can't we wait and see what happens?"

"But what if the problem doesn't resolve itself?" asked Iris in protest. Then a scowl came upon her face. "I do NOT want to be torn from you over an unnecessary punishment for something you didn't do, Triton," the flower crested hyacinth macaw then stole a glance at the entrance to the hole as if she expected one of the searchers to find the pair in the hole and shuddered. "You've been FRAMED, Triton. Can't you see that?" anger then began to boil within Iris as she began to rage at whoever had caused the framing, "Someone has set you up by pretending to be you and then send those marmosets to destroy Nico and Pedro's club and cause trouble," Triton gazed at Iris as she continued to protest and throw her wings in the air. Then a look of thunder crossed the flower crested hyacinth macaw's face, "It's obvious that someone is trying to forcefully separate us two, Triton, I can feel it."

Triton opened his beak to retort but Iris swept on, a tear beginning to well in her eye, "Though you may not believe it, meu amore, I certainly do! Someone is out there trying to tear our hearts into two, especially you, and ruin our lives, and it seems that they have managed to do that by turning our own FRIENDS and your own MOTHER against us to do just that…" Iris then sat down and covered her face with her wings, "That is why I want us both to leave, because if we don't," Iris's voice then began to break as the interference of distress began to build like static in the signal of someone speaking on a radio, a human-made object, "you and I will be TORN AWAY from each other… YOU will be severely heartbroken… and we may NEVER see each other EVER AGAIN, AND I DON'T WANT THAT! I LOVE YOU TOO MUCH TO BE TORN AWAY FROM YOU ALL BECAUSE OF SOME SPITEFUL, JEALOUS IDIOT OR BUNCH OF IDIOTS responsible for your framing WANT TO SEE YOU HEARTBROKEN AND DESTROYED!" she screeched the final words in utter rage and distress and began to weep into her wings. Triton went over to her and placed a comforting wing on her shoulder. In his mind, he began to consider Iris's suggestion but was still blocked by reluctance to go along with it. Torn between his desire to stay and see what happened and Iris's suggestion to leave Rio and flee into the jungle, the one-eyed hyacinth macaw sat down beside Iris as she continued to sob, both his functional eye and faded eye laced with despair over the whole mess.

Back in the attic of Susan and Lucy and their family's cottage, a massive black cloud saturated with a boiling brew of negative emotions was flooding the air. Misery, despair, anger, sadness and frustration were some of those emotions, and Sapphire, Zephyr, Cobalto, Esmeralda, Orquidea, Ultramarine, Lapis Lazuli and Chiquitita, were smothered in them, along with immense tiredness for they had not slept a wink all through the remainder of last night either. Last night, Nico, Pedro, Sparkle, Rose, Rafael and Eva had left in a fiery huff, outraged at the macaws for Triton and Iris's disappearance as well as a massive falling out with Iapetus, Roberto, Rhea, Ariel, Phobos, Deimos, and Eustace, Milo, Rosa, Clemont, Serena, Broccoli, Dash, Ginger, James, Collette and Daisy, all of who had pleaded of Triton's innocence with Justin, Matilda, Virgil and the others holding their kids in the nests to keep them out of the raging inferno, but the pairs of toucans, canaries and cardinals were so consumed with anger that they didn't listen to Iapetus and company's protests and just left but not before saying some things that would leave a wound in Ultramarine and company for the rest of the night until now.

Roberto watched over the sleeping forms of the remaining kids, his blue eyes laced with immense sadness and despair as they observed each of the twenty-three kids as they continued to sleep with their remaining parents in their makeshift nests. Sonia and Melody slept under Justin's wing in one nest; Einstein, Miles and Virgil slept in another nest; in a third nest were Bartholomew and Matilda; and Músculo and Jason; Jojo and Winona; Turquesa, Felix, Diego and Austin and Lilac; Katniss and Callisto; Xander, Kayley, Alexandre and Estelle; Peter and Dione; Poppy and Brooke; Cressida and her blue-and-gold mother Tethys; Basil and his military father Ash; Perdita and Cecil and their scarlet father Benjamin; Oceano and his mother Fernanda; and Olivia, Achilles, Ellie, Bambi and her grandmother Andromeda all asleep in their nests as well, and Violet, Indigo and Triton's younger sister was asleep in a nest of her own next to the Spix macaws. Above the birds, Sebastian and Anabelle were hanging upside down from the curtain rail, Ferdinand clasped against Anabelle's chest, asleep also, and Melissa was asleep by herself next to her son and daughter-in-law. Near the group were the three emperor penguins still in their red cart and they had fallen asleep due to exhaustion from the events of last night but Roberto's attention was not on them. Roberto's eyes then travelled over Jojo, Winona, Turquesa, Felix, Diego, Austin and Lilac, the only remaining members of his and Brisa's family for Kira, Felix, Lavender and Garrett had gone with Blu and company to Peru to retrieve Sandalwood and the others. Because both Lavender and Garrett had left, Lilac had been placed into the care of Felix and Turquesa until they returned. Roberto had hoped that those that had gone to Peru; especially Jewel, Carla, Bia and Tiago, were safe. Those four were like his closest family along with Brisa, his kids including Chilro and Ophelia back in the Amazon, and his grandkids and Roberto did not want anything to happen to those macaws an d he had hoped that they, along with the others, would make it back to Rio safely with Sandalwood and the others by their sides. Furthermore, Roberto was still laced with immense shock from last night, especially from Nico, Pedro and company's outrage towards them and what they had said. Despairing, the mop-headed Spix macaw left the sleepers and lofted into flight to leave the cottage and to spend some time in the garden.

As Roberto exited an open window, flew about a metre and touched down on the grass to relish the warmth of the rising sun's rays for a bit to distract himself from all that had happened last night, wing flaps reached his ears. At this, Roberto looked up and saw four forms, a white cockatoo with a pale yellow crest and markings under his wings and tail, a pink-white cockatoo with darker salmon pink-orange splotches under her wings and tail and a pale red and yellow striped crest, a bright blue macaw resembling a female version of Zephyr and a scarlet macaw fly in. Travis, Sunset, Ruby and Brisa had returned but they did not look very good at all. All of their feathers were out of place and Travis and Sunset's crest feathers were kinked and untidy while Brisa's head feathers look as though a massive gust of wind has been blown through the feathers and Ruby's short ponytail feathers were all over the place. Their eyes were bloodshot from an uneasy night last night and all four of them looked absolutely exhausted.

As the four touched wearily down onto the grass, Roberto went over to them.

"Oh, buddies, Brisa my blue flower, I've been so worried about you," he said, his silvery voice laced with concern, "Have you managed to catch up with Sheldon at all?"

"We were forced to break off the chase and find somewhere to spend the rest of the night, Roberto," said Brisa wearily.

"However, we did not get much sleep at all," said Travis.

"We're sorry we didn't return all through last night," added Sunset.

"And to answer your question regarding Sheldon," said Ruby, "He managed to outfly us, forcing us to give up chasing him down and retreat to a safe spot for it was too risky to return to the cottage while it was still dark," Ruby then flumped down onto her front in the grass, a despairing sigh escaping her beak. Roberto gazed at the scarlet macaw with concern and turned to the other three, "And what about Triton? Did you manage to find him?"

Shakes came from the two cockatoos and the Spix macaw's heads, their faces twisted into scowls.

"No, we were too occupied with chasing Sheldon," said Travis, before his glare travelled to the roof as he thought of Ultramarine's group in the attic, "But Ultramarine and the others should have him…"

"I'm afraid he and Iris slipped away last night," said Roberto. He then shuddered, "Leading to Nico, Pedro and the other four's immense outburst at the rest of us…"

Dread came upon Travis, Sunset, Ruby and Brisa and they exchanged glances.

"What happened?" asked Sunset. Roberto bowed his head, not wanting to say it but as he gazed at the demanding glares on the four's faces, he decided to let it out.

"Before they left, Nico, Pedro, Rafael, Eva, Rose and Sparkle called us bad parents and grandparents and told us to get out of Rio and never return once we have caught Triton and Iris and have dealt with them," said the handsome Spix macaw, his blue eyes beginning to shed tears and his voice beginning to break. As he said this, some eyes peered through the open window. Iapetus, Ariel, Ganymede (who had fully recovered from the effects of the sleeping gas last night, along with Saturn who was still asleep), Rhea, Phobos and Deimos, along with Eustace, Milo, Rosa, Clemont, Serena and the cockatoo youngsters Yolanda, Vincent, Oscar, Peach and Bruno who had spent the rest of the night elsewhere in the cottage, gazed out at the five older adult birds as they talked. Hurt from Nico, Pedro and company's comments last night still burned within them, alongside outrage and bitterness against whoever had set up Triton and had caused this mess. As the group continued watching Roberto, Travis, Sunset, Brisa and Ruby talk, a voice came from behind them.

"It seems that things just keep on getting worse and worse for us, doesn't it?" it said. At this, Iapetus and company turned round and to their surprise, they saw that the speaker was Justin and he was standing with Sonia and Melody in his wings. Behind him were Virgil, Einstein and Miles, Matilda and Bartholomew and Benjamin with Perdita and Cecil, his hybrid son and daughter with Umbriel. The newcomers' faces were laced with disgruntled scowls.

"Justin, Matilda, Virgil and Benjamin," said Eustace, "W-w-we thought you guys were still asleep."

Virgil shook his head and said, "No, we've only just got up."

"The others are also getting up," added Matilda, her wings wrapped around Bartholomew, whose face was morphed into a sombre look. Then Einstein and Miles look up at Virgil.

"Daddy," said Einstein.

"Yes, son," said Virgil.

"When will Mommy come back with Sandalwood?" asked Miles. Sonia, Melody, Bartholomew, Cecil and Perdita also gazed at Virgil, Matilda, Justin and Benjamin with faces asking the same question. Then Rhea stepped in.

"Well, kids," she said, "It will… it will be quite some time."

"Yes," said Clemont, "Peru is a long way from here, and if my calculations are correct," he then disappeared into his mathematical thought, something he did not use as often as he did when he was younger, "I'd say it would… by plane… it would… take about ten hours to make it from here to the border…"

Small smiles and a few giggles, a rare sound at these times, spread through the group and Rosa leaned onto her citron-crested cockatoo mate.

"You certainly are like Bia and Ganymede at times, Clemont," she said with a giggle.

"Definitely," commented Ganymede. Then the scarlet macaw and Jupiter's only first-brood son's face fell as he turned his gaze back to Roberto and the other four as they continued to talk, "But at least Uncle Neptune and the others, along with Dad, will be away for a while, while this mess back here seems to get worse and worse…"

"Yeah, and I hope Triton and Iris are alright," put in Eustace. The eldest son of Travis and Sunset then gazed down at his right leg and talon, the only leg he had had left with the left one being nothing more than a stub, and thought of Triton's scarred left face. Both the loss of Eustace's leg and Triton's sight in his left eye were souvenirs of the Great War for the Sanctuary against the colony of flying foxes some years ago, but the loss of his leg was nothing compared to the mental scars Eustace and his family were to bear from almost getting burned alive in their own birdhouses by the toucans during the hasty evacuation from Tulio and Linda's cottage the other night. Luckily, Vincent had not been there at the time and was thus safe. However, Serena did not leave Eustace after he lost his leg, unlike Penelope, Triton's ex, who had forsaken the poor hyacinth macaw because of his 'ugly' scarred left face, shattering Triton's heart and taking him a long time to recover and be confident enough to find another female macaw who would accept him for his disfigurement. Eustace knew that Triton could not bear heartbreak again, and it seemed clear that someone was trying to drive a wedge between him and Iris. Eustace shuddered at the thought of that happening. 'Surely things could not get any worse', thought the cockatoo, especially as thoughts of Triton and Iris, who were still missing, flashed in his mind. Saddened, his gaze then returned to his parents as they continued to talk with Roberto, Ruby and Brisa through the window outside.

Then Benjamin flashed a glance behind him and said, "Well, we'd better go. The others will be up shortly and soon, it will be breakfast time. I'll see you guys later. Come along, Cecil, Perdita."

The two said chicks obeyed and followed their scarlet father back in the direction they came, with Virgil, Matilda and Justin, Bartholomew, Sonia, Melody, Einstein and Miles in tow. Iapetus, Ariel, Rhea, Ganymede, Phobos and Deimos only sighed and continued to observe the conversation between Travis, Sunset, Brisa, Roberto and Ruby through the window with Eustace and the other cockatoos.

"I sure hope Triton and Iris are alright, like I've said," murmured Eustace.

"It's clear that Triton's been framed," said Phobos, "We know that he would never, ever associate with those pesky marmosets."

"Apart from the majority of those toucans, they are nothing but troublemakers," said Milo bitterly.

"Not to the same extent of those psycho-toucans they aren't," growled Rosa, "And I think those toucans have become like Nigel after the other night when they tried to roast us in our own birdhouse."

"Oh, please don't mention that diabolical deed," cried Clemont tearfully, "You're causing the rest of us discomfort for one and you're upsetting the kids for another."

Rosa, at this, gazed at Oscar, Yolanda, Bruno and Peach and sighed. It was clear that these four will likely develop a fear of fire in the near future, having almost getting killed by it at such a young age. This incident was similar to that of Jewel who was deathly afraid of the orange, glowing monster of heat and destruction if it got out of control or was set alight by careless or evil clutches.

 **Soon**

Travis, Sunset, Roberto, Sapphire, Zephyr, Chiquitita, Ruby, Orquidea, Esmeralda, Ultramarine, Cobalto and Lapis Lazuli were distributing some fruit for their children and grandkids before settling down to breakfast themselves, while the three penguin guests, Mumble, Balthazar and Ginny, received some fresh fish. The rest of the group including Melissa, the cats and the greyhounds were also awake and were eating some fruit and meat. However, the mood of the latter two animal types towards Zephyr and company was saturated with pure rage and bitterness and they even refused to talk to them. It was clear that Broccoli and company were on Iapetus and company's side regarding Triton and his innocence. Then after breakfast, Iapetus and company including Eustace and his family decided to go out and play. As they left, Andromeda as she carried Bambi and guided the bat-birds who had been spending the night here as well, paused and gazed back at Broccoli and the others as they glared at Zephyr and company as they cleared away the empty food pots, only to snap their gaze away and pretend that they hadn't noticed when one of them looked their way. Tethys came in with her and Oberon's blue-and-gold/great green mixed chick, Cressida, a despairing look on her face.

"Things seem to be falling more and more to pieces," she whispered as she watched Broccoli turn his head away from Ruby.

"I can see that," said Andromeda with no surprise, "I may have not been here long with my family but I've got to know Triton long enough to know whether he's being honest or not."

Tethys shot the archaeobird clan matriarch a surprised look. "You have a hunch that Triton is innocent?" she asked. Andromeda returned the blue-and-gold macaw's surprise gaze with a convinced frown.

"I know when someone's being honest or dishonest based on the structure of their voice when they protest their innocence," she said, before leaving with Bambi and the bat-birds. Tethys just sighed and followed with Cressida. Just as this group left, Saturn came in. His left talon, which still bore stitching to fix the wound he had accidentally inflicted on himself when flying through a broken window, in a bandage and cast, so he was unable to walk normally until that foot healed completely. Thankfully, the blue-and-gold macaw was still able to fly. As he stopped by a post of a door, he gazed sombrely at Zephyr and company as they talked about searching for Triton and Iris now that it was morning, the cats and greyhounds just walking by the macaws and cockatoos without even acknowledging them.

Like Iapetus and company, Saturn was sceptical of Triton being responsible for causing Nico and Pedro the trouble last night by sending that pack of marmosets to ransack their club and cause injury and near death to their clubbers including their respective partners, Sparkle and Rose. 'If Triton hadn't caused Nico and Pedro that trouble last night,' thought Saturn, 'then it's obvious that someone else had, but the question is… who?'

As this question churned in his mind, a voice behind him said, "I sure hope those navy blue skuas and their red skua friend are alright after what happened last night."

At this, Saturn turned round and saw Mumble, Balthazar and Ginny walk in, concern lacing their faces.

"It-it's too complicated," said the blue-and-gold macaw to the three penguins, before examining the large flightless seabirds properly, "So you're from Antarctica?"

"Yes we are," said Mumble, "We're from Emperor-Land."

"You know that's WELL OVER 5000 miles away from here," Saturn said, "When I heard you explain to us that you came from there, I just couldn't believe my ears."

Mumble, Ginny and Balthazar's faces fell.

"We've been travelling the oceans looking for our lost penguin chick named Atreyu," said Ginny, "He was torn from a fishing trip a few weeks ago when a fishing boat came and he got caught in one of its nets and whisked away…"

Saturn sighed. This incident sounded eerily parallel to what happened to so many animals out in the forest at the hands of loggers and how some youngsters sometimes ended up separated from their families when those destructive machines ravaged their homes. Only big difference was Mumble and company's incident was out at sea and not in a rainforest.

"And wasn't that fishing boat supposed to be there?" he asked, "I thought fishing had been banned around Antarctica due to the effect it was having on the fishing stocks."

At this, Mumble shot the blue-and-gold macaw an astonished gaze. "I can't believe how well you land skuas know about our food supply and the cause of its diminishment…"

"We heard about it on the news at some point," said Saturn when he realised what Mumble had called him, "And I'm a macaw by the way, not a skua. A skua's a seabird"

"We had no idea of what sort of bird you are," said Balthazar, "Actually, we thought you were some type of seabird that lives far inland…" his gaze then began to scan the rooms, and a smile of intrigue formed on his face. "So this is what those aliens live in? Mumble told me that they are called buildings."

"This construction is called a house or cottage," said Saturn, "It's what most humans live in but they can also live in caves, tents, and even in boats out at sea, but out depends on where they live."

"Interesting," said Ginny in awe. Then Saturn returned to the subject about the missing penguin chick, a sympathetic look on his face.

"By the way, I'm so sorry for your loss," he said sadly, before he bowed his own head, "We've lost quite a few of our own kids as well, but they were captured deliberately, not by accident like your penguin chick."

"Those aliens sometimes catch animals?" asked Mumble. Saturn gazed at the chick-like penguin with a scowl on his face.

"Some of them do, and such people are called poachers or smugglers," he said with distaste lacing his voice, "But they don't catch animals to preserve them like caring humans, they catch them for the stuff they call money."

"Money?" repeated Balthazar in confusion.

"Slips of paper and metallic discs humans use in trading," said Saturn. Balthazar exchanged glances with Mumble and Ginny.

"The alien world sure seems to get stranger and stranger the more we learn about it, doesn't it?" asked Mumble. The other two penguins nodded.

"And I suppose you rarely get human visitors to your home don't you?" asked Saturn.

"Only once," said Mumble, "It was when we emperor penguins communicated with them about the fish shortages in our seas."

"Mumble here was the hero that saved our food supply," said Ginny with a proud smile at the penguin who resembled a chick from the belly upward due to his blue eyes, downy feathers and white and black head markings, "He taught us how to dance."

"Sounds like you've had quite an adventure," said Saturn with a small smile. The three penguins nodded in agreement.

Outside in the garden, the remaining kids were playing with Broccoli, Daisy, Collette, James, Dash and Ginger joining them to help keep watch over them. Ebony, Avellana, Rusty, Cleo and Fido had come to join them for a change of scene. As they watched the kids including Avellana and Rusty's two puppies and also Yolanda, Peach, Bruno and Oscar play ball or do other things, Vincent sitting out to read a book due to his broken wing in a cast, Ganymede sat with Felix, Turquesa, Alexandre, Estelle, Dione, Brooke and Broccoli. Ganymede gazed at the grumpy look on Broccoli's face.

"You're still mad at Mom, Aunt Ultramarine and the others aren't you regarding Triton and Iris," said the grounded scarlet macaw. Broccoli replied with a silent nod before speaking.

"Yes," said the tabby cat and Veggie lookalike, "I think they have been utterly disgraceful, jumping to conclusions about that poor couple regarding the marmoset incident at Nico and Pedro's club last night without first investigating the situation based on Triton's protests of innocence. Nico, Pedro, Rafael, Eva, Sparkle and Rose are no different. This is NOT something Mom and Dad (that is, Catina and Veggie) would have wanted those macaws to do to their own family member when he hasn't done anything, and certainly not Blu and the others."

Ganymede nodded in agreement while Estelle, a scowl on her face, growled, "Absolutely not," she flashed a glance at Xander, Kayley, Diego, Austin, Lilac and Winona as they dashed past after the ball with Katniss, Cleo, Fido and some of the others in the opposing team in pursuit after them.

"If that were to happen to either of our chicks, Xander or Kayley," said Alexandre, "And they were being outright honest, I would believe THEM and not the complainers of the incident and would look into whoever has set them up to land them in trouble."

"That's correct, Alexandre," said Avellana nearby as she sat with Rusty. When these two, along with their puppies and Ebony had arrived, Dash had explained everything that had happened last night to them.

"I just hope Triton and Iris are vindicated as soon as possible," said Rusty.

"I HOPE they are," snapped Felix harshly, his three-layered crest spiked out like an urchin, a trait that was common amongst his family passed down from Roberto, his father, "Because if not, poor Triton's gonna be penalised for something he had never done."

"He'd never associate with those marmosets anyway," put in Dione, "neither would Iris for they both know how troublesome those little monkeys can be."

"I remember witnessing a group of those marmosets steal some of those glitter things from a family of humans while they were walking under us while we were eating the other day," said Turquesa, "The adults were distracted by both their children and some of the marmosets while another group snaffled their glitter things while they were not looking."

"You mean jewellery?" said Brooke.

"Jewellery, of course," said Turquesa, "That's when Felix and I were on an outing the other day."

"Yes, many of those marmosets are utterly mischievous," said Alexandre, "But at lweast they're not as bad as those numerous you-know-whos."

The others, knowing that Alexandre was referring to the malicious toucans nodded in agreement.

"You also told us that Carla, Bia and Tiago's parents, Uncle Blu and Aunt Ju-Ju, were targeted by a bunch of marmosets during their first dance at a certain bird's club, am I right?" asked Felix. Broccoli nodded and said, "Yes, that was when that disgusting cockatoo persuaded them into finding and stealing that couple for him."

Felix, Turquesa, Alexandre, Estelle, Dione, Ganymede and Brooke all nodded to this, remembering the story of Blu and Jewel's first dance getting interrupted by a marmoset attack. Blu and Jewel had also told Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Ceres, Pluto and their mates and the others about the marmosets and how they were often bad news. Not all marmosets, however, were mischievous and troublemakers for some of them were good friends with some of the avian residents on the Blu Bird Sanctuary but it was better to keep away from any strange marmoset group for safety reasons. Then the seven macaws, Broccoli, Avellana and Rusty returned to watching the kids as they continued to play.

Just outside the garden's fence, Eustace and Serena were going for a walk. They had left Vincent, Yolanda and Oscar in the care of Milo, Clemont and Serena so that they could have some lone time. The couple was worried for Triton and Iris and had hoped they were alright, as well as Sheldon who they had heard had stormed off into the night last night. However, the two of them had not been surprised.

"You know, based on what Aunt Ruby, Aunt Brisa, and Mom (Sunset) and Dad (Travis) had described to Roberto about Sheldon's behaviour after they had returned," said Eustace to his pure sulfur-crested mate, "Sheldon must have been utterly furious."

"At least it's not about Io that time," said Serena, "and since he has returned, it is possible that he wants to reconcile with his mate after his falling out with her."

Eustace nodded in agreement. Suddenly, a mocking voice shouted, "Well, if it ain't the one-legged cockatoo."

At this the cockatoo couple snapped their gazes in the direction of the speaker and found a trio of pigeons, all with mocking glares on their faces, laugh at them. Their eyes were especially on the stump of what was Eustace's left leg. At this, the cockatoo couple stopped and glared at the pigeons.

"Hey, fruity crest," said the second pigeon, its mocking voice aimed at Eustace, "Where's ya other foot? Did a dog come along and bite it off or sommat?"

And at this, laughter erupted from the three pigeons, especially as Eustace's eyes flashed with hurt. However, it had ignited rage and disgust within Serena. Shooting her wings out and flaring her pure yellow crest, the sulfur-crested cockatoo lunged at the three pigeons, screeching loudly. The three pigeons, startled, tried lofting into flight but Serena shot around them and blocked their escape. Then the cockatoo glared at the three pigeons, her eyes blazing green fire.

"How dare you mock my mate's missing leg, you trio of insensitive rats with wings and feathers," growled Serena in a dangerously low voice, before escalating her voice to a screech, "How DARE YOU!"

This sent a shockwave tearing through the pigeons and made them flinch. Then the three birds began to tremble. In the background, Eustace looked on at the pigeons with hurt lacing his eyes. Serena then went on.

"Now you will APOLOGISE to my mate and LEAVE," continued she, her crest fully flared, "Is that clear?"

No reply, so Serena reinforced her message with a massive bellow. "I said, IS THAT CLEAR!?"

The pigeons, terrified by the fury burning within the cockatoo's glare and crest, nodded timidly and turned to Eustace, hastily issued him an apology and then darted off into flight like startled insects. Satisfied that the pigeons had learned their lesson, Serena returned to Eustace's side.

"And if those three flying rats ever mock you again, I WILL seize them and give 'em a piece of my mind," growled the sulfur-crested cockatoo, "No-one, but NO-ONE mocks my mate like that, especially for the loss of your leg."

Eustace, at this, was lifted by Serena's protectiveness and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"You know, I have never met a cockatoo who is so defensive against the result of my ordeal," cooed the oldest son of Travis and Sunset, "You're just like Iris defending Triton against mockers of his scarred face."

"I couldn't agree more," said Serena, her forehead and beak against Eustace's, "Especially if it's as a result of a massive war when protecting some of your allies."

Eustace nodded in agreement. Just then the couple's ears picked up the sounds of wing flaps. At this, the cockatoos looked up and to their surprise; they saw several familiar forms melt out of the street of houses. Two of them were black with brightly coloured beaks extending in front of them, another was blue-grey and ivory, a fourth was brown and beige and a fifth was orange and light blue.

"Tom, Diantha, Orion and Hermione?" said Eustace with surprise, "What are they doing here? And isn't that…" his eyes shifted to the orange and light blue form. This form was a falcon but it was smaller than the peregrine falcon and his merlin mate. Its head and wings had the aqua blue while its body was orange and white. Black dots were sprinkled all over its body and the tips of its wings were black. Serena recognised the small bird of prey. She had seen this bird while he was hanging out with Velocity, Merlin and some other members of the Control de Plagas Squad during an outing with Travis, Sunset and the rest of the cockatoo family at some point.

"That's Vulcan, one of the American kestrels of the Control de Plagas Squad," said Serena. Then her green eyes picked up a spot of colour in the talons of the kestrel and the other four birds as they came closer. After taking some time to deduce what these things were, shock came over her.

"Uh-oh," said the sulfur-crested cockatoo.

"What is it?" asked Eustace. Serena pointed a talon at the cargo of the five birds. Soon, the quintet was close enough for the cargo to be seen. As Tom, Diantha, Orion, Hermione and the kestrel named Vulcan flew past, their faces twisted into scowls which clearly indicated fury, Eustace examined the cargo. One of the cargo pieces, the one carried in Orion's talons, appeared to be some sort of cloak of feathers, but it wasn't any other feathers. Furthermore, it was large enough to cover two cockatoos stacked on one another, or a certain macaw species that was twice the size of Eustace and Serena when fully grown. In Vulcan's talons was some sort of small tiny bottle filled with a yellow substance. Eustace had seen this type of substance in these small bottles in the makeup box sometimes carried by one of Fernando's female friends and he remembered that this stuff was used by human females to paint their faces. Tom, meanwhile, was carrying some sort of fruit shell while in Hermione's talons, a large leaf hung out from under the merlin, and Diantha had some of the feathers from the cloak in her talons. As the five birds passed by the two cockatoos, unaware of their presence, and continued in the direction of the cottage, Eustace continued to examine the pieces of cargo.

"That cloak looks like some sort of navy blue bird suit," he said, "And that leaf that Hermione's got looks like a band…" at this, the sulfur-crested/Major Mitchell's hybrid broke off as deduction came upon him.

"Eustace," said Serena, "What are you trying to get to?"

Eustace turned his head and gazed at his sulfur-crested mate, his face laced with dread.

Back in the garden, Saturn, Cobalto and Zephyr were outside talking with Mumble, Balthazar and Ginny while Roberto, Brisa, Travis, Sunset, Sapphire, Chiquitita, Ruby, Orquidea, Esmeralda, Ultramarine and Lapis Lazuli were in the attic preparing to go out into the city once again to search for Triton and Iris. Andromeda and Melissa, meanwhile were watching over the kids and the bat-birds, Melissa calling Ferdinand away from the fence's edge.

"So you say you've come all the way up north to here from the Antarctic continent?" asked Zephyr to Mumble in astonishment.

"Yes, that's true," said Mumble.

"We've been travelling for weeks from our homeland to search for our missing son," said Ginny.

"His name is Atreyu," added Balthazar. At this, Cobalto, Zephyr and Saturn exchanged confused glances.

"I'm afraid we don't know any chick named Atreyu," said Cobalto. At this, the three emperor penguins' faces fell. Cobalto continued. "But you three shouldn't be here in Brazil. I think you could do with some sort of transportation by our human friends back to the Antarctic Circle where you belong."

"But how are those aliens gonna take us back to Emperor-Land?" asked Mumble.

"Aliens?" repeated Cobalto in confusion.

"I believe he means humans," said Saturn, before turning back to Mumble and his two companions, "Our human friends have machines they have built to fly, but they are gonna need a stronger flying machine to take you all the way back to Antarctica…"

As he spoke, a voice came from behind him.

"Saturn, Zephyr, Cobalto," it said.

"Not now, Orion," said Zephyr who recognised the voice's owner, "We're trying to discuss with these three flightless seabirds how they are gonna get back to their homeland…"

"But Zephyr," protested another voice, Diantha's, "We have something that you MUST see."

"We believe that these materials may have been used by someone to set up Triton to land him in trouble with the marmoset attack on Nico and Pedro's club," came Hermione's voice. At this, Saturn turned round and saw two toucans (friendly toucans), a peregrine falcon, a merlin and a kestrel standing a metre behind him, Zephyr and Cobalto, some materials in their wings. Zephyr and Cobalto also turned round and saw the quintet. Turning back to Mumble, Balthazar and Ginny, Zephyr said, "Excuse us," and left to speak with Orion and the other four, leaving the trio of emperor penguins to exchanged confused glances and shrug. As the male green-eyed Spix macaw, the blue-throated macaw and blue-and-gold macaw stood before Orion and company, Diantha came forward and placed the materials before the three macaws, a furious look on her face.

"This appears to be some sort of macaw suit made of these navy blue feathers," explained Rafael and Eva's daughter, "which has the same colour as a hyacinth macaw," she then brandished a flight feather that came from the suit and handed it to Zephyr for him, Cobalto and Saturn to examine before turning to the leaf, "and this appears to be some sort of leaf bandana."

"This," said Orion, his talon holding up a small bottle of yellow stuff, "is a bottle of yellow human facial makeup."

He then handed it to Saturn and he took it and looked at it. Then Vulcan came forward with two pieces of fruit shell of a familiar shape but larger.

"And these fruit shells bear a strong resemblance to a parrot's beak," said the kestrel as he passed it to Cobalto. The three macaws then began to examine the materials. Behind the three macaws, Sapphire, Esmeralda and Ultramarine came in. When they saw Orion and the other four, surprise came upon their faces. Broccoli and James also came in, as did Serena and Eustace. Then after a few more minutes of examining the materials, Cobalto, Zephyr and Saturn glared at Orion, Diantha, Tom, Vulcan and Hermione.

"Hmm, it appears that these things resemble that leader of the marmoset gang's description of Triton last night," said Zephyr with a growl.

"Where did you find these?" asked Cobalto. Vulcan came forward, a frown on his face. However, behind him, Diantha, Tom, Orion and Hermione and the fence, a pair of eyes peered through the gaps in the bars.

"While we were browsing a mango tree with some small birds, among them Tiny, during an outing with them to help them find some fruit for the evacuated residents," said Vulcan, "We found those things stashed in a nearby hollow."

"That cloak," said Diantha, a point to the cloak of navy blue feathers, "Is big enough to coat a hyacinth macaw or two birds the size of me and Tom."

When she saw the demanding looks on Zephyr, Cobalto and Saturn's faces, she went to answer the question, but nothing could prepare them for what came out of her multi-coloured beak. "We found these materials in the hollow of Mable, one of my many, many sisters, and her massive family's hollow. Thankfully those toucans were asleep when we took those materials to show you."

"Otherwise we would have been set upon by that couple's vast number of chicks and viciously attacked," added Tom. At this, immense shock tore through Zephyr, Cobalto and Saturn, and their beaks dropped open in disbelief. Nearby, Sapphire, Esmeralda and Ultramarine's heads jolted up while Broccoli, James, Eustace, Serena and Ebony all flinched. Behind the fence, the watcher also flinched and released a startled squeak. Then Zephyr's face creased ion to a scowl.

"You've got to be kidding, you five," growled the Spix macaw.

"Are you meaning to say that Mable and her mate might have been the ones to have dressed up as Triton and send those marmosets to destroy Nico and Pedro's club in order to set up that hyacinth macaw so that he could end up in trouble?" added Saturn, outrage tearing through him. The heads of all five in Orion's group nodded.

"It would seem so," said Diantha with a frown. Then Cobalto shot Saturn and Zephyr a horrified look.

"We'd better tell the others, and most importantly Nico, Pedro, Sparkle, Rose, Rafael and Eva of these FINDINGS ASAP!" he blurted out.

"Got it, Cobalto," said Zephyr. He then turned to Sapphire, Esmeralda and Ultramarine who had been standing nearby sand listening and said, "You three set up a search party to find Triton and Iris and when you find them, tell them that Triton DEFINITELY HAS been set up by someone dressing up as him and sending those marmosets to attack Nico and Pedro's club…" the three said macaws nodded and lofted into flight to report to Ruby and the others of the findings and also relay Zephyr's instructions. Then Zephyr turned to Orion, Hermione, Diantha, Tom and Vulcan, "You go find Rafael and Eva and report the same thing."

Orion's group nodded and took off to find Rafael and Eva while Zephyr turned to Saturn and also Broccoli, Serena, Eustace, Justin, Matilda and Virgil and the others who had been listening to the startling revelation and said, "And you lot stay here with the kids and the penguins while we sort out this mess," a look of pure outrage then crossed Zephyr's face, "While we help Ultramarine and the others find Triton and Iris to tell him that he has definitely been framed."

Broccoli, Serena, Eustace, Justin, Matilda and Virgil, together with Saturn, nodded and left to continue to watch the kids and the three penguins who wore confused looks on their faces, while Zephyr and Cobalto left for the attic to join Ultramarine and the others. Behind the fence, the listener, who had been eavesdropping flashed a horrified, flabberghasted and panicked look on its face and lofted into flight in a black blur streaked with an orange streak like that of Tom's.

 **This is my first chapter to be posted in 2018. Happy new year!**


	55. Chapter 54

**Chapter 54- Blu and the others at the Paradise Sanctuary**

 **Back at the Paradise Sanctuary**

The workers at the Paradise Sanctuary continued their usual work while the animals living there continued their usual activities. However, there was a group of animals skulking about the place and examining it in search of a certain group of kids and kidnapped animals from Rio. Blu and company, who had hitched a ride with the rescuers of Neytiri, Eragon, Marella, Luna, Charon and the two golden fruithawks (who weren't really rescuers at all as observed by Blu and company) on their plane all the way from Brazil to Peru, were searching the Paradise Sanctuary complex for Sandalwood and the others but at the same time were taking in the massive construction and all the animals they had on show. Before leaving the plane, the group had snaffled some fruit from stock of the 'rescuers' plane to eat for breakfast after that long nine-hour flight from outside Rio before departing the plane after the 'rescuers' had left with their cargo and had followed them in their truck to the Paradise Sanctuary site.

Blu and Jewel, together with Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Ceres, Pluto, and Carla, Bia, Tiago, Kira, Charlotte, Lavender and Garrett; Mimas, Io, Europa, Byron and Athos; Stella, Soren and Augustus; Porthos, Titan, Enceladus, Trixie and Oberon; Miranda, Aramis, Titania and Umbriel; Indigo, Victor, Phoebe, Squaw'tagnan, Blueberry, Aiden, Azul, Frodo and Spyro who rode on Victor's back for he could not fly due to being an archaeobird and was not with his bat-bird, hid in the shadows of some plants and gazed out at the passing humans as they went about their jobs on the site, such as caring for the animals. Blu could not help but admire the variety of animals, all of which were endangered and very rare, living in a variety of enclosures, all of which were built to resemble their natural habitat they had apparently been poached from. However, Blu's admiration was acidified by disgust, especially since he and the others now knew that the workers of the Paradise Sanctuary weren't really conserving the rare and endangered animals.

"Looks like these collectors certainly have done a good job in obtaining this many rare and endangered animals from various parts of the world," hissed Linda's macaw companion bitterly.

"They seem to cover up their true intentions by posing as conservationists and scientists as well, complete with their own branch in the daily and weekly science and ecology magazines," put in Jupiter. The scarlet macaw then examined a small group of large, white cats with black stripes as they paced around in one of the enclosures. Jupiter identified these animals as very rare Siberian tigers, tigers that often had white fur with black stripes but with a few splashes of gold in their striped pelt as well.

"Those tigers are from Asia," said Bia as she hid with Carla, Tiago, Kira, Charlotte, Lavender and Garrett. Next to Jupiter, Augustus looked on with worry.

"I hope none of the Amazon reserve inhabitants have been seized by those poachers sneaking around in there and brought here," said the Brazilian flying fox worriedly.

"We're gonna have to take extreme care while we're in this place," added Ceres, "Since these collectors seem to be obsessed with extremely rare and endangered animals, some of us are of those animals ourselves and if we're caught…"

At this, the others, especially Blu, Jewel, Mercury, Venus, Pluto and the other members who were of rare species, such as Frodo the Cuban macaw and Spyro the archaeobird, all flashed the blue-throated macaw a dreaded look, obviously understanding what she was referring to. Then Frodo's face twisted into a scowl.

"There's no way WE'RE going to allow those collectors to make US part of their trophies," hissed the Cuban macaw with disgust.

"It's obvious that these so-called conservationists are actually animal collectors in disguise," said Tiago.

"They're obviously giving all genuine conservationists, such as Tulio and his team, a bad name," put in Bia disgustedly.

"Especially since they are hiring poachers to bring them those animals," added Carla.

"And I'd hate to think that those other animals have been poached from their native environments for these collectors as well," said Athos as he hid with Mimas, Io, Europa and Byron.

"Well it seems to imply that," said Indigo, "Especially based on what those poachers who took Eragon and the others said when we were following them in Brazil last night."

"Look, let's just find Sandalwood and the others," said Blu firmly, "The sooner we get those kids, along with Eragon and the other six including the golden fruithawks out of there, the better. Now let's move and fly."

The others nodded in agreement and prepared to move to the next hidden spot.

Meanwhile, back in Dundee's jungle, Neytiri, Eragon, Marella, Luna and Charon were all flustered as they fussed over Sandalwood and the others just outside the entrance to Dundee's tent. Kiara had explained to these five about a murderous, parrot-detesting chameleon named Dalek who was still on the loose and how he was a massive danger to all the parrot members of the community for he had been seizing countless victims from here and shoving them into the Compartment of the Carnivores for some caracals and servals to eat, among other things. However, the thought of being caught and shoved into an area where a bunch of parrot-eating wildcats lived had stricken fear and worry into the five newcomers, especially Neytiri and Charon for they were macaws and were thus likely targets. However, that was just one of their worries. Luna fussed over Betelgeuse's tattered left wing and Sylvester's missing tail feathers while Marella, Neytiri, Charon and Eragon fussed over Gladion's broken wing which was still in a leaf cast.

"I can't believe you were almost killed by those savage wildcats in the next compartment as described to us by that weird snouted porcupine when she took us to this leafy construct," said Neytiri as she continued to hold Betelgeuse's tattered wing with her functional wing for her other wing was still in the cast.

"She's an Australian echidna," said Acerola from the crowd of kids. Sirius, Spica and Bellatrix nodded in agreement.

"Whatever mammal she is," said Neytiri, much to the group's disgruntled exchange of glances.

"It's gonna be difficult getting you lot out of here," said Charon before his gaze moved to Sandalwood, Gladion and Sylvester, "Not only have we got Sandalwood's immense fear of flying to deal with, now we've got Gladion with a broken wing, Sylvester with a tattered tail which would impede his ability to fly properly," his gaze then turned back to Betelgeuse, "and Betelgeuse with some of her primary flight feathers missing from her left wing."

Betelgeuse wore an outraged look on her face as the adult glaucous macaw said this. "That horrid colour-changing snake in that dome cap tore out some of the feathers from my wing to prevent me from flying away from those wildcats if I were to escape," she growled.

"It was to make her easier to catch by those caracals and servals to consume," said Sirius. His gaze then travelled to a certain family of scarlet macaws as they continued to wallow in their grief, "But one of the chicks from that family over there," he said, nodding to Sardonyx, Greg, Steven and Kevin, "had to sacrifice himself to save me and Sandalwood during Betelgeuse's rescue…"

At this, Luna whirled round and seized the oldest son of Bia and Virgil with her membranous wings, a terrified and outraged glare on her face.

"You COULDN'T HAVE confronted that pack of INCREDIBLY DANGEROUS WILDCATS!" she bellowed, shaking Sirius as she said this. Then Sandalwood, Spica, Cytosine, Thymine and Antares stepped forward to confirm to Luna that they had also been in that dangerous area to rescue Betelgeuse as well.

"We participated in that rescue too," said Cytosine, "Along with one with some of the other kids from this place."

As the Catalina macaw said this, a certain grey-headed flying fox slowly approached the tent entrance with two penguins. Connie, Finnick and Atreyu had come in to listen to the conversation, concerned looks on their faces. As Luna's dread-filled pinkish gaze scanned the other five kids who had helped Sirius to rescue Betelgeuse until they landed on the first one, immense horror tore through her. Then Eragon, one of his wings also in a cast for his shoulder was still healing, came in, a disbelieving look lacing his face.

"Let me get this straight," he said, "You five also confronted that pack of dangerous wildcats to rescue this chick, along with Sirius?" he gestured to Betelgeuse with the claws on his other wing as he said this. Sandalwood, Spica, Cytosine, Thymine and Antares confirmed this by nodding their heads. Eragon's shocked gaze then landed on Sandalwood, who flinched.

"But how can this BE!?" blurted out the archaeobird, "Sandalwood is too afraid to FLY!"

However, Luna intervened, outrage lacing her face.

"Well, however they have managed to rescue Betelgeuse from the jaws of those bird-eating brutes," she growled, "Those six have been outright NAUGHTY!"

The albino bat then directed her furious glare on Sandalwood, Spica, Cytosine, Thymine and Antares and also Sirius who winced and backed away, "YOU lot SHOULDN'T have messed with a bunch of PREDATORS, you six. YOU could have been KILLED!"

The amber flying fox pup, the two Spix macaw chicks, two Catalina macaw chicks and the green macaw chick all winced as Luna shouted the last word, before bowing their heads in shame. It was then that some of the other kids rushed forward and came between the six kids and Luna, much to her surprise. Among them were Acerola, Polaris, Sylvester, Vega, Petunia and Deneb, and their faces were laced with defensive anger.

"Look, if they hadn't taken action," said Acerola, "Betelgeuse could have been EATEN ALIVE!"

Betelgeuse just gazed at Sandalwood's cousin and said nothing.

"And furthermore," added Polaris, "Dundee and the other animals here wouldn't have KNOWN that there was a murderous chameleon running amok targeting parrots to feed to those caracals and servals in the other compartment."

"That is why all the parrots, including us, have been evacuated here for their safety," put in Sylvester, before his gaze turned to the colourful sea of feathers formed by the various parrot species, many of which were rare and endangered. Luna, Eragon, Neytiri, Charon and Marella followed Sylvester's gaze and examined the crowd of parrots as they continued to talk or play.

"A cockatoo, two kakapos," added Vega, a nod to three grounded parrots as they rested at the front of the parrot flock, "and perhaps countless other parrots have been forced into the Carnivore Compartment and devoured by Carnassial and his gang."

"And I was almost the next victim," said Sylvester, much to the shock of the five adults. Marella shot the other four a look.

"Sounds like this strange place is dangerous than it looks, you four," she said, "We'd better get outa here with these kids now."

"But how are we gonna do that?" asked Eragon, "Some of us cannot fly. Betelgeuse is missing her left wing flight feathers… Sylvester's missing his tail… Gladion, I and Neytiri still have broken wings… we still don't have our bat-birds…" his gaze then turned to Sandalwood, "and Sandalwood there is too afraid to fly."

"We could perhaps sneak aboard one of those trolleys I've seen some of those humans push around outside," said Charon, "and hitch a ride on them to the outside of the building…"

"I'm afraid getting out of here is not possible," said a new voice. At this, Charon, Neytiri, Marella, Eragon and Luna all turned round and saw three newcomers, a grey-headed flying fox pup, an emperor penguin chick and a macaroni penguin chick walk in, their faces laced with pity.

"Those humans will not allow their animals to escape the artificial jungle," said Connie, the flying fox pup before her gaze fixed upon the first four adults, "And certainly not you four since you are part of two of the many rare species of bird that lives here for one, and that you two," her gaze fixated on Charon and Neytiri, "are to be the breeding pair of glaucous macaws here for another."

At this, disgust tore through Neytiri and Charon.

"We're to be WHAT!?" snapped Charon, his dark turquoise and grey feathers bristling. At this, Saiph, Denebola and Regulus came forward.

"It's true," said Saiph, "Those human 'carers' have been aiming to bring in a breeding pair of glaucous, Spix, Lear's, Cuban red and Dominican green-and-yellow macaws to establish a family of each of those species here."

"Archaeobirds as well," put in Betelgeuse, her gaze on Marella, "Those humans are likely to be searching for a male of your species and your age, capture him and bring him here so that you can breed and establish a family of archaeobirds in this place."

"Where did you guys find that out?" asked Marella. Atreyu came in.

"In the humans' rooms," said the emperor penguin chick. Then Connie's gaze turned to outside and landed on a pair of golden and yellow hawk-like birds as they sat in the branch of one of the trees. Although these hawks were strictly vegetarian, Connie still shuddered at the sight of their hooked beaks and dagger or fishhook-like clawed talons, traits she knew of birds of prey and their use in butchering prey. However, Connie did not realise that those lethal looking beaks and claws were used for butchering the flesh of _fruit,_ rather than the flesh of _small animals_ like small birds and mice, for these were vegetarian, herbivorous hawks, which was the reason why those two hawks had been imported into this compartment and not the Carnivore Compartment. Then Acerola and Sandalwood walked in and spotted the two golden fruithawks as well.

"What are those birds of prey?" asked Acerola timidly. Charon, Neytiri, Marella, Eragon and Luna gazed at the couple of fruithawks as they glared at their new surroundings, disgust clearly lacing their eyes.

"They're the pair of golden fruithawks from Tulio's Aviary," said Eragon with a frown, much to the surprise of Sandalwood, Acerola and the other kids.

"Golden fruithawks?" repeated Gladion with curiosity as Lillie, his sister, came up beside him.

"Those two are the very last known pair of that species alive," said Luna, "And it seems that those two have been seized by those poachers and brought here by those human workers of this place."

"Their names are Gylfie, the female, and Aurum, the male," added Marella. Then Eragon frowned.

"That leader of the Rio animal preserver group is gonna go ballistic when he realises that those two fruithawks have been taken…" he said worriedly.

"Leader of the Rio animal preserver group?" repeated Charon, "You mean Tulio?"

Then Eragon stiffened. Adenine, Guanine, Betelgeuse, Rigel and Acerola, along with Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka, Saiph, Arcturus, Bellatrix, Altair, Lillie, Pitaya and Alegria also all stiffened, but for a different reason. Familiarity was igniting within them… familiarity from their findings during their investigation in the humans' rooms before Betelgeuse was kidnapped and shoved into the Carnivore Compartment. Eragon, however, was stiffened by recognition and realisation, especially as some words began to play in his mind… the words exchanged by some humans with some of the Tulio's Aviary staff regarding the fruithawks back in Rio.

"Eragon," said Charon with concern.

"Are you okay?" asked Neytiri. Eragon's wing claws just shot out and issued the glaucous macaw pair a 'quiet' gesture. Then Eragon's eyes closed tightly as he tried to recall the conversation that took place between three of the Tulio's Aviary staff and some strangers in the breeding chamber of the Aviary in Rio, the others looking on in wonder.

" _Oh, come on. I'm sure they'll be fine at our conservation area in Peru."_

" _And besides that, our area has an artificially grown indoor jungle with real fruit-bearing trees, other real plants and other real environment-based things like a lake, and I'm sure those two fruithawks would thrive in that environment. In addition, there are other animals that would make great friends for them."_

"Conservation area… Peru… Artificially grown indoor jungle…" mulled Eragon as he held his eyes tight shut and replayed these specific words exchanged between Francisco's group and the group of unfamiliar humans back in Tulio's Aviary. Marella, Luna, Charon, Neytiri, Sandalwood, Acerola and the others including Atreyu, Finnick and Connie exchanged confused glances as Eragon continued to remember the scene he had witnessed with some of the other birds including Blu. Then the older male archaeobird strode outside of Dundee's tent entrance and began to scan the surroundings, taking in the animals and artificial jungle, the others still watching on. As he did this, realisation began to well within Eragon. It was though things were falling into place. Behind Eragon, Alnitak and company, those who had been investigating the humans' rooms, including Betelgeuse and Rigel, continued to gaze at the fruithawks, Adenine mulling, "Golden hawk… creature… Rio."

Then a while later, Eragon turned to Connie, Atreyu and Finnick, a suspicious scowl thrown on his face.

"You three," he said, "Where are we?"

At this, Connie, Atreyu and Finnick only exchanged confused glances, so Altair stepped in.

"Iquitos, Peru, Grandpa," he said. The moment the 'P' word came out of his grandson's beak and reached Eragon's ears, the older male archaeobird's face morphed instantly to a horrified look.

"Eragon," said Neytiri.

"What is it?" asked Marella. Sandalwood and the others came in. Then Eragon's face morphed into an angry scowl before turning to the pair of fruithawks.

"I believe I know why those two fruithawks have been taken alongside us five," he said firmly and in a confirmatory voice, "And something else."

"You know why, Grandpa?" asked Altair.

"And something else?" put in Charon confused. Eragon only replied with a silent stare laced with suspicion.

Sometime later, Eragon was explaining everything to Charon, Neytiri, Marella and Luna, including his memory of the conversation he had witnessed between Francisco and two other humans and a group of unfamiliar humans in Tulio's Aviary. The listeners' heads jolted and their faces threw on horrified looks. As Eragon continued talking with the other four, Sandalwood, Acerola, Gladion and Lillie looked on. Adenine then came in, a frown on his face.

"I think those two fruithawks must be the 'golden hawk creatures from Rio' as I've read on that list in the humans' rooms," said the Catalina macaw, a nod to the pair of gold and yellow birds as they grumpily ate a mango.

"Well, if that is the case," said Lillie, her gaze also on the fruithawks, "Then those humans that work here have succeeded in catching those two."

Sandalwood, Acerola and Gladion only stole a glance at Gylfie and Aurum and returned their gazes to Eragon's group.

"Those three humans I have witnessed talking with three of the Rio aviary human workers alongside Blu, Jewel, Jupiter, Iris, Triton and Ceres the other night seemed to be three of the humans from this place," said Eragon to Charon, Neytiri, Marella and Luna, "And I believe they may have had their eyes on those two fruithawks over there," he nodded to the pair of golden hawk-like birds as they continued munching on a mango, a platypus (Reepicheep) coming by to check on them, before returning his gaze to the listeners. Eragon's gaze then hardened, "And that has taken me to a possible conclusion as to what was behind the motivation of those poachers' attack on us with that cylinder and the gas that knocked us out in the Rio aviary…"

"Where are you trying to get at, Eragon?" asked Charon. Eragon flashed another glance at the fruithawks.

"I'm wondering if those poachers had taken those two fruithawks from that Rio aviary along with us," said the archaeobird before turning back to his listeners, "And have been given to some human group who then passed us on to be imported into this place…"

The archaeobird's face then twisted into a frown. "Now call me speculative but… I believe those poachers that knocked us out with that cylinder and the gas back in Rio might have been sent by some of the humans who work here to take those two fruithawks by force."

Sceptical looks at this claim came upon the four listeners' faces. Sandalwood, Acerola, Gladion, Adenine and Lillie, and now Betelgeuse, Rigel, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka as well, continued to listen in. Then Charon and Neytiri shook their heads, unconvinced.

"That sounds highly unlikely," said Charon, "One, you don't have much evidence to back up that claim and two, it seems that we have been rescued from the clutches of those poachers by this place's workers…"

However, the adamant look on the claim and theory never left Eragon's face.

"If you four had been there alongside me, Blu and some of the others and have witnessed the conversation between those humans back at the Rio aviary, you four," said the archaeobird, "Then you'd probably understand my theory better."

Charon, Neytiri, Luna and Marella just exchanged glances and shrugged as Eragon got up to leave. From a short distance away, Sandalwood, Acerola, Gladion, Adenine and Lillie, as well as Betelgeuse, Rigel, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka, threw on surprised looks.

"That aim list I read out in one of the human rooms," said Adenine.

"And the conversation of the three humans who work here that we have listened to in that same room," added Rigel.

"That piece of the puzzle seems to fit Mr Eragon's theory perfectly," said Betelgeuse. Her face then twisted into a scowl as she gazed at the others. "It seems definite that the humans who run this place are actually rare animal collectors."

"And they must have used force to seize those two golden fruit-eating hawks over there," said Lillie, her gaze on Gylfie and Aurum as they talked and continued to eat the mango. Then Sandalwood stood tall, his membranous wings on his hips and a scowl on his face as well.

"Well, I just HOPE we could find a way out of this place and back to Brazil!" he growled, "We don't like this place one bit at all."

"Neither does Atreyu," said Acerola, her gaze on the emperor penguin chick who sat on the sidelines to a group of other penguins of various species as they played ball, "He wants to be out of here too."

The others gazed at Atreyu with sympathetic looks and nodded in agreement to this statement.

 **Meanwhile**

"Triton's possibly been SET UP by one of our daughters MABLE!?" cried Rafael in utter disbelief after Diantha, Tom, Orion, Vulcan and Hermione, and also Zephyr and Cobalto who had joined Orion's group after sending out Ultramarine's group to look for Triton and Iris, had finished explaining everything to him and Eva (who was well enough to leave the Aviary medical room) on a roof and showing the couple the materials: the hyacinth macaw coloured feather suit, the bottle of yellow human makeup, the fruit shells shaped like a parrot's beak and the leaf shaped like the bandana Triton often worn over his left eye and forehead. Orion then stepped forward, the cloak of navy blue feathers complete with flight feathers, in his wings and a firm scowl on his face.

"I'm afraid so, Rafael," said the peregrine falcon.

"We found those materials in Mable's family's hollow," added Diantha.

"So it is clear that either she, her mate or someone else has posed as Triton and sent those marmosets into attacking Pedro and Nico's club," added Tom, before the toco toucan son-in-law of Rafael's face hardened, "just so that they could cause that poor hyacinth macaw a lot of misery and perhaps tear him away from Iris by landing him in trouble."

"B-b-but why would one of our daughters do that?" asked Eva. Then a distraught look came upon her face and she raised her beak and put her wings over her eyes, "Honestly, the majority of our FFSRPING'S gone PSYCHOTIC! First it was Sandalwood's incident, then it was him and many of your kids getting poached, then it was the fire incident that nearly killed Eustace and the others with him and now a FRAMING THAT DECEIVED EVEN me and Rafael!? WHAT'S HAPPENING TO OUR FAMILY!?"

As she screeched these words, Zephyr, Cobalto, Diantha, Tom, Orion, Vulcan and Hermione all flinched and covered their ears as their eardrums took a battering from the keel-billed toucan mate of Rafael's screechy voice. The words also echoed into the air above the group and startled some nearby pigeons and other small birds into flight. Eva then began to break down, prompting Rafael to wrap her in his wings while Zephyr's group removed their wings from their almost-battered ears. However, none of Zephyr's group put on sympathetic faces when they saw Eva weep.

"Well, you two are, after all, partly responsible for your numerous offspring's behaviour, Rafael and Eva," said Zephyr sternly, making a disgusted and sorrowful gaze come upon Diantha's face, as well as disbelieving looks on those of Rafael and Eva.

"Yes, their anti-social behaviour," said Cobalto angrily, "Their troublemaking, their violence and on top of that, their breeding like rabbits!"

"B-b-but we've tried our best to persuade our sons and daughters who are breeding like mad but they won't listen," said Rafael, "Don't you remember the foul response Marco, Anastasia, Sofia and some of the others gave us when we tried telling them to stop having more kids, including my driving away by them?"

Zephyr glared at the toucan. He clearly remembered that incident. Then the Spix macaw decided to bring the group back to the main issue before they could go further down the tangent. "Anyway, back to the framing of Triton," he said firmly, "I've sent Ultramarine and the others to look for Triton and Iris and issue them an apology for accusing them of sending those marmosets to attack Nico and Pedro's club, and Rafael and Eva, I suggest you owe us an apology as well."

"We've gotta find Nico, Pedro, Rose and Sparkle too," said Vulcan. Zephyr nodded and raised his wing to signal to the kestrel 'in a minute'. At this, Rafael, a frown on his face, stood up.

"We'll see to that," he said, before turning to the group as a whole, "And we're truly sorry for what we've said to you guys last night. We have also been deceived by the framer who set up Triton who has led us to believing that he was responsible for sending those marmosets to cause Nico and Pedro trouble."

"Apology accepted," said Cobalto, "Now you go and find Nico, Pedro and company and report to them what we've reported to you. We're gonna help Ultramarine and the others to find Triton and Iris."

Rafael and Eva nodded and with that, the two toucans opened their wings and lofted into flight to find Nico, Pedro and their group while Zephyr and the others, the materials in tow, left to search for Triton and Iris.

Some time later, Zephyr, Cobalto, Diantha, Tom, Orion, Hermione and Vulcan had been searching Copacabana beach with no luck. However, the group of seven did find some of the marmosets up to mischief in taking valuables from unsuspecting tourists during their search and had overheard them natter about what fun they had in destroying 'that pair of puny cage birds' club thanks to the good idea of that 'hyacinth macaw with the bandana whose name started with a T'', much to the group's outrage, which prompted the birds to retreat back into the city. As they flew along, the materials in their talons, Tom wore an outraged scowl.

"Those marmosets are pesky primates, like always," muttered the younger toco toucan, "but what's really outrageous is that they are still laughing about the trouble they had caused Nico and Pedro at their club last night."

"That's DEFINITELY a group to avoid," said Diantha, her talons clutching a bandana-like leaf, "The next time we take our little Aurora, and also Lillie and Gladion as soon as they are found and brought back here by Blu and company, hopefully, we'll be talking to them about those marmosets and why they should be avoided."

"I'm wondering if many of your brothers and sisters, nephews and nieces have got involved with those marmosets and may have picked up on their mischievous behaviour at some point, Diantha and Tom," said Vulcan.

"I don't know but I do not wanna find out," said Tom. Vulcan just gazed at the couple and flew on. Zephyr and Cobalto, who flew at the front and carrying the navy blue feather cloak together due to its size, were talking.

"I hope Ultramarine's group has found Triton and Iris at some point, Cobalt," said Zephyr worriedly, calling Cobalto by his nickname which was the English version of his name, "if we haven't done so already."

"Well, those two hyacinth macaws aren't down on the beach so it's obvious they are somewhere in the city," replied Cobalto before the blue-throated macaw's gaze scanned the tall buildings that slowly crept past, "Hopefully those two will have not gone far. I hope they haven't dived into hiding amongst those complex manmade blocks last night."

Zephyr gazed at the tall multi-storey buildings and sighed in agreement. Looking for Triton and Iris in these compact and complicated constructs would take _absolutely ages_ , not to mention a lot of effort and the risk of attracting unwanted human attention since brightly coloured macaws like Zephyr and Cobalto, black birds with brightly coloured beaks like Tom and Diantha, and three drabber coloured falcons like Orion, Hermione and Vulcan carrying some odd materials would likely put them in the spotlight of human gawks. Pulling his gaze away from the tall apartments and buildings, Zephyr led the other six on.

The seven birds continued to fly on until Orion's eyes landed on a familiar form wandering about on the path up to something. At this, the peregrine falcon stopped, prompting the others to slow to a hover as well.

"Hey, isn't that-?" called Orion and with that, he pointed a talon to the form. Zephyr, Cobalto, Vulcan, Hermione, Tom and Diantha followed the falcon's point until their eyes found the same form. The moment they did, either disgust or curiosity ignited within them as recognition took hold. The form Orion had spotted was a bundle of ragged grey-white feathers and he was building something, a trap of some sort. The head bore a pair of brown eyes laced with acidic hatred and rage and below each of those eyes was a bag of red skin. A black beak was below those eyes and on top of the head, a pale stack of crest feathers rested backwards. The wings of the creature were tatty, the occasional feather dropping from them but what surprised Zephyr, Tom, Diantha, Orion, Cobalto, Vulcan, and Hermione the most was that the bundle of feathers was missing something around his midsection: the green and yellow tatty vest. However, Zephyr soon remembered how Stella and Soren had made off with that vest and had disposed of it. Zephyr's blue feathers and blue-white head plumage then began to bristle dangerously and his green eyes flared with pure hatred as he continued to gaze at the familiar creature. Much like Jewel, Zephyr bore an extremely caustic hatred for the cockatoo.

"Nigel?" said Vulcan, "What's he doing still wandering about the streets?"

"Up to no good as usual," growled Diantha in a dangerously low voice, disgust also making her sleek black feathers and reddish underside bristle as well.

"We should go, Zephyr," said Cobalto. Zephyr, however, remained firmly fixated on the ragged white-grey form, which was indeed Nigel, and began to descend towards him, his hatred-saturated glare constantly glued to the cockatoo as he continued setting up his trap.

"Zephyr?!" said Cobalto in annoyance and with that, the blue-throated macaw flew down after him, followed by the two toucans and the three birds of prey. As the seven touched down onto the roof of a nearby house, they peered out from behind the chimney down at Nigel, who was unaware that he was being watched. Nigel was humming a tune to himself as he continued to set up the trap. The trap consisted of a loop of string set on the floor around a piece of fruit and from that loop, the rest of the string ascended upward to a tree branch above Nigel and continued downward to a certain spot Nigel had chosen to be his hiding place. As they continued to watch the cockatoo set up the trap, Hermione deduced what the cockatoo was up to.

"Looks like he's setting a trap for someone," she said, "Specifically…" however, the merlin trailed off, not wanting to say who. Tom and Diantha, disgust saturating their scowls and a conclusion as to who Nigel was planning to lead into his trap already in their heads, looked this way and that until their eyes landed on a pile of acorns on a platform not too far away. An idea entering their head, the two toucans quietly fluttered off to seize them. The other five continued watching Nigel as he stood back and admired his trap, a snide snicker escaping his beak as well as a scheming, evil scowl on his face, which was caught by Vulcan. At this, the kestrel frowned.

"He's _definitely_ planning on trapping someone," he said to the other four, "I can tell from his facial expression."

At this, immense disgust tore through Zephyr and Cobalto, and the two macaws began to shake with rage. On a bird feeder platform nearby, Tom and Diantha had picked up the acorns and had moved their glares to Nigel. Because they were closer to the cockatoo than the other five, the two toucans heard a sentence leave the cockatoo's beak, but it was a sentence that hit the bullseye of the confirmation board of Nigel's plan.

"Now to lure one of them good-for-nothing pretty bird friends of that good-for-nothing Spix worm and his stinking princess girl to here where they'll see this dee-licious pile of mango slices where I'll ensnare them by the foot in the loop," crooned the cockatoo, unaware that he was making a fatal mistake in his plans, "And as soon as that victim is hanging upside down and flailin', I'm gonna come out, tear that victim's feathers out and take a few piccies of that featherless victim to show some of the other animals and humiliate them greatly just as they have humiliated me," the cockatoo's wings went together, "Hopefully, it will bring me up out of this HORRIBLE DAY I've been havin', especially after what humiliation those two overgrown hyacinth budgies and their comrades have done to me last night…"

As the toucan pair heard this, Diantha hissed, "Oh no, you don't, disgusting alley cat with feathers, a beak and talons!" and with that, she and Tom picked up some acorns. From the roof, Zephyr and Cobalto prepared to drop down onto the cockatoo but Orion, Hermione and Vulcan stopped them by hooking their talons onto the pair.

"Do you really think that's a good idea?" asked Orion.

"I thought we're done with that wretch of a cockatoo," put in Hermione, before turning a disgust-laced scowl at the cockatoo as he prepared to leave, perhaps to carry out the next part of his plan.

"We're gonna give that slime-ball a piece of our minds," hissed Zephyr as he struggled in Orion and Hermione's grasp.

"Yes," said Cobalto, before his voice tone became acidified with spite, "Maybe we could take a few pictures of that vestless cockatoo for Blu and Jewel to laugh at, if we had a camera that is!"

"He's leaving," called Vulcan. On the floor, Nigel began to half-dance, half-stride away, a triumphant look on his face as he looked forward to the next part of his scheme. However, those plans were about to be dashed as a pair of toucans who were close friends with Blu and company took their aim above him. Diantha took the first turn. Gazing at the acorn in her talon, she hissed, "Time to hit that cockatoo nut-job on the head with this nut before he goes any further with that plan of his!"

And with that, the half-toco, half-keel-billed daughter tossed the acorn down at Nigel as hard as she could. Zephyr, Cobalto, Vulcan, Orion and Hermione watched in surprise as they saw the acorn careen from Diantha's talon right towards Nigel's head. Then before Nigel could realise what was heading for him, a hard BOP was heard as the acorn hit home. With a screech of shock as sharp pain exploded from the point of impact of a hard nut, the side of the head just below the crest, Nigel suddenly entered a dazed, chaotic, out-of-balance walk, much to the amusement of Diantha, Tom and now Zephyr and the other four as well as they watched, and as the cockatoo did, one of his talons entered the loop he had set down on the floor. Then Vulcan dived down from the roof when he saw this, seized the descending part of the pulley and before Nigel knew it, the cockatoo's foot was ensnared in the loop as it tightened around his angle and was swept right upward! Poor Nigel was turned 180 degrees and soon, his whole world was upside down, much to Diantha and Tom's laughter.

"WHAT THE!?" bellowed the cockatoo incredulously, and with that, he began to flap and screech like mad to free himself from his own trap but the loop around his ankle refused to slacken the only result Nigel had was flailing like a fish upside down from his own trap. As Nigel continued flapping and writhing, the sounds of laughter reached his ears and within moments, the stunned cockatoo's brown gaze landed on a few flying forms. Two of them were black with brightly coloured beaks and lighter coloured fronts (one red-tinted cream and the other pure white), a third was lush blue with a blue-white heads and a blue tuft on his back, a fourth was cobalt blue and rich yellow with a cobalt blue throat patch, the fifth was slate grey and ivory with black dots, the sixth was brown and sandy brown with black streaks strewn through her plumage and the seventh was a maya blue, orange and black bird, and the faces of all seven of them were saturated with amusement and laughter, laughs escaping their beaks. At this, hot rage tore through Nigel as recognition of the seven individuals set in despite hanging upside down by the foot from his loop trap.

"I think this would _definitely_ make a great picture for the other animals, don't you think?" said one of the toucans, Diantha, much to Nigel's shock. Then a hateful, mocking glare of a green-eyed Spix macaw approached Nigel's face.

"Well, Nigel the vulture-face," crooned Zephyr mockingly in a voice tone that was no different from Jewel's, "Still plannin' on causing us trouble, eh?"

Nigel scowled back at the Spix macaw while more laughter erupted from Tom, Diantha, Orion, Cobalto and Hermione. Then a few camera clicks sounded. At this, a horrified shriek left Nigel's beak and when the cockatoo turned round, his pale, ragged crest fully fanned while hanging upside down in mid-air, Nigel saw to his horror that Vulcan had found his camera and was snapping pictures of him. The kestrel released a scornful laugh as he snapped another picture of the upside-down cockatoo.

"Say SEEDS, bat-atoo," chuckled Vulcan as he pressed the 'take picture' button again. Nigel continued screaming in humiliation and flailing wildly as Vulcan took a few more images of him before finally had enough. Then Zephyr, Cobalto, Vulcan, Diantha, Tom, Orion and Hermione, more laughter escaping their beaks, resumed their flight, Vulcan placing the camera down on the footpath or sidewalk for some pigeons to have a look of the photos he took of Nigel. As the seven left, Nigel began to call out to them

"W-w-wait, don't leave me!" called the cockatoo, "GET ME DOOOWWWN!"

At this, Zephyr bluntly turned round and shot Nigel a nonchalant, unsympathetic look.

"YOU get yourself down, cockatoo," said the Spix macaw spitefully, "After all, you were the one who set up that trap to trap someone else, only for Diantha and Tom to foil you," and at the end of this sentence, he spat onto the floor at Nigel to express his detestation of Nigel.

"And besides that, you look better upside down than you do on the ground," added Diantha snidely, sending shock tearing through Nigel. Then some pigeons gathered round Nigel and began to laugh at the cockatoo in his predicament. That did it, the volcanic rage within Nigel finally exploded, coming out in a massive torrent of caustic words and threats, some of it directed at Zephyr's group, and a flailing in his trap once again. However, Zephyr's group just went on their way, the materials such as the feather cloak in their talons. Orion stole a glance behind the group at Nigel.

"I think he could also do with a bar of soap to his beak as well to clean that sewer of a mouth of his out, don't you think?" he tittered. Zephyr, Cobalto, Hermione, Vulcan, Tom and Diantha flashed a smile at the peregrine falcon before the seven resumed their flight, Nigel constantly spewing the torrent of filth from his mouth and flailing like mad upside down by the foot in his loop trap, much to the laughter of the pigeons!


	56. Chapter 55

**Chapter 55- alarm, nervousness and unease**

Blu and the others with him continued moving from one hidden spot to another, their eyes scanning the environment and the passing humans at all times between each and every transition. After a gap in the passing humans appeared in the corridor the group was currently in, Blu darted out from behind a large cabinet and hurried towards a trash can or bin and another set of drawers where he dived into hiding behind these tow objects. After this, he peered out and beckoned to the next macaws in line in the previous hiding place. Jewel took her turn and scurried over to Blu. On the go, she flashed a disgusted glare at the working humans (whose backs were turned to her), before reaching Blu behind the trash can. She breathed a relieved sigh as she slumped against the metallic back of the cabinet, her heart beating with trepidation.

"I honestly don't like this risky quest, Blu," whispered the wary Spix macaw, "I always seem to fear that we might get spotted and seized because we're such rare animals."

Blu didn't reply and beckoned to Carla, Bia, Tiago, Charlotte, Kira, Lavender, Garrett, Mercury and Venus who were next in the line. After waiting for a human to pass by, Venus and Mercury uttered "Go!" to the seven younger Spix macaws and they made break for it. Garrett and Lavender had a small box over them to help conceal their bright blue and blue-purple feathers from view of the humans. One by one, the group of nine reached Blu and Jewel but Lavender and Garrett found that they could not fit the small cardboard box into the hiding space. As the pair struggled to collapse the item, Blu said, "Look, just discard it into the trash can."

When Lavender and Garret flashed a confused look at Blu, Venus came in, took the collapsed box from them and shoved it into the bin, before leading the couple to the hiding place with the others. Next, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Ceres and Pluto darted from the previous hiding place and made a beeline for Blu and company with Mimas, Io, Europa, Athos and Byron close behind. As Byron and Athos, who were at the back of this line fragment, darted behind the trash can, a human happened to walk by. However, Mars and Jupiter had seized the two male red macaws and pulled them behind the cabinet just in time before the human's eyes could spot a splash of red with colourful wings dart behind the trash can. After the human continued on his way, Jupiter looked out and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Do you think any of those humans have seen us yet," said the muscular scarlet macaw to Blu as he did a headcount of the present macaws, all whose faces were laced with trepidation, some of them even trembling with it.

"No, but the dangerous possibility is still in place," replied the brown-eyed Spix macaw.

"Especially if one of us makes one wrong move," put in Uranus as he checked Mimas, Io, Europa, Athos and Byron. Jupiter felt his nerves tremble and his skin crawl. It was true. If any of the group made one mistake, it would put them in serious danger of getting spotted by any of the humans working in this 'conservation' area and would likely blow the cover of the rest of the group and bringing the rare members to exposure and possible capture by these rare animal collectors disguised as conservationists.

Then Neptune led Stella, Soren, Augustus,Porthos, Titan, Enceladus, Trixie and Oberon from the previous hiding spot to Blu's group, followed by Miranda, Aramis, Titania, Umbriel, Indigo and Victor, and Phoebe and Squaw'tagnan. Lastly, Blueberry, Aiden, Azul, Frodo and Spyro took their turn and left the previous hiding spot and dashed as fast as they could towards Blu and company. However, on the way, Spyro's foot landed into something sticky and before the archaeobird knew it, he was stopped in his tracks. At this, Spyro shot an alarmed look at his foot claws and saw that it had landed in a patch of sticky substance and that it was gripping his foot like quicksand. Blueberry, Aiden, Azul and Frodo, as well as Blu and some of the others, drew in alarmed gasps when they saw Spyro's predicament but Spyro urged them on.

"You four go ahead," said the archaeobird to Blueberry, Aiden, Azul and Frodo, "I'll get my foot out of this sticky glop," and with that, he seized his feathered leg with his wing claws and began to try and pull his foot free from the grip of the substance, which Blu had identified as chewing gum much to his disgust, while Aiden, Azul, Frodo and Blueberry, at first torn between helping Spyro and joining the safety of the others' new hiding place, made their choice and did the latter, which was what Spyro wanted for these four, especially for three of them were part of two of the rarest species of macaws. As the four joined the others, Frodo shot a worried gaze at Spyro as he struggled to free his foot from the chewing gum.

"He's a sitting archaeobird in that situation," said the Cuban red macaw, especially as a couple of humans passed by, sending shock and worry tearing through him, "He's gonna get spotted by those collectors…"

"We've gotta do something," said Bia. As she said this, Tiago spotted a small silvery metallic disc (not a money coin) lying close to the other side of the cabinet. His eyes then travelled to a pile of sheets of the stuff humans and animals familiar with human things called paper stacked neatly on a desk across the corridor. At this, a distraction idea entered his head and he seized the metallic disc. While he did that, Charlotte gazed at the sticky glop of yucky stuff holding Spyro's foot to the floor with disgust lacing her face.

"I _never_ liked chewing gum when I first saw that stuff," she muttered, "Not only is it disgusting and unhygienic when it is discarded onto the floor or somewhere, but it also sticks onto the soles of human shoes as well."

"I remember Linda getting a piece of that sticky stuff stuck to her shoe at one time when she took her baby son Tommy for a walk," muttered Mars, "And believe me, she was utterly disgusted."

"Why can't humans throw that stuff away and save others plenty of inconvenience?" added Blueberry as she hid with Aiden.

"Pure laziness," replied Pluto with a sarcastic smirk, "Some people just can't be bothered to look for a bin and throw their trash away."

"Hang on, Spyro," said Jupiter as the young archaeobird continued to struggle to pull his foot from the chewing gum. The scarlet macaw continued flashing wary glances at the passing humans before returning to Spyro who was beginning to show signs of panic welling within him, "I'll help you get your foot out of that gum."

Spyro, his face wrinkled with disgust, scowled at the small pile of disgusting sticky substance as it continued to hold his foot firmly onto the floor. Then after flashing a glance this way and that to make sure that no humans were looking their way, Jupiter darted out towards Spyro, took hold of the young archaeobird's feathered leg and began to help him free his foot from the chewing gum.

"I guess some humans are dirty, careless creatures as well with their waste," muttered Spyro as he and Jupiter struggled to pull the former's foot free of the chewing gum, "I remember Mom and Dad and Uncles Ophiuchus and Anakin, Cousin Spock and Aunt Honeydew and some of the other archaeobirds coming across a young jaguar cub with some sort of human-made bag stuck around its neck and front legs during a patrol outing…" Spyro warily gazed at the corridor as three more humans passed by, "and they struggled to free that poor animal from that suffocating bag while some of the patrollers kept the mother jaguar distracted… they did free it eventually but it had been a very risky task…"

"Jaguars are the apex predators of the forest floor," said Jupiter as he continued to help free Spyro's foot from the chewing gum, "What was the material that the cub had around its neck and paws? Was it a plastic bag of some sort?"

Spyro shot Jupiter a confused look, for the term was not familiar to him. "Plastic?" he said.

"Never mind," said Jupiter, "Let's get you out of this mess before any of those humans sees us..."

As he said this, the scarlet macaw flashed a glance at a pair of humans as they emerged from a room talking. Tension was rising for Spyro and Jupiter were right in the range of these two humans' gaze. This led to tension above the atmosphere above Blu and company.

"Hurry," said Blu, "Hurry, Jupiter."

The others watched on with dread welling within them. That was when Tiago saw the two humans about to turn their gazes in Jupiter and Spyro's direction as they continued to struggle to free the latter's foot from the chewing gum. Tiago then held the metallic disc, a bolt, in his talon and took his aim at the stack of papers on the desk, being careful not to expose himself too much from behind the cabinet. Then as the two humans stopped their conservation and were about to turn their gazes to a spot of colour, the Spix macaw's talon flicked forward and released its only bullet at the paper pile, before he ducked back behind the cabinet. The bolt darted across the corridor and struck into the paper stack. At first, the pages above the point of impact shifted slightly but then gravity got its way with the stack and pulled the pages from the stack. Tiago flinched as the sound of white sheets splashed all over the desk and floor. At this moment, Spyro's foot finally managed to get free of the chewing gum's grip and as soon as this happened, Jupiter quickly carried Spyro to the others and the safety of the hiding place while the two humans, alarmed looks on their faces, rushed over to the collapsed pile of pages and began to scramble to pick them up, utterances of alarms in Spanish emitting from their mouths. Thankfully, the distraction had pulled the humans' gazes away from Jupiter and Spyro's location and the pair had narrowly escaped getting spotted. Blu saw this and flashed a proud smile at Tiago.

"Good thinking, son," he said to his only first-brood son. Tiago smiled back in acceptance of his father's praise while Bia and Carla simply looked on with proud smiles.

"I'd never thought of doing something like that," said Carla.

"Tiago, you're a genius even though at times you can be annoying," said Bia.

"Hey," snapped Tiago with a hint of amusement in his voice. As he said this, Mercury finished the headcount.

"Everyone's here," Blu," he said. Blu smiled at this result before turning his attention to the next step.

"Right, let's move onto the next phase," he said and with that, he moved to the front of the group and to the other side of the cabinet's back. The brown-eyed Spix macaw then peered out from behind the cabinet and began to scan the surroundings. Several more humans, some going to help the first two humans to tidy up the mess of the papers Tiago had made, until his eyes landed on a trolley being pulled by one of the humans, a woman. At this, an idea entered Blu's head, especially as he examined the contents on one of the trolley's three shelves as the woman stopped to talk with one of the humans.

"That looks like fruit," he said to the others as they also gazed at the trolley, "The same sort of fruit that we eat. Now if my theories are correct, that must be food for the department where the rare parrots and other jungle birds are held, and if that is true," Blu paused, "that same compartment might also hold some fruit bats…"

"And if that area holds some fruit bats," said Augustus with a hopeful smile. Stella and Soren also felt hope well within them. Indigo and Victor inched carefully out from behind the cabinet to listen in on the conversation between the trolley puller and one of her colleagues.

"Then we'll be able to find Sandalwood and the others," said Carla, finishing Augustus's sentence to which the flying fox clan patriarch nodded. Blu, a determined look on his face also nodded. This caused hope to well within the other members of the group. Carla, Bia, Tiago, Charlotte, Kira, Lavender and Garett looked forward to being reunited with Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Petunia, Vega, Deneb and Polaris; Mimas looked forward to seeing Adenine, Thymine, Guanine and Cytosine again; Europa, Byron and Athos looked forward to reuniting with Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka and Canopus while Io looked forward to seeing both Betelgeuse and Rigel and hopefully reunite the entire family once they return to Rio to reunite with Sheldon as well as fix and rebuild their almost-shattered relationship; Stella, Soren and Augustus looked forward to reuniting with Sandalwood and Acerola; Porthos, Titan, Enceladus, Trixie and Oberon looked forward to seeingProcyon, Castor, Pollux, Mira, and Fomalhaut; Miranda, Aramis, Titania, Umbriel, Indigo and Victor looked forward to reuniting with Capella, Achernar, Aldebaran, Antares and Gertie; Phoebe and Squaw'tagnan and Blueberry and Aiden, looked forward to seeing Arcturus, Saiph, Regulus and Denebola again; Azul, Frodo and Spyro looked forward to seeing Carmen, Sylvester, Altair, Alegria and Pitaya and all of them were looking forward to seeing Neytiri, Eragon, Marella, Luna, Charon and also Gladion and Lillie, two of Diantha and Tom's chicks who had also been whisked away by the poachers with Sandalwood and the others as well.

As Blu and the others continued examining the trolley and its puller, Victor came in.

"We've translated some of the Spanish words exchanged between those two humans," he said. Then Indigo appeared. For the first time in days, her eyes were sparkling with hope.

"And we have heard the woman mention something about a pair of golden hawks as well as a pair of breeding glaucous macaws," she said, before her gaze turned to the woman as she continued taking with the other human, also a woman, "And she seems to be going to that area with that fruit and other food on that trolley to help feed the birds, bats and other fruit and insect-eating animals that live there…"

As this information reached the others' ears, hope continued to well within them.

"That sounds like…" began Charlotte.

"Those two golden fruithawks that were stolen from Tulio's Aviary," said Venus, finishing her daughter's sentence.

"And 'pair of breeding glaucous macaws' must refer to Neytiri and Charon, who were also taken along with Eragon, Marella and Luna," said Stella, much to the hopefulness of Spyro. The others also exchanged hopeful glances.

"It seems like we're heading in the right direction," said Indigo with a smile.

"That's all we wanna hear, Indigo and Victor, thanks for translating some of the words spoken by those two women for us," he said, making Indigo and Victor smile again and then joined the group. Blu turned to the others, a determined look on his face.

"We're gonna board that trolley which will hopefully be our ticket to the area where Sandalwood and the others are held," he told the others, before turning his gaze to the woman as she continued talking to her friend, "But we must hurry before she leaves."

At this, nervousness began to well within the group. This stage called for quick transition and they knew that there was no room for error, and Spyro shuddered. After the mishap with the chewing gum that almost got him spotted with Jupiter, he knew he could not afford to land in another situation that would not only land him in the risk of getting spotted again, but also delay. The others also did not want to risk facing a similar situation to Spyro, knowing that even if one or two were spotted, everyone else would have their cover blown as well, and Carla, Bia, Tiago and the others who went to Guyana the other year knew how dangerous that was. They had experienced that while near the entrance to the Cave of Glitters and Sparkles in Jurassic Jungle where a heavy density of predatory bat-birds lived and nested, and Miranda had been captured and almost eaten by one of them until; Lavender came to her rescue despite the risks. It was now or never.

Then Blu examined the trolley one more time to pick out potential hiding spots on the cargo. However, as he did that, the brown-eyed macaw companion of Linda and the others were unaware that something had spotted them, but it was not one of the humans that worked here. As Blu continued examining the trolley, from across the corridor in a shadow under a set of drawers, a pair of eyes opened and glared like a laser at the Spix macaw and his companions. These eyes were laced with wrath, especially as they examined Blu and the macaws around him, in particular the teal-eyed Spix macaw with cerulean feathers, the hazel-eyed cerulean Spix macaw who bore a striking resemblance to her, the younger male brown-eyed Spix macaw who resembled a slender version of his father Blu and the chubby green-eyed Spix macaw who resembled Jewel to a degree. As these eyes took in the features of this family of Spix macaws and also of Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Ceres and Pluto, a hiss began to emanate from under the wrath-burning eyes which began to increase the fires within them. Above the fiery eyes was a glinting of light off something metallic as part of the light shone onto something above the eyes but the thing was so engulfed by the shadow of the drawers that its shape was concealed. However, Blu and company were too focussed on the trolley to notice that they were being watched.

Then as soon as he was ready, Blu turned to the others.

"Right, let's make a quick dash from here and onto that trolley," he said, before his face became firm, "But whatever you do, do NOT stop midway through the space between us and the trolley. As soon as you get to the trolley, hop onto the shelves and conceal yourselves as best you can, okay?"

The others, nervousness dancing in their eyes and nerves, nodded. Some even released nervous gulps and the wings of Indigo, Blueberry, Miranda and Stella interlocked with their respective mates Victor, Aiden, Aramis and Soren. Trixie also interlocked her wings with her smaller blue-and-gold mate Enceladus and Phoebe did the same with Squaw'tagnan. This was clearly the most nerve-wracking part of the search and rescue and there was no room for error. Then Blu prepared to send the group several at a time to the trolley, Jewel and Venus going first. The two female macaws were shivering with nervousness. Behind them, the others also got into position with Carla, Bia, Tiago and Kira standing behind Jewel and Venus. After this, Blu turned to Jewel and Venus as they trembled more and more.

"Right, are you two ready?" he asked. Timidly, Jewel and Venus nodded. Blu then examined the corridor and the two talking humans one last time and as soon as it was all clear, he said, "Go!"

Then without hesitation, Jewel and Venus's talons propelled their owners towards the trolley as fast as possible. The pair resembled a cerulean and maya blue comets on the floor but as soon as they were by the trolley, Venus and Jewel scrambled aboard. Next, Carla, Bia, Tiago and Kira darted out from behind the cabinet and made a beeline for the trolley before scrambling aboard. Next came, Mercury, and then Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Ceres, Pluto, and Lavender, Charlotte and Garrett; Mimas, Io, Europa, Byron and Athos; Stella, Soren and Augustus; Porthos, Titan, Enceladus, Trixie and Oberon; Miranda, Aramis, Titania, Umbriel, Indigo and Victor; Phoebe and Squaw'tagnan; Blueberry, Aiden, Azul and Frodo, and then finally, Spyro and Blu himself with the latter carrying the former. One by one or small group by small group, the animals made a beeline for the trolley and scrambled aboard it. Blu and Spyro made it just in time as the woman had just about to pull it away to continue to her destination and Uranus, Jewel, Carla and Tiago helped the two aboard. After all 43 animals were aboard; sighs of relief can now be breathed. Blu rested on his back against one of the food boxes.

"Boy, this sure reminds me of when we just managed to board that truck while we were chained together, eh, Jewel?" he said to his mate.

"Oh, when you couldn't fly back then?" said Jewel with a slight smile, "Oh yeah."

"I still can't believe that you didn't fly for the first fifteen years of your life, Blu," said Augustus.

"It's a long story," said Blu, "Let's just focus on rescuing Sandalwood and the others, okay?"

As he said this, the surroundings' movement past the group and the trolley began to pick up pace and they passed through a doorway. The woman had resumed her walk to her destination and had picked up walking pace.

"When we get to where Sandalwood and the others are being held, Dad," said Bia as she held onto a covered food tray with Tiago, Carla, Kira, Charlotte, Garrett and Lavender, "Will we be rescuing the fruithawks as well?"

"We'll get to that," said Blu, "Let's just get to the area first."

As he said this, Umbriel, who had clambered onto the second shelf of the trolley with Miranda, Aramis and Titania and some of the others and was sat at the back amongst some small food boxes, thought she saw a flash of movement in the corridor behind the trolley, a metallic glinting streaking the top of it. At this, the great green macaw mate of Benjamin shot an alerted gaze in the movement's direction but as her gaze landed on where she believed she had seen the flash; there was nothing in the corridor. However, it sent shivers down her spine, her skin prickle and her green and yellow-green feathers, along with the wavy feathers on her head, bristle and rise with unease.

"Are you alright, Umbriel?" asked a voice, Aramis's. At this, Umbriel snapped out of her uneasy state and shot a surprised look at her slender male great green macaw brother-in-law who gazed at her with her two sisters. Her brother and hyacinth sister-in-law also shot Umbriel a concerned look. When she saw Miranda, Titania, Aramis, Oberon and Trixie gaze at her with worried looks, Umbriel said, "Oh, nothing. Just… unnerved by this… quest to retrieve the kidnapped kids and friends as well as the fruithawks…"

A pang of regret at this denial flashed within Umbriel as she said this but she did not want the others to worry about anything else other than rescuing Sandalwood and company. Aramis breathed a sigh and leaned back against the box, his wings behind his head.

"Yeah, it's been a nerve-wracking trip, I can tell you," he said in agreement.

"You got that right," said Trixie.

"I sometimes keep thinking that my heart is going to beat outside my chest," said Oberon, "Especially during the transition from behind that cabinet to this trolley."

"Also when Spyro got his foot caught in that chewing gum and was almost spotted by some of those humans until Tiago intervened," said Miranda.

"I just hope we get to where Sandalwood and the others including Eragon and the other four and the fruithawks are being held," said Titania, "where we will rescue them and then get out of this so-called 'conservation' place," she growled the last part of this sentence with pure malice and disgust. Clearly, the idea of a group of collectors pretending to preserve countless rare and endangered animal species to cover up their true intentions of collecting them as mere items was turning Miranda's blood into boiling water. The same was true for the others in Blu's group, especially Blu as thoughts of the Paradise Sanctuary's negative effects of the reputation on true conservationists like Tulio and his team and the Sanctuary de Amazon workers and their name churned in his mind. As the group continued to hang on to the cargo of the trolley as the woman continued pulling it, along with a bunch of stowaways, through the corridor, the group took a moment to relax, but Umbriel still remained tense. Her gut was twitching and her skin was crawling, and she could not help but gaze down the corridor behind the group, the belief that the group was being followed constantly nibbling at her insides like a pack of piranha at their prey, especially as another flash of glinting movement blinked in her gaze before disappearing in a split second.

As Blu's group continued to ride the trolley down the corridor, the woman pulling them along, from behind a protrusion in the wall, something domed and metallic hovered and below the floating dome, a pair of eyes, both flooded with the most acidic and bitterest hatred, glared with pinpoint laser accuracy at Blu's group, especially at a certain type of bird in the group but most especially a certain brown-eyed Spix macaw, his mate and three certain other Spix macaws that happen to be his two daughters and son. A malicious hiss also sounded from below the floating acidic hatred-flooded eyes and dome-like object.


	57. Chapter 56

**Chapter 56- immense dread following a massive reunion**

 **Back in Rio**

Ruby sat on a branch, her sad gaze fixed on a certain hollow in an adjacent tree. This hollow was where she and Jupiter had settled in and had Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto all those years ago, and those memories of herself, together with Jupiter and their three daughters and only son of their first brood, peering out of the entrance/exit hole was as vivid as yesterday. This hollow was quite close to the outskirts of the jungle and had an excellent view of the Rio cityscape as well as the rising sun every dawn in the distant oceanic horizon and Ruby clearly remembered waking up almost every morning, depending on the weather conditions, to the rising sunlight that streamed like honey into her family's former hollow. Around the hollow's tree were several fruit trees such as a berry tree, a few mango trees and a papaya tree. These trees were sometimes decorated and festooned with the cheerful and colourful clusters of the ripe fruit that they produced, the fruit which were picked by Ruby and Jupiter themselves and by their neighbours. However, that was then. Now, these trees looked nothing more than a miserable, dismal cluster of green leaves, and the air hanging over Ruby's family's former home and neighbourhood was devoid of any flash of feathered colours, presumably due to the overpopulation of Rafael and Eva's countless descendants, and there were still a lot of those troublesome, even maniacal, big billed birds saturating various parts of the Blu Bird Sanctuary. As for Jupiter and Ruby's former hollow, which had formerly been the home of a small group of parakeets after Jupiter and his family left with Venus, Zephyr, Mercury and the others to go to the Amazon Rainforest in the wake of Blu and company's journey, was now inhabited by one of the families of the very troublesome toucans who Ruby had presumed had made their home in it after the parakeets left due to the trouble they caused. This assumption sent disgust tearing through Ruby as she continued to gaze at the currently unoccupied hollow (its current occupants were on an outing), and the thought of her family's former home which had become the home of some of the parakeets being taken over by some of those trouble causing toucans made Ruby's blood boil, and she simmered in bitter rage as well.

As Ruby continued gazing into her family's former hollow, a voice pulled her attention from it.

"Ruby," came Orquidea's voice. Ruby turned and saw Orquidea, accompanied by Ultramarine and Lapis Lazuli, flew in and perched onto a branch nearest to the one Ruby was on. The latter two wore an immensely guilt-saturated look on each of their faces.

"Did you manage to find Triton and Iris?" asked Ruby, regret also lacing her voice.

"Yes we did," said Lapis Lazuli much to Ruby's relief, "In fact, Ónix the red-tailed black cockatoo, together with Cometa, Velocity, Lightning, Zelda and Spike, had found the couple hiding in a hole in the roof of one of the humans' houses and have brought them back to Susan and her family's cottage."

"Zephyr has explained everything to them regarding Triton's framing," put in Ultramarine, "and he, Cobalto, Diantha, Tom, Vulcan, Orion and Hermione have shown Triton and Iris the suit Vulcan had found in Mable's family's hollow to prove that the culprit that had sent the marmosets to attack Nico and Pedro's club had dressed as Triton and set him up…"

"Have Nico, Pedro, Rose, Sparkle, Rafael and Eva been informed of this?" asked Ruby.

"Yes," said Orquidea, "In fact, they're at Susan and Lucy's cottage as well, giving Triton their apologies…"

Ruby, at this, felt the urge to fly to Susan and Lucy's cottage surge within her for she had yet to apologise to Triton about assuming him to be the culprit that had sent the marmosets to attack Nico and Pedro's club despite his protests.

"Alright, take me back to the cottage right away," she said. Orquidea, Lapis Lazuli and Ultramarine nodded and darted away. Ruby abandoned her perch and her family's former hollow and followed.

Back at Susan and her family's cottage and its garden, a certain pair of hyacinth macaws stood gazing in utter disbelief at the navy blue feathered cloak, the bandana-like leaf, the parrot beak shaped fruit shells and the bottle of yellow human makeup spread out on the grass before them. Zephyr, Vulcan, Cobalto, Orion, Hermione, Tom and Diantha gazed at Triton (who had a new leaf bandana for his left eye and face) as he examined the navy blue feather cloak which was complete with flight feathers, like those of a hyacinth macaw's wings and tail. Iris was looking over the parrot beak-shaped fruit shell pieces, a rather intrigued, but also outraged, look lacing her face. Standing next to Zephyr's group, Nico, Pedro, Sparkle, Rose, Rafael, Eva, Cometa, Spike, Zelda, Lightning, Velocity and Ónix gazed at the materials Vulcan had found, disbelieving looks also lacing their faces. Behind the group, Travis and Sunset were talking with Mumble, Balthazar and Ginny the penguins while Sapphire, Chiquitita, Roberto, Brisa, Saturn and Esmeralda, helped Iapetus, Justin, Matilda, Virgil and the others including Anabelle, Sebastian, Melissa and Andromeda (who was still worried sick for Eragon and Marella after hearing of their kidnap by the poachers at Tulio's Aviary alongside Neytiri, Luna and Charon) watched over the kids with Broccoli, Daisy and Collette the cats, Dash, Ginger, Avellana, Rusty, James and Ebony the greyhounds. Among the kids were Cleo and Fido, Avellana and Rusty's two puppies and they played with the chicks and Ferdinand the flying fox pup, and also Eustace and company's chicks Yolanda, Peach, Vincent, Bruno and Oscar.

Triton then shot a one-eyed gaze at Zephyr's group after examining the navy blue feather cloak while Iris put down the fruit shell.

"So let me get this straight," Triton said, "Someone has used these materials to dress up as me to send those marmosets to attack Nico and Pedro's club?"

"I can see that the culprit has concocted a very devious idea and has gathered the right materials for the devious deed," put in Iris, her dark purple-tinted navy feathers threatening to puff out as hot rage flared within her.

"That's what we deduced," said Cobalto. Then Rafael walked over to the little bottle of yellow human makeup and picked it up.

"From what I can tell," said the old toco toucan and Diantha's father in a raspy voice as he examined the bottle and its contents, "It seems that the culprit might have applied this yellow makeup to his or her face in such a way as to resemble a hyacinth macaw," his brown gaze then travelled to the other materials: the bandana-like leaf, beak-like fruit shell halves and the hyacinth navy feather cloak, "Combined with wearing those other materials."

Then Diantha stepped forward. "Then let me dress up in these materials to test the theory," she said. At this, Rafael put the makeup bottle down and stepped back to allow Diantha to put the costume on herself. First Diantha took the bottle of human makeup, took off its cap and applied some of the yellow substance around her right eye and below her lower mandible but she did not do her left eye. The others watched on in wonder as Diantha then took the bandana-like leaf and tied it over her left eye in the same way Triton tied his. Next, the colourful-billed toucan took the parrot beak-shaped fruit shells and put them on her upper and lower beak. Finally, Diantha dressed herself in the cloak of navy blue feathers with her wings under the 'wings' of flight feathers of the cloak. However, the cloak was so large that most of it trailed off on the floor behind the toucan like a massive navy blue cape. When they saw this, the watchers threw on sceptical looks and exchanged glances while Triton and Iris gazed at each other and shrugged.

"That certainly looks WAY too big for you, daughter," said Rafael as Diantha, the makeup, 'bandana' leaf and fruit shell on her face gazing down at the trailing cloak behind her.

"I know right," said the toucan in agreement. Then Iris said, "Didn't that marmoset said that the culprit that sent him and his gang to attack Nico and Pedro's club was the size of a _hyacinth_ macaw?"

"Then that means _two_ participants would have been inside that cloak to double the first culprit's height to that of a real hyacinth," said Tom and with that, the pure toco toucan mate of Diantha went over to his mate and requested her to do something. Diantha, at first was a little hesitant but she relented. The watchers looked on as Tom ducked down and allowed the cloaked Diantha to place her talons on his shoulders. As soon as Diantha was fully on his shoulders, Tom (with his wings wrapped around Diantha's feet to prevent her from falling), then stood up. This raised Diantha higher off the ground and pulled the cape-like cloak of feathers around Tom and within moments, both toucans were concealed under the navy blue feathers with Diantha's height reaching just slightly above that of Triton and Iris. As Nico, Pedro, Sparkle, Rose, Rafael, Eva, Cometa, Spike, Zelda, Lightning, Velocity and Ónix, Triton, Iris, Zephyr, Vulcan, Cobalto, Orion and Hermione took in Diantha and Tom's simulation of the real culprit's impersonation of Triton by circling the dressed toucan couple and examining them from every angle, they finally reached a conclusion.

"That _definitely_ matches the description of that marmoset gang leader alright," said Nico with a firm frown.

"Yellow marks around the right eye and below the lower mandible," said Nico's partner Sparkle as she examined Diantha's face, "Parrot-shaped beak… leaf bandana tied around the left eye and part of the face like Triton's bandana…" the female canary then flitted down next to Pedro and Rose, "Yep, it's a match alright."

"The size of the impersonator, or should I say _impersonators,_ of Triton is definitely the size of a full grown hyacinth macaw," said Zephyr. As he said this, Broccoli, along with Justin, Matilda, Virgil, Daisy, Collette, Dash and Ginger watched on in utter astonishment.

"Diantha and Tom very greatly resemble Triton dressed like that," murmured Justin to his brother and sister and also the three cats and two greyhounds.

"No wonder the marmosets were so greatly duped," said Matilda. Virgil, however, had a flash of outrage tear through him.

"Not to mention devious," he hissed to which Broccoli, Daisy, Collette, Dash and Ginger replied with, "Absolutely". Triton continued to examine Diantha and Tom in the suit, a massive wave of appal and offense washing over him the more he continued to take in the disguise utilised by the two culprits to land him in trouble with Nico, Pedro and everyone else. As the examination continued, Orquidea, Ruby, Ultramarine and Lapis Lazuli turned up and when they saw the dressed up Diantha and Tom I the 'hyacinth macaw' suit and how greatly they resembled Triton, a mixture of awe, astonishment and outrage tore through them. Then after finishing taking in the disguise at all angles, Tom stooped down and allowed Diantha to hop off his shoulders before subsequently removing the cloak and the other materials. As soon as Diantha had cleaned her face off the yellow human makeup as fast as possible to rid the remains of the disguise, Zephyr gazed at her and Tom with a confirmatory glare.

"Well, I'd like to thank you both for showing us what the culprits looked like dressed up in that suit of materials," he said, a flashing glance at the discarded navy blue feather cloak, bandana leaf, bottle of makeup and fruit shells, "Now the next thing we gotta do is find those impersonators and confront them."

"But Zephyr," said Rafael, bringing Zephyr's attention to him, "If those culprits are any of those rebellious toucans, they'll vehemently deny it and may drive us away."

"Yes," said Ruby as she walked in with Lapis Lazuli, Orquidea and Ultramarine, "You remember all those previous times those arrogant pieces of work dismissed our complaints as mere nonsense?"

"Such as Tiago and Matilda's attempts to convince Marco and Anastasia of their daughter Isabella and their comrades' involvement in Sandalwood's incident," put in Ultramarine. At this, Matilda's eyes flashed with pain at the memory of this, and Travis and Cometa also winced. These three who had gone to confront the said two toucans with Tiago, Jewel, Stella, Soren, Augustus and Jupiter clearly remembered the fierce and adamant denials of Isabella's involvement in Sandalwood's incident before snidely directing the blame on Bellatrix, the daughter of Matilda and Tiago, saying that _she_ had been the one to tie up Sandalwood and shove him off the end of that branch (not to mention calling her a 'murderous chick' in the process), and subsequently marring the reputation of the poor family and their friends. However, all that had been fabricated by Isabella and her comrades so that they could get out of trouble and dodge the beam of blame and responsibility by deflecting kit at someone else (in this case, Bellatrix). As Zephyr listened to the objections from Rafael, Ruby and Ultramarine and examined the agreeing faces on the others including Triton, Iris, Diantha and Tom (who were all too aware of their countless siblings and cousins and siblings and cousins-in-law's horribly negligent parenting and now borderline-psychotic attitude towards Carla, Bia, Tiago and company), the green-eyed mate of Venus's face fell.

"I'm sorry, Zephyr," said Cometa, "But it's true. Those rotten toucans will NOT listen."

"They NEVER listen to ANYONE!" shouted Diantha in utter rage and despair. Zephyr gazed at the colourful beaked daughter of Rafael and Eva and the peregrine falcon when suddenly, a black greyhound came in.

"Susan's coming!" shouted Ebony. At this, Zephyr and company, together with Eustace, Milo, Rosa, Clemont, Serena, Músculo, Jojo, Felix, Turquesa, Callisto, Ganymede, Iapetus, Phobos, Deimos and everyone else including the kidsall directed their gazes at a familiar vehicle as it pulled up outside the fence. At this, Roberto let loose a loud 'Cuck-caw!' to call in all the chicks and Ferdinand while Brisa, Esmeralda, Travis and Sunset hurried off to take Mumble, Balthazar and Ginny to a safe place and out of Susan's sight.

In one corner of the garden, Sonia, Melody, Einstein, Miles and Bartholomew were lounging around. Miles was building another mobile made from sticks, leaves, petals and other plant material like he always did, only this time he had added shells and small rocks to it, while his brother Einstein and their three cousins chatted.

"Boy, I hope our bro Sirius and cousins Spica and Bellatrix and the others are alright," murmured Einstein miserably. He had been missing Sirius and the others for quite some time now.

"To hear that they've been taken to that Peru place has been quite a shock if you ask me," said Melody.

"And that's far away from here," said Sonia.

"I know right," said Bartholomew in agreement. Just then, a 'Cuck-caw!' sound reached the five Spix macaw chicks' ears, alerting them to attention. Sonia shot Roberto, the caller, an alarmed look.

"Oh, Uncle Beto's calling us," she told the other four, "We'd better go to him."

At this, Melody, Einstein, Miles and Bartholomew all stopped their activities and darted from their spots to Roberto, Sonia in tow. Miles, however, took his mobile with him. Within moments, Roberto was surrounded by a thick circle of colourful feathers with a bit of drab brown colour from Ferdinand's fur as Ferdinand dashed over to Anabelle and hoped onto her breast, his mother scooping him up with her wings, whilst Aurora hurried over to Tom and Diantha. Fido and Cleo also darted over to Rusty and Avellana and as soon as all the kids had gathered, Roberto, Brisa, Melissa and Andromeda led them away to the nearby trees, with Andromeda leading the bat-birds away as well, with everyone else following, Brisa, Esmeralda, Travis and Sunset leading Mumble, Balthazar and Ginny to under some branches by which they were intrigued for they had never seen land plants like these in their lives.

Within moments, the familiar woman that was Susan had emerged from the car. As she shut the door, she continued to chat on her mobile phone (also called a cellphone). From either in or under the trees, the exact same spot where Andromeda, along with Melissa, Eragon, Augustus, Luna, Stella, Soren and Sandalwood, Marella, Spyro, Altair, Anabelle, Ferdinand, Acerola and Sebastian first met Susan and her family, their first ever human encounter, Virgil, Matilda, Justin and Músculo, who had Sonia, Melody, Einstein, Miles, Bartholomew and Jason in their care, peered out and watched Susan as she entered the garden through a gate. Nearby, Broccoli, Collette and Daisy picked up the speaker on the other end of Susan's phone for they had sensitive ears. However, the three cats put on worrisome faces as they listened to the person speaking to Susan.

"Isn't that Tulio?" asked Broccoli.

"He sounds so upset," said Collette. The animals that had been there, however, wore unsurprised looks.

"It's understandable," said Ultramarine as she hid with Triton and Iris, "The theft of the golden fruithawks has sent him over the edge."

"We had to haul Milo and Orion, who had still been under the effects of the sleeping gas, away while Cometa and Lightning went to rescue Saturn, Ganymede and Vincent from the Aviary's medical room in a flash during Tulio's wrathful outburst over the two fruithawks' disappearance," muttered Travis, before his gaze turned to the bat-birds as they hid with Andromeda, "Not to mention those winged reptiles which thankfully weren't taken by the poachers…"

One of the bat-birds, Andromeda's one named Rouge flashed an unnerved gaze at Travis and emitted small nervous whimpers. Apparently, when the gas canister flew through the window and saturated the air in the Aviary's medical room with its sleep-inducing gas, these bat-birds had dived for cover before succumbing to the effects of the gas to avoid getting spotted and seized by the poachers. That way they had managed to escape capture and they had only started to come to as the peregrine falcons went to rescue them during Tulio's time at the Aviary. As the hidden animals continued to listen in on Susan's conversation with the speaker on the other end, which was indeed Tulio, Susan said, "So you're still got a few hours before you land in Iquitos, Peru, am I right?"

As they listened, Mumble tipped his head to one side.

"What's a 'Peru'?" he asked.

"It's a country next to this one," explained Travis. Mumble gave the cockatoo an intrigued look. Then Ebony as she hid with James, Nico, Pedro, Rose and Sparkle, then frowned.

"So it seems that Tulio has deduced where the fruithawks have been taken," she said. Suddenly, James raised a paw to tell her to be quiet as Susan spoke again.

"I've just had a phone call from Amy in the Sanctuary de Amazon about those captured intruders and their interrogation," she said, "And it is confirmed through those poachers' answers that they are working for the people of the Paradise Sanctuary in Peru and had been sent to the Amazon reserve to capture some Spix, Lear's and glaucous macaws as well as some individuals of the other super-rare and endangered species like the archaeobird and the modern pterosaur for them…"

At this, immense shock tore through Zephyr and company.

"So it's TRUE!?" gasped Broccoli in utter disbelief. Some of them, however, threw on very confused faces.

"A conservation group," said Rafael, "Who HIRE _poachers_ to bring them rare animals?"

"That sounds kinda contradictory to th' aim o' animal conservation," said Pedro with a frown.

"More like hypocritical," said Rose with Sparkle nodding in agreement.

"Tulio and his buddies would NEVER hire poachers to pinch animals," said Nico, his wing touching his bottle cap hat as it almost slipped off his head to push it back to its usual position. Confused murmurs rolled through the rest of the group and the kids shuddered slightly.

"I'm wondering if Sandalwood and the others might have been captured by those poachers to be handed to those people of the Paradise Sanctuary place," squeaked Einstein.

"Well, we can't be sure of that yet, son," said Virgil with a frown, "But to hear a conservation group hiring poachers to capture rare animals for their area sounds utterly ridiculous to say the least, and abominable at worst."

"And unthinkable if you ask me," put in Broccoli, "When we saw the fuzzy picture of that little bat pup and some of the chicks in those pics in the magazine, we thought they had been rescued…" however, as the tabby cat and spitting image of the late Veggie said this, the thought of the opposite which was Sandalwood and the others being caught by the poachers _for_ the Paradise Sanctuary group made his insides cringe. Then the group resumed listening to Susan as she said, "So you think that the Sanctuario del Paradíso Foundation Inc people have the fruithawks?" into the speaker of the phone. The animals listened as they heard Tulio's voice say, "Yes, and we're gonna demand them back under the threat of prosecution. We did say that we were gonna keep them in Rio for we had found them first…"

"What's 'prosecution'?" asked Brisa.

"It's when humans bring humans that have done wrong to justice," said Saturn. His gaze then turned to his former owner but still-human companion as she continued talking with Tulio on her mobile phone, "That'll be just the thing those Sanctuario Paradise place or whatever it's people will be facing if they are found to be behind the fruithawks' theft."

"And also some of the other animals like Charon and Neytiri," put in Roberto as he stood with Felix, Jojo, Turquesa, Winona, Diego, Austin and Lilac. He shuddered at the thought of them getting whisked away while under the effects of a sleep-inducing gas. Andromeda just silently gazed at the leaf crested macaw and sighed. She had hoped that Eragon, along with the others would just be brought back to Rio safe and sound, while at the same time she had been utterly outraged towards the humans that had stolen her mate and daughter-in-law as well.

Poachers, particularly those who steal ANY member of her family, as well as of her clan, especially as mere collector's items, were something this archaeobird matriarch despised the most.

 **Meanwhile**

Blu, Jewel, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Ceres and Pluto continued riding the trolley with Carla, Bia, Tiago, Charlotte, Kira, Lavender and Garrett; Mimas, Io, Europa, Byron and Athos; Stella, Soren and Augustus; Porthos, Titan, Enceladus, Trixie and Oberon; Miranda, Aramis, Titania, Umbriel, Indigo and Victor; Phoebe, Squaw'tagnan, Blueberry, Aiden, Azul, Frodo and Spyro as the woman waited in a small room. This room had a silvery pad on one of its walls. This pad had a stack of buttons; each labelled with a number, as well as a set of holes and a very dark red square that displayed a pattern of red light patterns. Two more of the room's walls appeared to be silvery blocky slide-doors. These features prompted Blu to tell the others that they had entered an elevator (also called a lift) and that the buttons, the screen and the holes were a control pad for selecting which floor number the elevator's occupants wanted to go. Soon, a 'ding' was heard and one of the silvery blocky slide doors parted to reveal a corridor full of more humans walking up and down. As soon as the silvery doors were opened, the woman dragged the trolley, its contents and its stowaways out of the elevator and began her walk down the corridor. As the woman left the elevator, Umbriel continued flashing wary glances behind the group, the feeling that the group was being followed still gnawing within her, but she was briefly distracted by the sounds of various bird and other animal calls that darted about in the air. Furthermore, the walls on either side of the group and their vehicle appeared to transform into half-walls with a gap filled with a crisscrossing mesh of silvery wire separating the corridor from something on the other side.

"I think we're here," said Blu. Mars tried to climb up one of the larger boxes to peer through the mesh of one of the walls but Jupiter hooked a wing on his shoulder and pulled him back down.

"Don't climb any higher," said the scarlet macaw firmly, "Those working humans could see you."

Mars gazed at Jupiter and scrapped the idea of trying to peer through the meshes. However, the animal calls and sounds coming through the meshes provided him with enough confirmation that the group was potentially in the right place, for the green-winged macaw could recognise some of the bird calls as being parrots.

"I believe Blu is right," said Mars hopefully. As he said this, Umbriel's eyes happened to pick up another flash of light out of their peripheral vision. At this, the great green macaw shot a glance in the direction of the flash, which was the entrance to the elevator as its silvery doors closed but saw nothing. A small gasp entered her beak and she shuddered slightly, hotness warming up her skin. However, she pushed it aside and resumed her focus on finding Sandalwood and the others.

A few minutes later, the trolley came to a stop. As it did so, Jupiter turned to the woman as she prepared to undo the lock to a two-door compartment, the entrance to the main animal room on the other side. However, one of the men had come in to talk with the lady, leading to a delay of Blu and company's entrance into the compartment, but from the distraction arose an opportunity for some of the animals to peer through the mesh without being seen. Mars, Mercury and Azul did just that and climbed to the top of the tallest box on the highest shelf of the trolley, being careful in staying out of the man's range of view as he continued talking to the lady and showing her some paperwork.

"Careful, you three," said Blu, his wary eyes on the talking two humans and also the passers-by, "You're in a vulnerable position up there."

The others also watched on as Mars and the other two stole a glimpse of the animals through the mesh before finally dropping down from the box and returning to their hiding places. The opportunity only lasted a few seconds and had soon disappeared as the woman began to gesture to the man toward the boxed contents on the trolley and talk about them. As Mars, Azul and Mercury breathed sighs of relief, Jewel asked, "Did you manage to see any of the kidnapped kids or Eragon or the others?"

"No, but we did see a variety of animals in an artificial jungle through there," replied Mars.

"Some of them appear to be birds, many of species that we have never seen before," said Azul.

"Among them one or two flightless birds which I believe were emus or rheas," put in Mercury. As he mentioned this, Carla, Bia, Tiago and Charlotte and the others exchanged glances but Blu put on a firm, unsurprised face.

"Well, unsurprisingly this is an animal collector's place, so you shouldn't be surprised that there are a variety of different animals, many of them rare and endangered, from around the world, you three," he said. Mars, Azul and Mercury just shrugged. Then Venus began to examine the two talking humans as they continued to chat, Victor and Indigo trying to translate their words as they also listened in.

"Well, I hope this is the right place," said Uranus with hope, "We did see the trees in the pictures of that magazine Broccoli and the others found for us back in Rio."

As he said this, the group was unaware of a floating object behind a protrusion in the half-wall below the mesh. A pair of malicious eyes glared bitterly at the macaws, but most especially Blu, Jewel, Carla, Bia, Tiago, Venus, Mercury and Pluto as they continued chatting, a fierce hiss of pure hatred and rancour emanating from beneath them. But when Umbriel's gaze turned in their direction, the eyes and dome twitched behind the protrusion, making Umbriel's gaze narrowly miss the flash of metallic brown above the eyes. However, as the great green macaw looked away to talk to Aramis and Miranda near her, the dome and eyes moved back out slightly. The eyes then turned to fix on Carla, Bia, Tiago, Blu and Jewel and began to formulate a plan…

Venus continued glaring at the woman as she continued chatting to the man.

"Come on, lady," she muttered impatiently, "What's taking you so long?"

"Chatterboxes, I think these humans must be," said Charlotte with an equally impatient frown. As Charlotte said this, Carla's ears thought she picked up some squeaky chirping noises. At this, the chubby Spix macaw and Bia and Tiago's older sister snapped her gaze to the source of the sound. When Bia and Tiago came in, Carla's talon shot up in a 'Shh!' gesture.

"Do you two hear that?" asked Carla quietly. Bia and Tiago, at this, gazed at each other and stopped top listen. Blu and Jewel and some of the others were still talking, their focus directed away from the trio. More squeaky chirps, like those of a macaw chick, continued to emanate from somewhere.

"Sounds like a chick," said Bia.

"Could it be…?" began Tiago, hope welling within him. As the Spix macaw began to get his hopes up, a discarded cloth-bag happened to move itself from a nearby trash can and float towards the hovering dome, while squeaky chirps continued to emanate from beneath the pair of eyes and the dome.

"Shall we go and investigate?" asked Bia, her hopes also welling within her. Carla and Tiago shot their sister a gaze, the latter with an agreeing smile but the former with an uncertain look on her face.

"Um… I don't know, Bia," said Carla warily.

"Oh, come on," said Tiago, "It might be Sirius, Bellatrix, Spica and some of the other macaw chicks."

As he said this, Mimas and Azul came in, the squeaky chirps also having alerted them.

"You think so?" asked Azul hopefully. Tiago and Bia nodded.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" said Mimas equally hopefully, "Why don't we go and investigate?"

Tiago and Bia nodded but Carla, her gaze on Blu and the others as they continued talking, gazed at the blue-and-gold mate of Ganymede and Fernanda's mate with uncertainty. However, she was pulled in by the current of persuasion.

"Okay, but we must not go too far from the trolley," her gaze then examined the corridor and the passing humans who were engrossed in their tasks; "I don't want us getting spotted."

"Okay," said Azul excitedly.

"Then let's go!" put in Bia. Tiago and Mimas nodded in agreement and with that, the trio of Spix macaws, the blue-throated macaw and the blue-and-gold macaw dropped from the lowest shelf of the trolley and onto the floor, being careful and wary of the passing humans as they did. However, as the five macaws did that, Stella and Spyro happened to catch the five macaws leaving the trolley. At this, the albino bat and the archaeobird climbed past the boxes and followed the macaws. meanwhile, Blu and the others continued glaring at the chatting woman and her colleague, impatience boiling within them but the lack of awareness that seven of their members had dropped from the trolley to follow some chick-like squeaks. Then after another minute, the man went on his way and the woman unlocked the first door to the two-door compartment.

"Ah, finally," said Pluto with gladness, "I thought that man would never leave."

"Hang on," said Blu to the others as the trolley was pulled into the small compartment by the woman as soon as she had opened the door. As the lady went to close and lock the first door and went to unlock and open the second one, Umbriel said to Uranus, "Hey, Dad."

"Yes, Umbriel," said Uranus. Umbriel had decided to tell him of the unease she had been having since the group boarded the trolley.

"Have you ever felt like someone was stalking you?" asked Uranus's daughter nervously. At this, Neptune came in.

"What makes you say that?" asked he. Umbriel, however, felt her tongue stuck in her beak, clearly reluctant to tell Uranus and Neptune of the flashes of movement she thought she kept seeing behind the trolley. As Umbriel continued to nervously go over the gut-twitching feeling, the woman, having finally opened the second door, turned to the trolley and pulled it through that door and into the main animal compartment, which turned out to be the artificial indoor jungle Blu and company had seen glimpses of in the pics of the magazine brought to them by Broccoli, Collette, Daisy, Ebony and James back in Rio. As soon as recognition took hold within the group, still unaware that seven of them were missing, they prepared to disembark.

As the woman then stopped the trolley and turned to close the door, amongst the activities of the diurnal animals in the artificial jungle, Adenine, Cytosine, Thymine, Guanine the Catalina macaws, together with Castor and Pollux, two of the blue-and-gold macaw chicks, and Sirius and Sandalwood were chatting with Lilo, one of the cockatiels, just at the entrance to the tent of Dundee where all the parrots in the community had been evacuated. A sense of dread and worry hung above them for the search for Dalek was still in progress.

"Haver they found that Dalek yet?" asked Thymine.

"I'm afraid they haven't, my macaw poppets," said Lilo sadly, "Dundee's searchers have been looking high and low about the artificial jungle for ages now."

"I heard from Mina the Tasmanian devil mention that she had asked two of the dingoes in the Compartment of the Carnivores at the barrier if they had seen the chameleon but the two Australian dogs said no," said Castor. Some of the carnivores in the next compartment, but only a handful of them, were actually friendly with Dundee's community members but they were still not allowed in Dundee's land for they were a danger to some of the animals of Dundee's community.

"And that they have denied knowing about the chameleon," said Pollux.

"Dundee has become more and more flustered," said Sirius worriedly, a gaze at the emu as he talked with Olympia the cassowary and Wally the orang-utan, "He's honestly sick with worry."

"I'm not surprised," said Lilo, her gaze on the poor emu, "He's really concerned and worried _sick_ for us parrots and our safety."

"Not to mention the fact that the searchers are getting more and more frustrated," put in Sandalwood as he examined the seriously stressed looks on the cassowary and orang-utan's faces.

As he said this, a yellow and gold coloured hawk-like bird came by with Charon and Neytiri, the latter who had her wing in a cast. The golden fruithawk bore a scowl on her face as she glared at Adenine, Cytosine, Thymine, Guanine, Castor and Pollux, Sirius and Sandalwood.

"And not to mention the fact that I am getting more and more frustrated at being held captive in this rotten place," said the fruithawk bitterly, making the eight kids and Lilo flinch at her glare.

"So is Aurum, Gylfie, and also Eragon, Marella and Luna," said Charon.

"And us two as well," put in Neytiri with a scowl. The female fruithawk named Gylfie directed her disdainful glare at the glaucous macaw couple.

"Well if you two parrots think you're as disgusted as me being in this miserable place," muttered the fruithawk bitterly, "You're wrong. You're not as disgusted as I am, you know."

Charon and Neytiri's heads shook in annoyance at the remark. This was the umpteenth time they had heard Gylfie say this and secondly, she didn't even mention Aurum, the only other golden fruithawk in existence as well as the only male, and his equal disgust about being here.

"Are you saying that we love this place!?" retorted Neytiri irritably, "No, we're on the same perch as you, Gylfie."

Gylfie's bitter and distain-saturated glare, however, remained on her face and she bluntly turned her face away, raising her beak in the air to rudely and deliberately block out Neytiri's statement. Charon and Neytiri flashed Sirius and the others, and Lilo, an apologetic look.

"Sorry, folks," said Charon, "This fruithawk's got a bad temper."

"She's had that attitude since we first met her and Aurum," said Neytiri, her wings on her hips at Gylfie's bratty and rather childish behaviour.

"I can see why," said Lilo flatly as Gylfie kept her beak high in the air, "But the sad fact is there is no way out of this place and secondly, our human carers will not have us trying to escape from here anyway. We're too precious to those humans for them to allow us to escape anyway."

As she said this, Charon, Neytiri, Adenine, Cytosine, Thymine, Guanine, Castor, Pollux, Sirius and Sandalwood shot the cockatiel a disgusted glare, especially Adenine and Guanine after what they had found in the humans' rooms and what they had heard from the human 'carers' themselves, and those humans weren't really carers at all. Gylfie the fruithawk, however, pretended she hadn't heard and kept her beak high in the air. Then an echidna and a platypus came in.

"You two," said Kiara the echidna when she saw Charon and Neytiri out of the tent of Dundee, "What are you both doing out here?"

"You're supposed to be with the other parrots in there," said Reepicheep, a webbed foot pointing to the gathering of colourful feathers deep in Dundee's large leaf tent-like construction. Charon and Neytiri, at this, gazed at the two newcomers.

"We're sorry but we got bored and wanted a walk," said Charon. However, he flinched when the platypus's face morphed into a firm scowl.

"Haven't you been listening to our emu leader's orders?" asked Reepicheep sternly. When Charon and Neytiri refused to answer, the platypus did it for him. "Dundee said that you parrots are to stay in his tent until that parrot-detesting chameleon is found and caught."

"Dalek has associations with a pack of parrot-eating caracals and servals in the next door's Compartment of Carnivores," put in Kiara equally sternly, "And if he finds you two out of the safety of the tent, that chameleon will not hesitate to capture you and feed you to Carnassial and his gang."

Charon and Neytiri, however, continued to gaze at the two monotreme mammals silently while Sandalwood and the others with him looked on worriedly. Then Gylfie shot Reepicheep and Kiara an obnoxious gaze.

"Oh, now you're saying that there is a parrot-killing chameleon on the loose somewhere in here?" she wittered immaturely and sarcastically, "How convenient (!)"

"This isn't a joke you know, fruit eating falcon," said Reepicheep irritably at Gylfie's attitude.

"I'm a fruithawk," snapped Gylfie brusquely.

"Whatever you are," said Kiara, also irritated by Gylfie's attitude, "We have two separate incidences of two macaw chicks almost getting eaten and the second sadly ending in one of the scarlet macaw chicks facing that demise and we MUST protect the other parrots," when Kiara mentioned Lars, Sandalwood and Sirius flashed a concerned glance at Steven and his family amongst the evacuated parrots in Dundee's tent, the grief over Lars's loss still gripping them hard.

"Betelgeuse and Sylvester were almost eaten," said Adenine. Gylfie, however, maintained her childish attitude and strode away.

"Well, whatever this mumbo-jumbo is about, it's not MY concern," said the fruithawk coolly, "Anyway, if you don't mind, I'm off to snack on some berries."

And with that, the large gold and yellow bird of prey-like creature spread her magnificent sheeny golden wings and lofted into flight, leaving Kiara and the others to gaze at her with either stunned or irritated glares on their faces.

"She sure seems to think that this whole fiasco is a mere joke, doesn't she?" said Charon.

"Aurum has that same attitude," said Neytiri.

"Well, wait until we catch that chameleon and bring him in," said Reepicheep firmly, "then those two golden fruithawks will see for themselves how much of a danger that reptile is to all the parrots."

"Including the flightless kakapos from New Zealand," said Sirius. Adenine, Cytosine, Thymine, Guanine, Castor, Pollux, Lilo and Sandalwood nodded in agreement. Suddenly, shouts erupted from across the artificial jungle clearing, making the group jolt.

"DUNDEE! WE HAVE MORE NEWCOMERS!"

The shout carried all across the vicinity of the caller, prompting the other animals including Wally, Dundee and Olympia to stop their activities and turn their gazes in the caller's direction. The shout also reached the ears of Spica, Bellatrix, Petunia, Vega, Deneb and Polaris the Spix macaws; Betelgeuse, Rigel, Canopus, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka the red macaws; Procyon the blue-and-gold macaw and Castor and Pollux's cousin; Mira the blue-and-gold/hyacinth hybrid macaw; Fomalhaut the blue-and-gold/great green hybrid macaw; Capella, Antares and Achernar the green macaws; Aldebaran the scarlet/great green hybrid macaw; Gertie the hyacinth macaw; Arcturus the Lear's macaw; Saiph, Regulus and Denebola the glaucous macaws; Carmen the blue-throated macaw; Sylvester the Cuban red macaw and his Dominican green-and-yellow adopted sister Alegria and their purple-and-pink adopted sister Pitaya, all who were in Dundee's tent with the other parrots. The ears of Altair, Gladion, Lillie and Acerola, who were playing with some of the other chicks including Atreyu, picked up the shout, prompting them to abruptly halt their activities as well, and Marella, Eragon and Luna were also alerted to the shout. As soon as the hearers had heard the shout, their gazes turned in the direction of the shouter and, to their immense shock, their eyes picked up a colourful gathering of animals as they emerged from some nearby bushes and into the clearing. This prompted a rush of animals to converge in on the new arrivals as shock and immense surprise drove them to take a closer look at them.

Adenine, Cytosine, Thymine, Guanine, Castor, Pollux, Sirius and Sandalwood, and also Saiph, Denebola, Regulus, Charon, Neytiri and the others who had rushed towards Dundee's tent's entrance, gazed at the gathering of newcomers before the sea of various animals screened them from view. However, they had enough time to have recognition set in but as it did, joy welled within them at high pressure.

"Aren't they…" began Charon with a wide smile, the first true one he had had in so long since his and Neytiri's reunion with Saiph, Regulus, Denebola and the other kids.

"UNCLE BLU AND SOME OF THE OTHERS!" screeched Saiph excitedly, completing his biological uncle Charon's sentence and with that he, together with his two cousins Denebola and Regulus, darted off like a trio of turquoise or blue and grey comets, the others including Sirius, Adenine, Thymine, Guanine and Cytosine following. Charon and Neytiri flashed each other a hopeful glance and charged off after the rushing chicks (Charon flying and Neytiri running due to her injured wing in a cast) with Sandalwood, Betelgeuse and Sylvester (the latter two who could not fly due to the former's tattered left wing missing some of its primary flight feathers and the latter missing most of his tail) running after them, Reepicheep, Lilo and Kiara staying behind with surprised and confused looks on their faces. Gladion, Lillie, Altair, and Acerola, together with Marella, Eragon and Luna also either ran or flew as fast as they could towards the newcomers.

Back with the newcomers, which were indeed Blu and company, were greeted with a massive gathering of strange animals which came upon them so suddenly that some of them freaked out and backed away behind the older adults. Charlotte, Kira, Lavender and Garrett hid behind Venus, Blu and Jewel, alarmed looks on their faces as countless animal hands, paws and wings reached out to greet them.

"Good grief," cried Charlotte, "We never expected this."

Mercury, Pluto and Ceres, who had Phoebe, Squaw'tagnan, Blueberry and Aiden, together with Aramis and Umbriel, cower behind them also flashed astonished glances this way and that. Then a chimpanzee hand appeared and seized Phoebe by the wing.

"Hey, hey, hey, HEY!" cried the young female Lear's macaw as she was yanked from the group and brought before a group of black furred apes.

"Well, welcome to the Paradise Sanctuary," said the chimpanzee that had pulled her from the group, several more chimps flanking him, "I sure hope you'll settle down here comfortably."

Phoebe gazed at the group of tailless primates with stunned eyes. She had never seen chimps in the flesh before for they were not native to Brazil. Then suddenly, some familiar sounds reached the Lear's macaw's ears, bringing her out of her stunned gaze and making her shoot glances this way and that in search of the sound's source amongst the congregation of animals as they continued to excitedly fuss over Blu and company, much to their utter annoyance and fright. As she did, Squaw'tagnan came over to Phoebe.

"Oh, there you are," said the relieved 'brother' of Athos, Porthos and Aramis, "I thought you were…"

However, Phoebe raised a talon to tell her to be quiet.

"Hear that?" asked Squaw'tagnan's mate. Squaw'tagnan, at this, stopped and listened. However, the cacophony of animal cries drowned out the sounds Phoebe had heard and the chimps exchanged looks.

"All I hear is this racket of animal screeches," muttered Squaw'tagnan irritably and with that, his wings went to his ears to block out the ear-assaulting row. However, Phoebe managed to push aside the urge to cover her ears to listen to the sounds.

"MOOOM!"

At this, the Lear's macaw gazed up and saw an incoming form emerge over the sea of unfamiliar animals. This form was navy blue and Phoebe thought she saw a hint of dark teal and bright streaks of yellow-orange on the form's face. This form was shooting straight towards her, calling out "MOOOM!"

At this, Phoebe thought she was hallucinating.

"Arcturus?" she asked. The small form continued melting into recognition and calling to her. Phoebe took a few more minutes to take in the information about the form as it neared her. Then soon, the little form came close enough for Phoebe to identify its eye colour (grey inner and blue outer), as well as the hair-like feathers like those of her mother Sapphire. Squaw'tagnan also came in and identified the incoming chick. As the chick came close enough to the couple, Squaw'tagnan felt immense joy tear through him as recognition set in and it was what he said next that made Phoebe realise that she wasn't hallucinating.

"It's ARCTURUS, OUR DAUGHTER!" cried her mate and with that, he darted off towards the chick which was indeed Arcturus. Phoebe followed.

"DAAAADDY!" cried Arcturus as she continued rocketing towards Squaw'tagnan. The three Lear's macaws closed in until finally, they collided and locked themselves in a massive embrace much to the surprise of the onlooking animals. The chimps came to watch the trio as they broke down in jubilant tears, the one that had grabbed Phoebe, the one named Herbert, at the front. Herbert gazed at his comrades with a surprised look on his face.

"Looks like we have more reunions since those seven newcomers came in during the previous introduction," he told the other chimps who nodded. Then Mercury came in and joined the hug, so glad to see his granddaughter again after so long. Near the Lear's macaws, the others in Blu's group were also locked in their own embraces.

Blu, Jewel, Venus, Charlotte, Kira, Lavender and Garrett were embracingSirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Petunia, Vega, Deneb and Polaris; Guanine, Thymine, Adenine, Cytosine, Betelgeuse, Rigel, Canopus, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka were locked in an embrace with Mars, Jupiter, Mimas, Io, Europa, Byron and Athos, with Io crying as she hugged both her daughters Betelgeuse and Rigel; Mira, Procyon, Castor and Pollux were locked in a group hug with Porthos, Titan, Enceladus and Trixie; Uranus, Oberon, Miranda, Aramis, Titania and Umbriel were all hugging Fomalhaut, Capella, Achernar, Antares and Aldebaran; Neptune, Indigo and Victor were hugging Gertie; Pluto, Blueberry and Aiden were hugging Saiph, Denebola, Regulus, Charon and Neytiri (being careful of the latter's wing); Eragon, Marella and Altair were also in a group hug with Eragon being careful with his still-injured shoulder; Ceres was hugging Carmen; Frodo was hugging Alegria, Sylvester, Pitaya, Gladion and Lillie while Augustus, Soren, Luna, Sandalwood and Acerola were locked in their own embrace. The group then began to exchange hugs with each other with the other animals looking on. Dundee came in as Kiara flashed the emu a smile.

"Looks like we have a massive reunion, eh, Dundee?" said the echidna cheerfully.

"Absolutely," said Olympia the cassowary. Atreyu who was nearby with the penguins including Finnick, Tiana and Jacques, also flashed a smile, glad for Sandalwood's group that they had reunited with their families (or most of them).

"Yes," said Dundee in reply to Kiara and Olympia's comment before he turned firm, "Olympia, Kiara, can you lead all the macaws in that group to my tent please?"

As he said this, Ceres, after she had broken the hug with Carmen, Lillie and, carefully with Gladion for his broken wing, shot the emu a surprised look.

"Your tent?" asked the older blue-throated macaw curiously. At this, Lillie began to explain.

"There's a parrot hating chameleon on the loose intending on capturing any parrot he could find to feed to some wildcats in the next door's compartment?" she said. Ceres, together with Blu, Jewel, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and also the other newcomers, shot the little toucan and Diantha and Tom's older daughter a look.

"Parrot hating chameleon?" repeated Blu in confusion.

"That doesn't make any sense," put in Jewel.

"And besides that, we've only just got here for our kids and also some other friends," put in Augustus as he held Sandalwood and Acerola with Soren and Luna flanking him.

"Kiara here will explain further," said Dundee, "But in the meantime, let's get you macaws to my tent with the other parrots."

However, before Dundee's inner circle animals could set to work with taking Blu and the other parrots to Dundee's tent, Soren noticed someone missing.

"Wait, where's Stella?" he asked. worry coursed through Blu's ghroup.

"Stella?" asked Dundee confused.

"My mate, and also Sandalwood's mother," said Soren. Charlotte then found that three of the Spix macaws were missing.

"Carla, Bia and Tiago are missing too," said she.

"As are Azul, Spyro and… Mimas," added Blueberry as she held Saiph with Aiden holding Denebola and Regulus. Charon and Neytiri flashed these two a confused look.

"Have those seven come too?" asked Charon.

"Yes," said Athos as he, Porthos and Aramis looked this way and that for the missing individuals, "They've come with us to rescue the kids."

At this, Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Sandalwood, Carmen and the Catalina macaws (Adenine and his three siblings), felt hope well within them.

"Mom's here?" asked Sirius, referring to Bia. Blu began to look for the seven missing animals.

"Yes, grandson," said he with a firm face, "But it seems that they have wandered off."

At this, dread tore through Jewel and the other adults, and they hoped that Carla, Bia, Tiago, Azul, Stella, Mimas and Spyro hadn't gone far. Dundee was about to ask the newcomers when suddenly, the air was shattered by a massive, bloodcurdling scream, sending immense dread tearing through the group, but most especially Blu and his group. At this, Blu and company tore for the two-door compartment entrance, the recognition of those screams welling within them. Dundee and some of the others followed.

"CARLA, BIA, TIAGO!" screeched Blu as he flapped like mad towards the mesh barrier and solid half-wall separating the artificial jungle from the human corridor. The Spix macaw slammed hard onto the mesh and began to shoot terrified glances this way and that for his two daughters and son.

"Blu, come down from there, those humans could spot you," called Jupiter. However, Blu was flooded by too much panic to hear him. Then his gaze was directed straight down to the floor and when they landed on something, a sharp gasp was drawn in through his beak. Jewel, Venus and some of the others came in.

"Blu," said Venus.

"What is it!?" asked Jewel, dread for her three first-brood children also welling within her. At this, Blu, his talons clinging to the mesh, slowly turned to face the two female Spix macaws, the colour of the skin under his facial feathers having drained to a deathly pale colour.

He had spotted a few blue feathers that lay discarded on the floor outside the barrier, and when Sirius, Sandalwood and some of the other kids saw them as well, dread welled within them. This was familiar, and no different from what happened to Betelgeuse during some of the kids' investigation in the humans' rooms…


	58. Chapter 57

**Chapter 57- a very wrong move**

 **Back at Rio**

Back in Susan and Lucy's cottage, Zephyr, Sapphire, Chiquitita, Ruby, Saturn and Orquidea, Esmeralda, Ultramarine, Lapis Lazuli, Cobalto and the others including Broccoli, Daisy, Collette, Dash, Ginger, James, Ebony, Avellana and Rusty were getting restless in the attic. Since a lot has happened over the past few days, stress had begun to build above the group. The thought of Sandalwood and the others being whisked away by poachers working for a conservation group as collectors' items was making some of them feel sick. Zephyr, along with Roberto, Brisa, Melissa, Anabelle and Sebastian, especially felt this for the incident had reminded them of Roberto's own capture by poachers and Melissa's late cousin Lily almost facing the same fate. It was like a living nightmare that they could not find a way out of, and they were especially concerned for the rare-species members of Blu and company who had gone to Peru to rescue Sandalwood and the others.

Blu, Jewel, Venus, Carla, Bia, Tiago, Charlotte, Kira, Lavender and Garrett were Spix macaws, and Zephyr, Justin, Virgil, Matilda, Músculo, Felix, Turquesa, Jojo, Roberto and Brisa were utterly worried for these individuals' safety, especially while they were in a highly dangerous area riddled with rare animal collectors disguised as conservationists, and if they ever get caught, the chances of them escaping might be slim. Six of them were the mates of some of the mentioned macaws, while two were Roberto's closest friends besides Brisa along with three of them who were like his nieces and nephew, two were Roberto and Brisa's daughter and son-in-law and the parents of Lilac, whom Lavender and Garret had left in the care of Jojo, Felix and Turquesa while they had gone to help Kira and the others retrieve the stolen kids. Sonia, Melody, Einstein, Miles, Jason, Winona, Diego, Austin and Lilac were also especially worried for their missing Spix relatives and the others, and various awful thoughts and worst-case scenarios about them kept churning in their mind, especially the thought of those relatives getting captured by the collectors and made part of their collection of rare animals.

The same worry was replicated in the minds of Sapphire, Lapis Lazuli, Ellie, Olivia, Achilles, Bambi and Andromeda for Mercury, Phoebe and Squaw'tagnan; Pluto, Aiden, and Blueberry; and Frodo and Spyro for these individuals were also part of rare species that collectors and smugglers would not hesitate to go after. Almost the entire family of Sapphire, Lapis Lazuli and Andromeda was absent and these three, especially Andromeda could not stand the thought of their family members and friends getting trapped by poachers to be sold as mere items, and it was one of the things Andromeda especially despised the most. The rest of the group was also worried for their missing friends and family members: Chiquitita, Phobos, Deimos, Alexandre, Estelle, Xander and Kayley for Mars; Ruby, Ganymede and Callisto for Jupiter, Io, Europa, Byron and Athos, and also Mimas in Ganymede's case; Saturn, Iapetus, Rhea, Dione, Tethys, Brooke and Orquidea were worried for Mimas, Porthos, Titan, Enceladus and Trixie while Esmeralda, Benjamin, Ash and Ariel worried for Oberon, Miranda, Aramis, Titania and Umbriel; Ultramarine, Violet, Iris and Triton worried for Neptune, Victor and Indigo; Cobalto and Fernanda worried for Ceres and Azul and Sebastian, Melissa, Ferdinand and Anabelle worried for Augustus, Stella and Soren besides the missing kids including Sandalwood and Acerola. Diantha, Tom and their remaining daughter Aurora were also especially worried for Blu and company for the same reasons as were Broccoli, Dash and the other cats and greyhounds, and Travis, Sunset, Eustace, Milo, Rosa, Clemont Serena, Vincent, Yolanda, Peach, Bruno and Oscar the cockatoos.

Nico, Pedro, Rafael, Eva, Rose and Sparkle had left to find Sheldon and explain to him regarding Triton's innocence and framing while Cometa, Lightning, Velocity, Spike, Orion, Hermione, Zelda and Vulcan had left to re-join the Control de Plagas Squad to help Tulio's team in the continual catching and caging of the numerous toucans still scattered throughout the Blu Bird Sanctuary. It was clear that this job was harder than it seemed for there were countless of these menacing toucans scattered like locusts throughout the nature reserve, causing the other animals a variety of troubles and competition for food and living spaces, not to mention trouble for the human visitors and tourists on the sanctuary such as theft of valuables or actually attacking the humans themselves, especially by the toucan chicks for they were like magpies and were likely far more mischievous than many of the common marmosets that lived on the site. A lot certainly was happening in Rio and with Blu's group, and the repeated calls from the mobile phone from relatives back in the Blu Bird Sanctuary weren't helping either, and the phone had been ringing the U2 song ringtone and shuddering time and time again for hours now.

As the group continued to lounge around, with Mumble, Balthazar and Ginny sitting in a box, looking on confused and also admiring the construction and items of the 'aliens' (humans), the mobile phone went off again, its ringtone of 'Pride (In the Name of Love)' by U2 making the air dance, along with the phone itself shuddering. At this, Zephyr groaned.

"Oh, no," muttered the Spix macaw, his wing on his forehead. Travis breathed a sigh.

"I'll get that," he said and went to the phone, leaving Sunset to tend to Eustace and company including Vincent. All her offspring and grandkids excluding Vincent were still shaken from the fiery incident the other night at the talons of those toucans even now, and the chicks hadn't been able to sleep for the past few nights since that time, and Sunset still had pure rage against the toucans boiling within her, along with the urge to hunt down those would-be murderers and throttling them, though it was something she would never do. As Travis left, Sapphire gazed at the aging sulfur-crested cockatoo.

"It'll be my younger daughters Jasmine and Annette, or Wilbur and Aurelio, Cobalto and Ceres's other two sons," she said. Cobalto just shrugged while Fernanda continued tending to the snoozing Oceano, the only chick she had left. Travis approached the phone and picked it up before finally pressing the 'Answer' button. The moment he did, the screen flashed to an image of a few familiar faces, two Lear's macaws, two blue-throated macaws, a blue-headed macaw and a golden conure, from the Sanctuary de Amazon. However, the faces of all six birds were not at all pleased.

"Ah, finally," growled the Lear's macaw at the front, which was Jasmine, "We've established contact."

Behind her, Annette, Wilbur and Aurelio, and also the conure which was Caspian and the blue-headed macaw which was Kiawe, glared at Travis. Kiawe and Caspian were the mates of Mariposa and Citrine respectively.

"Where have you been?" asked Annette as she stood beside her sister, a displeased look on her face, "The number of our attempts to get through to you must have reached a hundred now."

"But you weren't at all answering," muttered Wilbur, his annoyance threatening to explode into a temper.

"We've been very worried about you," put in Kiawe with concern despite the displeasure on his face. As Travis gazed at the six on the phone screen, some of the others gathered round.

"How are things over there in Rio," asked Caspian, a concerned look also on his face, "And where are Blu and Jewel?"

At this question, Travis exchanged worried glances with Sapphire, Zephyr, Roberto, Brisa and some of the others before resuming his gaze to Jasmine and the other five on the screen. They did not want to tell the six callers about Blu and company's departure to Peru to rescue some kidnapped kids. At this, Jasmine's face creased into a suspicious frown but it was not aimed at Blu's absence much to the relief of Travis's group but what she said next would send astonishment tearing through Travis's group.

"Let me guess," she said, "You also have a bit of a poacher problem over there?"

At this, Sapphire, Travis and some others shook their heads in shock.

"How did you know of the Blu Bird Sanctuary's poacher problem, daughter!?" blurted out Sapphire, the others looking on speechless. Broccoli, Daisy and Collette just exchanged glances and shrugged. At Sapphire's response, Annette came forward.

"We've been having a few intruding poachers here in the Sanctuary de Amazon as well," she said, "But they've been apprehended by the sanctuary's human patrollers and questioned."

"Several patrol groups from our tribes, clans and groups sent by our leaders to monitor those poacher groups have been examining the entire process as well as listening in on the conversations between the poachers and their captors," put in Wilbur, "And have brought back reports that those poachers have been sent here, to the Sanctuary de Amazon and also to the Blu Bird Sanctuary in Rio by some collector group in Peru…"

At this, Broccoli's mouth twisted to form the word silently as his ears picked up the country name.

"Presumably to capture some Spix, glaucous and Lear's macaws and some other of the rare animals for them or something like that," added Aurelio, a scowl of disgust on his face. At this, Andromeda came forward and took the mobile phone from Travis, immense worry welling within her.

"Is my clan and the bat-bird population alright?" the archaeobird clan matriarch asked.

"Yes, Andromeda," said Jasmine, but her face changed to one of dread; "However, a patrol group of archaeobirds and bat-birds led by your brother Ophiuchus had had a narrow escape from a group of three of those poachers…"

Andromeda felt dread tear through her but before she could ask, Jasmine continued. "Those humans shot some of the archaeobirds and bat-birds out of the air with nets including Ophiuchus and his bat-bird, but thankfully, the archaeobirds that managed to escape sought help. Among them were Ophiuchus's mate Honeydew…"

"We managed to rescue that archaeobird patrol group just in time," added Caspian, "but Ophiuchus was almost taken by one of the poachers who attempted to escape with him in his cage…"

"But thankfully, we managed to chase down that man, attack him and drive him away and free Ophiuchus from his cage," said Annette.

As Andromeda's ears picked up this info, her blood began to turn into boiling water and she began to tremble dangerously, her metallic blue feathers bristling and her blue eyes igniting into burning sulfur-like flames. Broccoli turned to Zephyr and the others and said, "This is honestly reminiscent of the mighty poacher incident where that bunch of poachers posed as nature studiers to sneak in to the Amazon Sanctuary to nab birds."

"Not to mention that incident outside the fence of the Blu Bird Sanctuary when Sandalwood and the others were successfully caught," put in Saturn, before his gaze turned to the seething Andromeda, "And she was caught in one of those traps those pesky intruders had set up."

Travis did not reply to either of Saturn or Broccoli's comments and gently took back the phone from Andromeda to allow the archaeobird to leave somewhere and blow off some steam quietly. Then Melissa came in.

"Is Andromeda alright?" asked Caspian concerned as Melissa sat down beside Travis.

"She looked like she was going to lose her temper," added Aurelio.

"She's fine, just outraged at those poachers targeting her clan," said Melissa, a flash at the furious archaeobird as she went to a corner, "But at least you've managed to rescue Ophiuchus and the other archaeobirds and bat-birds from those pesky intruders."

"Those humans didn't half put up a fight, I can tell you," said Annette fiercely, "Especially that man who attempted to make his getaway with Ophiuchus in his clutches. We really had to apply our beaks, talons and, in the case of the flying fox helpers, teeth and foot claws full force to get that poacher to drop Ophiuchus's cage. I was among them who had managed to claw that poacher across the forehead and that, I believe, made him drop that archaeobird."

"Oh, you should have stayed hidden, Annette," said Travis with a bit of annoyance. Sapphire also flashed an annoyed glare at Annette.

"You could have been caught," she put in, "Those poachers are _after rare animals_ such as Lear's macaws for their collector clients…"

"But at least you've helped in Ophiuchus's rescue," said Zephyr gently. Annette's group just exchanged glances and sighed.

"Another patrol group has managed to lead another group of poachers, about four of them, to a group of human patrollers where they have been caught," said Aurelio, "And I believe they are being held and questioned still but…"

At this, Dash and Ginger shot Zephyr, Sapphire, Brisa, Roberto and Travis a look.

"I think that's how some of those poachers have been apprehended in the Sanctuary de Amazon, folks," said Dash. None of the birds answered except Zephyr who flashed Dash a nod, before turning back to Annette and company. "Listen, I'd like to thank you for calling us," he said, "Make sure you keep all the vulnerable members of the tribes, clans and groups, especially those of the rare and critically endangered species, safe and all chicks and pups WELL AWAY from any visiting human until the poacher thing has been sorted."

"Yes, especially our clan and that of Andromeda and Eragon," put in Melissa firmly, "We do NOT want any member, particularly any rare macaw or archaeobird or other rare animal, getting caught by any of those poachers again."

Annette, Jasmine, Aurelio, Caspian, Kiawe and Wilbur all nodded in understanding.

"Yes, we'll pass on that info to your inner-circle bats and the other group and flock leaders," said Aurelio.

"In fact, that task has already been done," said Caspian.

"Good," said Melissa with a firm look.

"Now if you don't mind, we'd better go," said Zephyr who was eager to end the call, "We've still got problems here in the Blu Bird Sanctuary to sort out; Blu might need our help," his facial skin flashed red as he said this, "and we'll speak to you another time."

At this, Jasmine, Annette and Aurelio flashed confused looks but Wilbur, with an agreeing look on his face, nodded to them that it was Zephyr's order. Then he spoke to the phone.

"Okay, we'll see you soon," said the youngest first-brood son of Cobalto and Ceres before a frown came upon his face, "But next time, can you not delay your response to our attempts to call you?"

"Okay then," said Cobalto, "We'll try but don't expect us to abide to that promise for we might be busy."

Jasmine, Annette, Wilbur, Caspian, Kiawe and Aurelio, smiles on their faces, nodded and said goodbye to Zephyr's group and within moments, both ends ended their call. As Zephyr placed the phone back in its spot, Broccoli breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'm glad you didn't explain to them about Blu and Jewel's absence to Peru," said the tabby cat, "The last thing we want is those guys, especially Jewel's father, getting especially worried when they've already got enough problems in their hollows already."

"I can't believe I had to tell that little lie about Blu and company," murmured Zephyr as hotness coursed through him, "This is not something I would _ever_ do…"

He then left for a corner to settle down. Roberto and Brisa looked on.

"Things seem to be getting more and more chaotic, I can tell you," said Roberto worriedly.

"The toucan infestation, then the poachers," said Saturn as he hopped by, his talon still in a cast, "and now a bunch of animal collectors posing as conservationists hiring these poachers to catch rare animals for them… it's a maelstrom, honestly."

And with that, he hopped off, Orquidea, Iapetus, Ganymede, Dione, Rhea, Brooke, Peter, Poppy and Cressida following without saying anything. Brisa and Roberto just gazed at each other before turning those gazes at Jojo, Felix, Turquesa, Justin, Virgil, Matilda, and Músculo as they held Sonia, Melody, Einstein, Miles, Bartholomew, Jason, Winona, Diego, Austin and Lilac while everyone else diverged to return to their spots in the attic, Alexandre, Travis, Sunset and Chiquitita walking over to Mumble, Balthazar and Ginny, who had been listening to the conversation in the background the whole time with barely any understanding due to their lack of familiarity of the Amazon Rainforest and this group of unusual birds (which they still thought were types of land skuas) and the problems whirling around them, though their own problem, finding Atreyu, was still on this trio of emperor penguins' minds. Sadly, Zephyr's group settled back down in their usual spots.

 **The Paradise Sanctuary**

Blu hastily and desperately unlocked the locks on the second door of the compartmentalised section entrance to the artificial jungle and yanked open the door. He had already unlocked the first door and had been working on the second. As soon as the door was pulled open, the brown-eyed Spix macaw, his blood freezing into ice from panic and dread and his heart dropping like a lump of lead, darted out of the entrance and shot over to the few feathers that lay on the floor in front of the half-wall and barrier. Jewel, Venus, Charlotte, Kira, Lavender, Garrett, Soren, Byron and Athos hastily followed while the other animals remained in the artificial jungle. Sandalwood went to follow but Augustus stopped him.

"Stay here, grandson," said the older flying fox and Soren's father-in-law firmly. At this, Sandalwood reluctantly backed away and stood with Sirius, Bellatrix, Spica, Acerola, Saiph and Regulus with Pluto, Mercury, Jupiter and some of the jungle's animals occupying them. As the ten animals outside the jungle touched down and began to examine the discarded feathers, Dundee entered the small compartment entrance and snaked his head outside the door at Blu and the others as they began to examine the feathers.

"Don't spend too long out there, you lot," said the emu, "You know the human workers around here will not tolerate us outside the jungle."

Blu and the other nine ignored Dundee and continued examining the feathers, Blu examining one of the cerulean ones.

"This is from Bia," he said, the skin under his blue facial feathers a deathly pale colour.

"Tiago, Carla," said Jewel as she examined one or two more blue feathers, one of which was dark blue like Blu and Tiago but smaller, indicating from it was from a younger male bird. Athos and Soren then examined a few more feathers but these feathers were quite different from the pure blue and cerulean feathers. Two or three of them were blue or turquoise but they had a splash of yellow on their underside, like the feathers of a blue-and-gold macaw and its close and highly similar relative, the blue-throated macaw. Porthos, Titan, Enceladus, Trixie and Oberon, their talons hooked onto the mesh on the jungle side of the barrier, gazed down at Blu's group.

"Has someone else gone missing besides Carla, Bia and Tiago?" asked Porthos.

"These feathers are from a blue-and-gold macaw and a blue-throated macaw," said Athos. Then it struck him like a stone. There was a blue-and-gold macaw and a blue-throated macaw missing.

"Mimas, Azul," said the green-winged mate of Callisto in a dread-saturated voice.

"And Spyro and I believe Stella as well," put in Soren as he examined another feather and a few hairs nearby. The feather he had found was purple with a splash of green and had a metallic sheen to it, like the surface of an iridescent butterfly's wing, while the hairs were pure white. There was only one individual in Blu's group that had metallic purple feathers and another with white fur, and that had dawned within the minds of Blu and the others as well. As the realisation hit them, Soren began to tremble as did Marella and Altair who stood at the entrance to the jungle by Dundee's feet. Then a scowl came upon Dundee's face for this seemed familiar.

"Dalek," hissed the emu, his fur-like feathers bristling. At this, Altair gazed at the tall flightless bird.

"Do you think that chameleon might have caught Dad and the other six, Dundee?" he asked. Blu, Jewel, Venus, Charlotte, Kira, Lavender, Garrett, Soren, Byron and Athos returned to near the entrance and glared at Dundee with the same demanding facial expressions. In the jungle near the entrance, Sandalwood, Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix and some of the others were becoming more and more agitated. Then Kiara the echidna stepped forward from behind Dundee's legs, a dark look on her face.

"We have only just found out from some brave kids," said she, a nod to Sandalwood and some of the others including Steven as he stood with Greg, Sardonyx and his last remaining brother, Kevin, "that Dalek is friends with a certain pack of wildcats in the next door's Compartment of the Carnivores, a pack of caracals and servals lead by Carnassial…"

"How does this chameleon's friendship pertain to the endangerment of Carla and the others?" asked Blu. At this, Betelgeuse struggled out of Jupiter's grasp and fluttered over to Blu and company at the entrance.

"Dalek was once a beloved pet of a wealthy human boy until he was replaced by three parrots," she said, "And that was led to his rancour of all parrotkind…" as she said this, Blu, Jewel and the others exchanged glances. Then Sandalwood came forward.

"And since he was brought here, Dalek has put his hatred of all parrots to use by capturing them and feeding them to Carnassial and his gang," he said, "A number of unfortunate victims have landed in the claws and teeth of those caracals and servals and have never been seen again…"

"The best known cases are a lesser sulfur-crested cockatoo," said Dundee, "And two adolescent kakapos which are flightless birds from New Zealand."

"Betelgeuse and Sylvester were almost the next victims," put in Gladion as he stood with Lillie near Dundee's feet, having come to the entrance to add to the explanation as well, at which Blu, Jewel, Venus, Charlotte, Kira, Lavender, Garrett, Soren, Byron and Athos, and also Io and Frodo in the animal crowd behind Dundee, and some of the others, shook their heads in utter disbelief. At this, Sylvester gazed at Io and his father.

"It's true," he said, to which Frodo looked on speechless with dread and horror.

"But the latest victim had been a scarlet macaw chick," continued Lillie, before her gaze turned to Sandalwood and then to Sirius in the crowd of animals behind Dundee, "who had sacrificed himself to save Sandalwood and Sirius."

"And it seems that that chameleon has somehow spotted you while you were trying to find your way here," said Sandalwood. At this, horrified and disbelieving glances were exchanged between Blu and the others with him.

"Are you meaning to say that we have been followed!?" blurted out Venus.

"But we've managed to remain hidden throughout our search for you guys in this place," added Charlotte.

"How could we have had a stalker behind us?" asked Kira. At this, Umbriel began to advance forward.

"Surely there was no-one watching us," put in Lavender in disbelief.

"Exactly," added Garrett, "None of us hadn't spotted anything or anyone suspicious following us or spying on us."

Soren, Byron and Athos just exchanged glances and shrugged as Umbriel walked past Dundee's feet and stood before Blu and the others with him. Then Dundee's face creased into a dark frown.

"Well if that chameleon had managed to evade your range of sight, macaws," he said, "Then you should have a very good reason to be utterly shocked."

"Yes, that chameleon Dalek is a very sly one," put in Kiara sternly. Astonishment tore through Blu and the others with him and Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Ceres, Pluto, Augustus and the others who had travelled with Blu also flinched harshly. Only Umbriel remained calm.

"I actually sensed that someone was following us the whole time," she said, "I had been on edge until we got here."

"But why didn't you tell us?" asked Jewel angrily.

"You wouldn't have believed me if I explained that we had a stalker behind us," said Umbriel. Then Jewel turned her disgusted glare at Dundee.

"Well, however that chameleon creature had kept out of our sight," she growled, her cerulean feathers bristling, "It sure is as bad and as sly as that despicable SLIME-BALL NIGEL, I can tell you," she uttered the name of her most detested cockatoo in the entire world with pure malice.

"That Nigel may have been sly," said Venus, "But this chameleon seems to be slier even than that cockatoo or even that Brutus the cat," the pigtailed Spix macaw then turned to Dundee, "So if this chameleon has captured some of the macaws from us, do you know where he could be headed with them?"

Before Dundee could answer, Sandalwood rushed in and said, "Possibly to the Compartment of the Carnivores, Mrs Venus."

"And to Carnassial and his gang," put in Betelgeuse, "like how he did with me."

At this, Blu and Jewel and the others shot the young flying fox pup and Io and Sheldon's eldest daughter a dreaded look.

"We'd better go after that reptile, NOW," said Kiara to Dundee, "Before we have another set of parrots-turned-dinner added to the cases we know."

"Got that, Kiara, call in the patrolling animals and establish a rescue group," said Dundee, "and also command the animals in charge of looking after the parrots to keep the parrots in my tent until we have captured the chameleon."

Kiara nodded and darted off into the jungle. Dundee then turned to Blu and said, "You lot return in here and join the other parrots in my tent…"

"No, we're gonna come with your rescue group to save Carla and the other six as well, emu," said Blu, much to Dundee's surprise. But then the emu frowned.

"I'm afraid not," he said, "The Compartment of the Carnivores is an incredibly dangerous place, especially to birds."

"But three of those kidnapped macaws are our _two daughters and son,"_ snapped Jewel fiercely, "We wanna participate in the rescue as well."

"Also, the bat that had been kidnapped is my mate and Sandalwood's mother," put in Soren.

"And the blue-and-gold macaw, blue-throated macaw and archaeobird are close friends of ours," said Byron, "And the beloved mate of a scarlet macaw back in Brazil."

"We don't want to lose them," added Athos. At this, Dundee stared at Blu and the others with Sandalwood, Gladion, Lillie and Betelgeuse directing their gazes back and forth at the emu and the group. Dundee continued to think until finally, he reached a decision but he was reluctant to announce it for he feared the safety of Blu and company.

"Okay, but you MUST stay with the other animals," he said firmly to Blu and Jewel, "until we are out of the Compartment of the Carnivores with the kidnapped victims safe and sound. Got it?"

Blu and Jewel, smiles on their beaks nodded but that flash of joy was vaporised in an incident as Charlotte's voice rang out.

"Look OUUUUT!" bellowed Venus's daughter. Then a few blurs, some cerulean with one tinted lilac, one an orange and black, and two red with streaks of green, yellow and blue or turquoise, shot past Blu and Jewel and into the jungle through the compartment entrance, some of them seizing Sandalwood, Gladion, Lillie and Betelgeuse in the process. Dundee, his face suddenly turning into horror, backed away through the compartment entrance and returned to the jungle grounds, leaving Blu and Jewel to stand there, surprise swamping them as a shadow suddenly swelled over them and cloaked them. Then Blu and Jewel turned but before their eyes could land on the shadow's owner, a 'plop' was heard and the pair of Spix macaws found themselves cloaked in darkness with spots of light. Alarmed, Blu and Jewel shot glances this way and that and gazed through the holes of the thing, which appeared to be a basket, at a triumphant and jubilant face of a human as he gazed through the holes and at the Spix macaws.

"Well, what do we have here?" cried the human in a very ecstatic voice, "A pair of Spix macaws, eh?"

Blu and Jewel gazed at the man in utter astonishment through the basket's holes as the man then turned his head and called to some of the humans in Spanish. As he did so, Jewel began to burn with wrath.

"Well that is JUST GREAT!" she bellowed. Blu, however, shuddered. He and Jewel had just been spotted and subsequently caught by one of the human collectors disguised as conservationists. From the mesh and the compartment door entrance, Venus and the others looked on in horror.

"BLU, JEWEL!" cried Venus. Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Ceres, Pluto and Augustus, together with Charlotte, Kira, Lavender and Garrett; Io, Europa, Byron, Athos, and Soren; Porthos, Titan, Enceladus, Trixie and Oberon; Miranda, Aramis, Titania and Umbriel; Indigo, Victor, Phoebe, Squaw'tagnan, Blueberry, Aiden, and Frodo, and also Sandalwood, Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Acerola and the other kids, and Neytiri, Eragon, Marella, Luna and Charon who had been standing in the crowd of animals the entire time, shuddered violently as they watched some more humans excitedly rush in and gather around the man that had Blu and Jewel trapped in an inverted basket, excited shouts of Spanish and Portuguese exploding from their mouths.

Could things possibly get any worse!?


	59. Chapter 58

**Chapter 58- the rescuing of the victims begins**

Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Ceres and Pluto, together with Augustus, Soren, Charlotte, Kira, Lavender and Garrett; Io, Europa, Byron and Athos; Porthos, Titan, Enceladus, Trixie and Oberon; Miranda, Aramis, Titania, Umbriel, Indigo and Victor; Phoebe and Squaw'tagnan, Blueberry, Aiden, Frodo, and Neytiri, Eragon, Marella, Luna and Charon, and also Sandalwood, Spica, Bellatrix, Sirius and the other kids that were kidnapped with Sandalwood by the poachers and brought here by some of their clients, gazed on in utter horror with the other animals including Dundee as some of the human workers congregated around the human as he held the basket over Blu and Jewel.

"GRANDPA, GRANDMA!" screeched Sirius, Bellatrix and Spica altogether and in horror as they watched the two Spix macaws under the basket disappear from view by a line of humans. Charlotte, Kira, Lavender and Garrett, disgusted and pure outraged glares on their faces then attempted to surge forward but Reepicheep the platypus, Flax and Harakeke the kiwis came in and blocked their path.

"No, those humans will catch you as well," said Reepicheep. Phoebe, Mercury and Squaw'tagnan also attempted to surge forward but Olympia blocked their path with a leg.

"No, don't," shouted the cassowary, wary of their safety.

"Let us PAST!" bellowed Mercury at Olympia furiously as he, his daughter and son-in-law attempted to fight their way past Olympia's leg, his grey eyes ablaze with wrath. Then Arcturus came in.

"You're RARE BIRDS, LEAR'S MACAWS, Mom, Dad and Grandpa!" she shouted, "THOSE HUMANS are RARE ANIMAL COLLECTORS and they are AFTER A BREEDING PAIR OF LEAR'S MACAWS FOR THIS PLACE!"

At this, Mercury, Squaw'tagnan and Phoebe shot the Lear's macaw chick a horrified look. Then Atreyu came in, Gylife and Aurum, the two golden fruithawks behind him.

"It's true," said Atreyu to Mercury, "Those humans are after rare animals to collect."

At this, Mars and Jupiter stepped in, volcanic glares saturated with dust storms and lightning storms of wrath fixated on the humans as they continued uttering excited shouts about Blu and Jewel, their feathers bristling dangerously.

"Well, we're NOT gonna allow those COLLECTORS who give true conservationists a BAD NAME to add the most famous Spix macaw couple to their COLLECTION!" snarled Jupiter fiercely. Then before anyone could stop him, the muscular scarlet macaw rushed off for the compartmentalised entrance with Mars and also Io, Europa, Byron and Athos in tow. As the red macaws rushed off, Kiara had returned.

"Dundee," said the echidna, "The rescue group is ready."

"Good," replied Dundee, "Now take them to the Compartment of the Carnivores."

Kiara nodded and dashed off to lead the rescue group to the barrier of the said compartment. Soren, Augustus, Venus, Mercury and Luna followed.

"We're gonna help too," said Venus, "For those seven kidnapped individuals are part of our family and extended family."

Kiara, at this, turned round to protest but then ultimately relented after seeing the stern looks on the five's faces.

"Okay, but stay by our sides!" commanded the echidna firmly. Soren, Ceres, Augustus, Venus, Mercury and Luna nodded and proceeded to follow Kiara to the rescue group. Olympia, Reepicheep and also Greg and Sardonyx, after leaving Steven and Kevin in the care of Shade, Sadie and Connie the grey-headed bats, followed to help, obviously not wanting the seven individuals, five of which were macaws, meeting the same fate as their son Lars. Then Uranus turned to the humans as Jupiter and the other red macaws waited until the humans have seized Blu and Jewel from under the basket.

"And WE'RE gonna help rescue those two Spix macaws," growled the great green macaw fiercely. As he said this, Neptune and some of the others including Porthos, Titan, Enceladus, Trixie and Oberon, joined his side and went over to join Jupiter, Mars, Io, Europa, Byron and Athos as they prepared to launch a vicious attack on the humans outside the barrier to the jungle. As they did this, Dundee began to order the other animals to return to their homes and shelter for their safety for he had sensed that a fight was about to break out. As Sandalwood and company were escorted to the home trees, burrows and Dundee's tent under the care of some of the adult animals such as Shade and Sadie, Sandalwood flashed a glance back at Uranus, Jupiter and company as they prepared to launch an attack on the humans still crowding around Blu and Jewel.

"We've gotta do something to help, folks," he told the others. At this, Sadie seized the little flying fox pup and shook him.

"No," she said, intensely concerned for his safety, "You stay right by our sides."

"Yes," put in Shade, "It's not safe for you young kids to participate in either of the rescues," his gaze then turned to Connie, "Especially after what almost happened to those of you that went into the Compartment of the Carnivores and after Lars's demise."

Sandalwood, however, flashed a disappointed look and followed the grey-headed bats to the flying foxes' trees. The other kids also had the desire to help as well. Sirius, Spica and Bellatrix wanted to help in Blu and Jewel's rescue while some of the others such as Altair and Carmen, Azul's daughter, wanted to help rescue Spyro, Acerola and the five kidnapped macaws along with Kiara's rescue group but the adult animals had forbidden them from doing so. As the animals left for the shelter of Dundee's tent and the trees and burrows, the kids began to formulate an escape plan and either join in with Jupiter's group in rescuing Blu AND Jewel or follow Kiara's group to the Compartment of the Carnivores to rescue Carla, Bia, Tiago, Mimas, Azul, Spyro and Stella from the clutches of the evil chameleon.

As the humans prepared to seize Blu and Jewel from under the basket, Mars and Jupiter, together with the others with them, prepared to launch an attack on the captors. Uranus, Porthos, Titan, Enceladus, Trixie and Oberon; Miranda, Aramis, Titania and Umbriel as well as Neptune, Io, Europa, Byron and Athos, Indigo and Victor glared like cats poised to launch upon their prey at the conservationist impersonating collectors as two or three of them prepared their hands to grab onto Blu and Jewel who were still under the basket. Mars, having known Blu and Jewel long enough, knew what was coming.

"Just wait until they try to seize Jewel," said the green-winged macaw in a low voice, "She's sure to put up a savage fight."

"Jewel absolutely DESPISES being handled by untrustworthy humans, so it wouldn't be a surprise if she does explode into a savage frenzy," said Uranus in a low voice.

"Those humans are gonna face a serious biting and clawing," said Io in a low voice, "Not only from Jewel but from some other macaws as well."

"I think one of the men has managed to seize one of the Spix macaws under the basket," said Neptune. At this, the group tensed up as they watched one of the men, his back to the macaws, as he struggled with something. Within moments, a squawk of distress exploded from the basket as one of the Spix macaws was seized. The man shouted in Spanish but then he began to utter shouts of pain as his hands were viciously attacked. Hastily, the man withdrew his hands, which were crisscrossed with scratches, along with a bundle of dark blue feathers, while his comrades closed the basket to prevent the other from escaping. This was the moment Jupiter had been waiting for. Turning to Mars, Io, Europa, Byron, Athos, Porthos, Titan, Enceladus, Trixie and Oberon, the burly scarlet macaw barked, "GO!"

The moment the word exploded from Jupiter's beak, a small flock of red, turquoise, green, yellow, and navy blue feathers exploded from the compartmentalised entrance to the jungle and swarmed the human as he stood up with a struggling Blu in his hands. The moment the macaw strikers were upon the human, everything was immediately thrown into chaos.

Astonished shouts of surprise erupted alongside enraged screeches and squawks as Mars's group began to mercilessly slash and claw Blu's holder. Mars, his eyes blazing violent orange dust storms, went straight for the holder's eyes and without hesitation, raked his claws across the man's forehead. Screams of agony erupted from the man, accompanied by a few drops of blood flying parallel to Mars's claw strike as the green-winged macaw backed away. The man dropped Blu and flew his hands to his clawed face while the other humans immediately got up to try and seize the attacking macaws. The moment he was released, Blu flapped away, relieved to be freed from the clutches of these so-called conservationists. However, he turned round and joined in the fray. Curses in Spanish, screams of agony and furious macaw screeches then erupted into the corridor's air, attract ting the attention of some other humans as Mars's group began to unleash its fury on Blu and Jewel's captors.

One human tried swiping his hands at Porthos, Titan, Enceladus, Oberon and Trixie but the three blue-and-gold macaws, great green macaw and hyacinth macaw kept dodging and retaliating with vicious claw swipes and beak bites. The man's eyes were ablaze with frustration and curse words in Spanish kept exploding from his mouth each time he missed or received a bite or scratch. Then Trixie lunged forward and managed to land a hard beak bite on the man's hand. Because she was a massive hyacinth macaw, she unleashed her enormous jaw strength in her bite. A massive howl of agony exploded from the man as his hand was trapped in Enceladus's hyacinth mate's super-strong pincer. While Trixie held onto the hand, the man trying to wave the hand to dislodge it from her vice-grip, Porthos, Titan, Enceladus and Oberon continued landing a barrage of bites and scratches on him. Nearby, Io, Europa, Byron and Athos were savagely fighting their way past some more humans as they protected the man that held Jewel under the basket.

"Take THIS!" screeched Io as she slashed one of the women across the face, hitting her cheek. The woman flinched but continued trying to seize the scarlet macaw. Then one of the other women turned to some bystanders who had heard the commotion as she struggled to hold down Europa and Byron in her arms as they continued clawing and biting her hands and arms, fiercely struggling to free themselves from their captor's grip. She shouted at them in Spanish to not stand there but come and help restrain the marauding macaws. At this, the bystanders, seeing that the group of humans were receiving more and more bites and cuts from the savage Mars, Porthos, Titan, Enceladus, Oberon and Trixie, as well as Io, Europa, Byron and Athos, and now Blu as well, surged forward to help.

"Get the MALE SPIX MACAW!" cried one of the humans as he shielded his head with his hands as Porthos and Titan slashed their claws at his head, screeches of fury exploding constantly from their beaks. From the inferno, one of the ladies, after dodging Neptune and Uranus's furious lunges, saw a certain blue feathered form as he launched himself at the man holding Jewel under the basket. At this, she lunged forward, narrowly avoiding getting knocked over by another man as Victor struck him with his fruit shell hat while Indigo flapped in his face, sending him into a fall onto the floor on his backside, and without another second's hesitation, seized Blu in her hands before he had a chance to claw at Jewel's captor's face, much to Blu's shock. However, before she could make off from the chaos with the brown-eyed Spix macaw in her hands, six more macaws: four great green and two red, suddenly appeared and swarmed all over her face and upper body. The woman released a cry of shock as Miranda, Aramis, Titania, Umbriel, Jupiter and Mars then began to unleash their fury on her to get her to release Blu. However, the woman kept Blu firmly in her hands and hid him from the six attacking macaws.

From the jungle through the barrier, some of the animals, amongst them some of Sandalwood's group watched on with horror lacing the faces of some of them and excitement the faces of others, particularly those of Sandalwood and company's group.

"Go, go, go for it!" cried Blueberry as she watched the chaos through the steel mesh.

"Show those so-called conservationists who's boss!" added Aiden as he held Regulus, Saiph and Denebola who cheered the attackers on. The jungle's animals, among them Dundee, Olympia and also Atreyu and his penguin friends, looked on in shock.

"We never had THAT in mind," said Dundee as he watched the inferno. Suddenly, one of the men came stumbling towards the group and slammed hard into it, Uranus having savagely drove him back as he tried seizing Indigo and Victor. As the man slammed hard into the mesh with a hard steel-net sound, Aiden, Blueberry, Regulus, Saiph and Denebola all launched into the air in astonishment while the other animals, among them Frodo, Neytiri, Eragon, Charon and also Olympia, Dundee, Flax and Harakeke the kiwis, Aurum and Gylfie the fruithawks and Reepicheep the platypus, all flinched violently as they watched the man, battered and bruised with his face covered in red gashes from Uranus's savage attack to his face, then slumped down onto the floor.

"Whoa, good GRIEF!" shouted Olympia as she gazed down at the dazed man through the mesh. None of the other stunned animals said anything as their gazes resumed the inferno. Suddenly, Aiden spotted one of the women make off with a familiar blue feathered form struggling in her arms, Jupiter, Mars, Miranda, Aramis, Titania and Umbriel, their faces twisted with looks of volcanic and stormy thunder, racing after her.

"She's GETTING AWAY WITH BLU!" cried the glaucous macaw. At this, Lillie who had been standing with Gladion, suddenly surged forward towards the still-open two-door compartment entrance.

"LILLIE!" bellowed Pluto as he saw the little toucan and Diantha and Tom's missing daughter dart for the entrance. Outside the double door entrance, the woman, with Blu firmly in one arm, suddenly seized a plastic sheet booklet with the other, whirled round and began to try and swat away Miranda, Aramis, Titania, Umbriel, Jupiter and Mars as they tried to rescue Blu from her clutches.

"Look OUT!" barked Jupiter as he stopped abruptly as a flat white blur shot past him. Miranda, Aramis, Titania, Umbriel and Mars also stopped and dodged the woman's swiping weapon as she continued swishing it at the macaws, a look of wrath storming her face. The six macaws then tried to back away as the woman then began to drive them back, all the time swishing the folder wallets at them again and again. Aramis used his agility to adroitly dodge the woman's flailing sheet weapon while Mars was forced to dive to the floor to avoid getting his head struck by the booklet of flat sheets. Jupiter, Miranda and Titania also dodged but Umbriel did not move fast enough and was struck hard by the booklet.

"UMBRIEL!" cried Jupiter, Miranda, Mars, Aramis and Titania, and also Blu in the woman's arm at the same time as Umbriel, her face twisted into a seriously dazed look, flew across the clearing, slammed against the mesh and flumped to the floor just as Lillie emerged from the entrance. The little toucan flashed a horrified glance at the fallen great green macaw before turning a volcanic one at the woman as she continued to attempt to swipe away the other five. At this, the toucan rocketed off towards the inferno just as Uranus and Neptune appeared and touched down beside Umbriel to look her over, horrified looks on their faces. Lillie shot under the cloud consisting of the frantic, flapping, dodging and outraged Jupiter, Mars, Aramis, Miranda and Titania and the swiping plastic sheet booklet in the woman's hand and made a beeline for Blu in the woman's other arm. Then as soon as she was close to the grasp locking Blu and preventing his escape, the little toucan did something that her father Tom and mother Diantha would cuff her for, as well as the most violent act she had ever performed. As Uranus helped Umbriel, who was still dazed, to her feet, Neptune turned round to examine the progress of Jupiter and the other four as they continued trying to get to Blu when suddenly; he heard the most bloodcurdling scream of agony erupt from Blu's captor. The scream was so loud that it made Uranus flinch and Umbriel snap out of her dazed state. Jupiter, Mars, Aramis, Miranda and Titania also flinched in utter flabbergast as they saw their attacker erupt in extreme pain, dropping the booklet in the process, before turning their gaze to the her other arm holding Blu but the moment their eyes landed on a familiar form near Blu, astonishment tore through them.

"LILLIE!?" bellowed Mars as the other four looked on with their jaws agape. Lillie did not hear Mars call her name and continued sinking her colourful beak as hard as she could into the woman's arm, drawing blood in the process and causing her extreme pain. The pain was enough to get the woman's arm to slack and make her bend over, allowing Blu to make his escape. After Blu had fled and Lillie had released her arm, the woman's hand, the one that held the booklet, went to her bitten arm and clasped it but then Miranda surged forward and without hesitation slashed her claws right over the woman's forehead, making the human scream in agony again and cover her scratched face. Miranda saw this and added a second slash to her cheek, drawing some blood in the process.

"Take THIS for SWIPING MY SISTER…" she bellowed as she did it, "PHONY CONSERVATIONIST!"

The woman who was bent over in agony from her badly bitten arm and scratched forehead and cheek, all three of which were bleeding, then slumped onto the floor and continued to grasp her wounds. Pluto came out just in time to see Lillie, her colourful beak painted with the woman's blood, stand with Blu as they also glared unsympathetically at the woman.

"Good job, Lillie," said Blu thankfully to the little toucan. Lillie's face twisted into a smug scowl.

"And I hope that human's injuries scar," she said spitefully as she glared at the pained woman, "for swiping away Auntie Umbriel and trying to steal you."

As Lillie said this, Pluto seized her and angrily whirled her around, a flustered and outraged look lacing his face.

"You FOOLISH chick," he bellowed, making Lillie flinch and cover her face fearfully, "You could have been HURT or even…"

However, he trailed off and calmed down, making Lillie lower her wings for gladness that Lillie was safe had come over him. Then Pluto pulled her into a hug.

"Oh, please don't endanger yourself like that again," said the glaucous macaw, "You scared us out of our feathers."

Blu gazed at Lillie as she relished her 'uncle's' embrace. Lillie, Gladion and Aurora were amongst the only toucans of Rafael and Eva's MASSIVE family to be truly part of Blu's extended family for Tom and Diantha were not like many of the former's siblings and their offspring. Neither were Lillie and her two siblings. However, the sweet moment was abruptly cut off when the sounds of extreme terror exploded volcanically into the air, but these screams were not from any of the macaws. As it did, Blu, Pluto, Lillie and then Uranus, Neptune and Umbriel, who had recovered, and Jupiter, Miranda, Mars, Aramis and Titania (who had gathered around Umbriel to check on her) all flinched and snapped their gaze in the direction of the other brawling humans and macaws, just in time to see Porthos, Titan, Enceladus, Trixie, Oberon, Io, Europa, Byron, Athos, Indigo and Victor explode from the cloud of fighting humans and land clumsily onto the floor before Jupiter and the others.

"We've managed to free Jewel," said Porthos as he puffed and panted, struggling to his feet with Miranda and Mars's help.

"You should have seen Athos," added Titan, "He managed to fight his way to the human holding Jewel under that basket and tackle him square in his face with his claws in attacking position…"

"That seemed to have forced him into removing that basket from Jewel, allowing her to escape but now…" began Athos, his claws splashed with some red liquid from his savage attack on Jewel's captor. He had rammed his claws right into the man's face during his tackle and had knocked him back to get him to release Jewel, but the moment that Spix macaw, whom Blu knew had an extremely volcanic temper, especially when forcibly caught by humans who treated her like an item, was freed, all chaos had broken loose based on the immense screams of pure terror and agony from the humans. Blu and the others, along with the animals watching from within the jungle through the barrier mesh, then began to watch the volcanic eruption as a cerulean form, her eyes ablaze with teal unspeakable, apoplectic, and wrathful conflagrations, unleash her full fury full throttle upon the collectors disguised as conservationists. The frightened humans all covered their heads and faces as the extremely savage Jewel slashed her claws over and sank her beak mercilessly into the skins of their hands and upper bodies, screaming in agony as the berserk Spix macaw's conflagration-like rage slashed open wounds and drew blood, extreme eagle like screeches exploding from her beak.

Seeing Jewel in this state was absolutely terrifying, and her behaviour reminded Titan, Io and Europa of a certain Iphone game they had played at some point featuring a group of wingless birds attacking thieving green pigs to rescue their eggs but Jewel was WAY worse than those short-tempered birds. Blu and company flinched when they watched Jewel lash at one of the women and slash her face repeatedly with her claws like an extremely savage cat.

"Even Brutus would have been very afraid of that Spix macaw while she's in that berserk state," murmured Pluto in fright. Lillie ducked behind Pluto and murmured.

"I'm not surprised," said Blu with some understanding showing through the surprise, "She DESPISES any human who treats us animals like objects."

"I think she should have lashed at that Nigel cockatoo like she's doing to those humans," said Victor with little sympathy. None of the others replied, however. Then Jupiter opened his wings to fly into the inferno to help Jewel deal with these humans but Blu hooked a wing on his shoulder.

"No, let my mate unleash her wrath on those conservation name-staining phonies," he said gently. At this, Jupiter relented and retracted his wings. Suddenly, one of the humans, his face and arms crisscrossed with bleeding scratches, stumbled in the group's direction, forcing the group to dive into the compartment door as the man, his face twisted in sheer agony and terror, slammed onto the floor on his front. Through the steel mesh, Dundee, Olympia, Aiden and Blueberry and some of the other animals including Gylfie and Aurum watched on in either horror or smugness as Jewel continued screeching like a cat and savagely slashing her claws over the humans' faces and upper bodies with no intention of stopping and taking a break, the humans continuously screaming and covering their heads as they took the brunt of the volcanic Spix macaw's continual barrage of clawing and bites. One or two humans had managed to flee the inferno and make their getaway. Behind the adult animals, the youngsters, including Saiph, Denebola and Regulus, cowered, too afraid to watch Jewel continue her savage attack on the humans.

"I had never known a parrot THAT savage," murmured Dundee in utter horror, "That blue macaw's honestly the most _berserk_ parrot I had ever met."

"She absolutely LOATHES humans who treat us animals like collector's items," said Aiden despite his horror of Jewel's savage behaviour. As he said this, a whistle of air blew over his and Blueberry's heads. At this, the couple looked up and saw a gold and yellow form make a beeline for the double door entrance.

"Well, I'm gonna join in the fray and show those stupid humans what for as well," said the fruithawk which was Gylfie. Then Aurum opened his wings and lofted into flight.

"I'm going with you too," he said. Gylfie, at this, smiled sadistically and exited the double door with Aurum following.

"Hey, you two," shouted Blu as he saw the pair of fruithawks exit the artificial jungle, "Get BACK HERE!"

"Those humans are DANBGEROUS!" added Jupiter. However, both fruithawks did not hear him and soon enough, the two had plunged into the inferno to join Jewel in savagely attacking the humans. Mars shuddered.

"This is gonna be _brutal,"_ he murmured. The others said nothing, however.

While the group and the other animals continued watching Jewel and now Gylfie and Aurum continue their attack on the humans, Sandalwood, Acerola, Sirius, Bellatrix, Spica, Carmen and Altair had slipped away from the adults' sides and had gathered together, a plan having formed in their heads.

"We're gonna go and help Kiara and the others rescue Mom, Uncle Tiago, Aunt Stella, Aunt Carla and the other two kidnapped victims," said Sirius with a determined scowl on his face.

"But Sirius, the last time we rescued Betelgeuse, Lars lost his life," said Acerola.

"While you and Sandalwood were lucky to escape," put in Bellatrix, her gaze on Sandalwood. However, Sandalwood's face was in agreement with that of Sirius.

"We're NOT gonna allow that scaly slime rat feed those five macaws to that Carnassial brute and his gang," growled the amber flying fox pup.

"Certainly not my father," put in Carmen with equal determination, referring to Azul. Sirius nodded in agreement. He was desperate to get his claws into Dalek and give that chameleon a piece of his mind. As Carmen spoke, another voice said, "Are you going after Kiara and the others?"

At this, Sandalwood, Acerola, Sirius, Bellatrix, Spica, Carmen and Altair turned and saw Atreyu walk in with Adenine, Thymine, Guanine and Cytosine, Capella and Achernar, and Castor and Pollux. The nine newcomers wore determined gazes on their faces and wanted to help Sandalwood and company in their plans. However, doubt had swelled within some of Sandalwood's group.

"But, Atreyu," said Bellatrix, "That is NOT a good idea."

"You need to stay by the grownups' sides," said Sirius. Spica's gaze then landed on Adenine and his siblings.

"Additionally," she said, "We can't risk the rest of Uncle Ganymede's family going missing or getting hurt. It's best if you four Catalina macaws stay in the safety of the grownups."

"Not to mention Atreyu after the two previous times we had been in the Compartment of the Carnivores," added Altair, his gaze on the emperor penguin chick. Atreyu, however, just shrugged as Adenine, Thymine, Guanine and Cytosine adamantly stepped forward.

"Look," said Adenine fiercely and stubbornly, "That chameleon has caused us and the other parrots enough trouble, especially for Steven's family," his gaze flashed at Steven, Kevin, Sardonyx and Greg, "And we don't want that lizard to feed Mr Blu and Mrs Jewel's three first brood son and daughters to those caracals and servals."

"Certainly not our Mom Mimas and Uncle Azul," put in Guanine.

"Additionally," put in Achernar as he stood with Capella, "Mr Mercury, Mrs Venus and Mrs Ceres could be putting themselves at risk of that chameleon's parrot-detesting wrath."

"Please let us come and help you," said Castor and Pollux together. Adenine and his three siblings, Atreyu and Achernar and Capella put on begging faces as Sandalwood and the others began to make a decision. After a minute or two, especially after spotting Eragon walk about searching for Sandalwood and Acerola and calling their names, Sandalwood reached a choice.

"Okay, but make sure you stick by us and take extreme care not to end up captured by any of those carnivores," said the young bat firmly, before his gaze returned to Eragon as he continued searching and calling for him and Acerola, "Let's go before Mr Eragon spots us."

And with that he, Acerola, Sirius, Bellatrix, Spica, Carmen and Altair and also Adenine, Thymine, Guanine, Cytosine, Capella, Achernar, Atreyu, Castor and Pollux all darted off in the direction of Kiara and her rescue group just before Eragon appeared, his search for Sandalwood and Acerola continuing.


	60. Chapter 59

**Chapter 59- an attempt to catch Dalek…**

 **Meanwhile**

Kiara, together with the rescue group she had set up, among them Herbert and his chimp gang, Wally the orangutan, Mulan the panda, Mina the Tasmanian devil and some of her older family members, and several flying foxes that lived in the 'sanctuary's' jungle, were now close to the dividing mesh between Dundee's land and the land of the Compartment of the Carnivores. With this group were Mercury, Venus, Ceres, Soren, Augustus and Luna for they had come to help in the rescue of the kidnapped seven victims, among them Carla, Bia and Tiago. Some of the rescuers, especially the chimpanzees, had armed themselves with sticks and Herbert had a net made from interwoven sticks and twigs attached to the end of a larger, thicker stick ready for catching Dalek once the group had caught up with him. Mercury, Venus, Ceres, Augustus, Soren and Luna had been intrigued by Herbert's chimp group's ability to make and use tools much like how their tribes and clans did back in the Amazon Rainforest. However, they had pushed aside the fascination and had resumed their concentration on the rescue.

As the group approached the dividing mesh, they had slowed down after spotting a trail of footprints in the sand. These footprints were rectangular shaped, indicative of chameleon prints but there was something else in the sand besides this print trail. Red dots and spots lay scattered with the prints, alongside some small trenches, which Kiara identified was drops of blood after she, two chimps and Mina (who was also armed with a stick) examined them closely, and the trenches turned out to be sack trails, implying Dalek's cargo. This trail had started from a hole in the wall, indicating that Dalek had sneaked back into the artificial jungle from the humans' zone, but the presence of blood spots had stricken immense fear and worry into Augustus and the other six.

"That chameleon has put up a brutal fight with its kidnapped victims?" asked the Brazilian flying fox and Stella's father.

"It would seem so," said Kiara. Then Mina put on a dark look.

"But that wouldn't be unusual," said the Tasmanian devil, "Now that we know that those previous parrot victims would have struggled in that murderous chameleon's clutches, Dalek would have received some cuts, bruises and bite marks."

"But not like this," said Herbert doubtfully as he and his chimp gang of seven examined the trail again and pointed the tip of his net handle to it, especially at the red spots, "There's quite a bit of blood scattered around the chameleon footprint trails."

"Implying that the chameleon has had an even more brutal fight with his victims as he dragged them away," added one of Herbert's companions, a female. This sent chills down the spines of Mercury, Venus, Ceres, Soren, Luna and Augustus, making them want to rescue Carla, Bia, Tiago, Azul, Mimas, Stella and Spyro from that chameleon's grasp more than ever. What if the chameleon had injured them? None of the six dared think of the possibility. Pushing this worry aside, the group, together with Kiara's rescue team, carried on following the trail of chameleon footprints and blood drops.

While Kiara and Mercury's group continued following the trail left behind by Dalek, Sandalwood, together with his cousin Acerola, Altair the archaeobird chick and macaw chicks Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Adenine, Thymine, Guanine and Cytosine; Carmen, Capella, Achernar, Castor and Pollux and their emperor penguin chick friend Atreyu, continued scurrying through the clearing in the artificial jungle in the direction of the dividing mesh.

"This is where we first met that horrible chameleon," said Atreyu as they passed a familiar spot, "While that Lusamine brat and her gang were taunting me."

Sirius at this, seethed in pure anger as the penguin said this. His only thought was sinking his beak and claws into Dalek's scales the moment the group caught up with the chameleon for torturing Betelgeuse and shoving her into the Carnivore Compartment, among other things. His brown eyes were ablaze and his electric blue feathers which he had got from his father Virgil were puffed out.

"The only thing I wanna do is FLAY THAT SNAKE WITH LEGS AND STICKY TONGUE!" screeched the Spix macaw chick loudly. That flash of pure rage also flared within Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine and Guanine. After seeing what Dalek had done to their poor cousin had been the final leaf and now with their mother in danger of potentially facing the same torture at his clutches, the Catalina quads of Ganymede and Mimas were practically burning with the insatiable desire to give Dalek a piece of their minds. However, the others including Sandalwood who ran along with Atreyu and Altair, only had their minds focussed on rescuing Carla, Bia, Tiago and the other four from the clutches of the evil Dalek. The group of sixteen then continued their dash towards the dividing barrier and the Compartment of the Carnivores.

Back with Kiara's group, Kiara and company continued cautiously following the trail of prints and blood dots, the armed members with their sticks poised for striking in case Dalek jumped out at them suddenly. The eyes of all the members were focussed, scanning each and every tree, bush and other plant present for any sign of movement. The flying foxes except Soren and Luna but which were mostly grey-headed and Madagascan Livingstone's, among them Lusamine's father who was armed with a branch ending in two smaller branches like a hayfork, moved ahead of the group, their eyes constantly scanning the surroundings with Mina, Mulan, the other Tasmanian devils and apes close by doing the same. While these animals scanned the environment with Kiara and the other team members helping them, Ceres and Soren approached a shrub after noticing a dash of colour lying at its trunk. The moment the two were close to the sliver of colour, Soren picked it up and examined it. It was a feather and it was cerulean, like those of Carla and Bia.

"I believe this has been shed by either of Blu and Jewel's two daughters or by Mimas," said Stella's mate.

"What have you found, mate?" came Kiara's voice. At this, Ceres and Soren looked up and saw Kiara come in with Mercury, Venus and Augustus.

"A feather, presumably from Carla, Bia or Mimas," said Ceres. At this, Venus took the feather from Soren's wing and examined it up close.

"This is a Spix macaw's feather," she said, "It's definitely not from Mimas for this feather does not have any splashes of yellow on it which would make it a blue-and-gold macaw feather."

"Looks like those two Spix macaws would have put up a brutal struggle with Dalek as he carried them off," said Mina, "Which would be no surprise at all…"

Ceres, Soren and Venus just gazed at the marsupial wolf with worried looks. Suddenly, a shout sounded, making the heads of all the group members jolt their gazes in the direction. It came from the route to the Compartment of the Carnivores and the dividing barrier. Mina cocked an ear to listen, as did her Tasmanian devil comrades as another shout erupted from down that route.

"Sounds like a macaw squawk," said Mina. The others also cocked their ears to listen.

"A macaw squawk of wrath or terror, perhaps?" asked Augustus. However, Mercury, Venus and Ceres felt dread come over them like a tsunami. Those screeches did not just sound like screeches of anger or terror, but those screeches bore something else within them. As the moment hit Mercury, Ceres and Venus, the wings of all three macaws shot out and lofted the trio into a frantic flight. Kiara and the others reacted in alarm.

"You three," called the echidna and with that she and the others bolted after them. Behind Kiara's group, Sandalwood and the others continued following when their ears also picked up the macaw cries.

"Did you guys hear that?" asked Acerola as the group ran or flew along, "That sounds like someone crying in horror."

"Horror from what?" asked Sirius.

"From excruciating pain?" put in Bellatrix. At this, Acerola's head slowly turned in the direction of the dividing barrier and the Compartment of the Carnivores. Then something cracked within her.

"IT IS!" she barked and with that, the auburn flying fox suddenly turned into a comet, much to the others' alarm.

"ACEROLA!" cried Sandalwood as he saw his cousin shoot off speedily. Then Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Adenine, Thymine, Guanine, Cytosine, Carmen, Capella, Achernar, Castor and Pollux all charged off after Acerola while Sandalwood, Atreyu and Altair were forced to pick up speed on the ground.

"Hey, flyers," called Atreyu as he, Sandalwood and Altair struggled to keep up, "Wait for UUUUUSS!"

However, the flyers were out of earshot, forcing Atreyu, Sandalwood and Altair to run along and catch up.

Kiara, Mina, Mulan, Herbert, Wally, Ceres, Mercury, Venus, Soren, Luna, Augustus and the other animals continued running or flying in the macaw squawk's direction but as the barrier mesh to the Compartment of the Carnivores melted into view, the group slowed down and resumed their creeping pace. The team all flinched as they traced the footprints and randomly-scattered blood spot trail to the steel mesh dividing Dundee's land from the Compartment of the Carnivores until their eyes landed on a form positioned at the end of the trail. Some of them, especially Ceres, Mercury, Venus, Soren, Luna and Augustus all stifled the urge to gasp loudly as their eyes picked out a lizard-like form. Its tail was curled and a metallic brown domed cap rested above the creature's head opposite the tail. This domed cap bore two stubby bumps which brought to Ceres, Mercury and Venus's minds a certain alien race resembling giant peppershakers from a certain sci-fi show they had sometimes seen on TV back in London and sometimes in Rio as well. Then Kiara's group's eyes began to examine the midsection and the lanky legs between the domed cap and the tail but as they did, the group recoiled in horror and Kiara trembled.

Much of the creature's body was laced with red, dripping stripes, stripes of which reminded Augustus, Soren and Luna of the marks borne by the majority of their former colony-mates led by the former's tyrannical brother Cicatriz after they had recently fought a bird, the precursors to the scars they had. The weeping red stripes were _claw marks,_ but then the three flying foxes noticed a few weeping bite marks as well. These marks were v-shaped, indicating they had come from beak bites. The claw marks and bite injuries were dripping a few drops of blood onto the sand. The seemingly bloodied creature was up to something, especially based on a discarded cloth to its left, its body turned away from it. As Kiara's group continued examining the creature, a voice belonging to someone familiar in front of the head and domed cap, especially to Ceres, erupted.

"LET ME GO, you BEAST… WHAT ARE YOU…" however, it was cut off by the sounds of a struggle to breathe as the speaker was strangled. As the form spoke, struggled and writhed, a massive snake-like hiss, one saturated with the purest sadism Kiara and the others had ever heard and which reminded Ceres, Venus and Mercury of a certain sadistic white crested parrot back in Rio whenever he tortured 'pretty birds', sounded from beneath the domed cap. Then Mina's eyes landed on the writhing form under the creature, which turned out to be a deep blue macaw with a rich yellow front, in the creature's front pad-like hands and restrained against the sand on his back.

"Oh, come on," growled the Tasmanian devil in utter disbelief, especially based on how the macaw was held with one of the creature's pad-like hands clamping his wing, and the other on the macaw's throat which was responsible for the gagging noises. The others, especially Ceres, looked on in utter horror as the creature's pad-like hand on the macaw's wing proceeded to do something that was unthinkable. Horror then boiled within Kiara and company as the scratch and bite-covered chameleon, which was indeed Dalek, began to pull on the wing of the macaw, which Ceres identified was her son Azul, to her immense horror. As the chameleon, his face laced with extreme sadism and pure insanity, pulled as hard as he could on Azul's wing, an extremely piercing and bloodcurdling scream volcanically erupted from Azul's beak but strangled due to the chameleon's pad-like hand on his throat. Kiara and the others screamed loudly as they watched Dalek attempt to wrench Azul's wing out of its socket while at the same time relishing the blue-throated macaw's screech of excruciating pain as the agony exploding from his shoulder.

"AZUUUUUL!" screeched Ceres in utter anguish as she watched the horrible chameleon successfully pull her son's wing out of its socket. After this, the chameleon promptly shoved the now injured Azul, who was screaming and crying in agony and clasping his dislocated wing, through a hole in the mesh into the Compartment of the Carnivores to a group of awaiting figures that the chimps and Wally had just spotted. The others continued screaming in extreme disturbance as the evil chameleon then eyed them with an extremely devilish glare on his face. His mouth was widened into a fiendish grimace from which saliva dripped. That did it. The wrath boiling under the immense and sheer horror of Venus, Ceres, Augustus, Soren, Luna and Mercury exploded.

"Ceres, ATTACK THAT ANIMAL!" bellowed Venus volcanically. Ceres, without hesitation and especially based on what Dalek had done to her son, surged forward with an extremely enraged screech, her claws aiming for Dalek's face. However, the chameleon dodged, sending Ceres's claws plunging into the steel mesh instead. Ceres then lunged again at the chameleon and attempted to slash him but the chameleon ducked and darted off.

"HERBERT!" commanded Kiara as she watched the scaly monster with a domed cap scurry by like a rat. Herbert and his chimp gang then rushed forward towards the chameleon and attempted to ensnare him with their sticks but the chameleon managed to dodge them by accelerating on despite the pain in his injuries which Herbert had deduced was inflicted upon the chameleon by his captured victims, sending the chimps' sticks and Herbert's 'net' crashing into the sand. Augustus, Soren, Luna, Mercury and Venus, together with Ceres rushed over to the mesh and peered through the steel net to search for Azul but to their horror, Azul was nowhere to be seen. Then Soren spotted a hole in the corner.

"Through THERE!" he called to the other five. Then without hesitation, the three flying foxes, blue-throated macaw, Lear's macaw and Spix macaw all dove for the hole and squeezed through it one by one. Kiara saw the six enter the dangerous grounds while the other animals, among them Mina, Mulan and Wally and the flying foxes, began to search for Dalek.

"Where did he GO!?" barked Mulan to the chimps to which the chimps replied with a confused expression. While they did that, Kiara called to Mercury and company.

"Where are you six GOING!?" she barked in astonishment, "GET BACK ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MESH, WILL YOU!?"

At this, Augustus glared at the echidna through the mesh and said, "You deal with that chameleon while we rescue Azul and the others!"

Then before Kiara could protest, he was off with Mercury, Ceres, Venus, Soren and Luna in tow. Stunned, Kiara turned and resumed helping her group to search for and catch Dalek.

Acerola continued rocketing ahead of the group with Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Adenine, Thymine, Guanine, Cytosine, Carmen, Capella, Achernar, Castor and Pollux close behind her. Behind the macaw chicks, Sandalwood, Atreyu and Altair continued to scurry along despite the shortness of breath beginning to set in as their leg muscles strained hard to propel them after the flyers. They were moving at an even faster pace than before, the cry of a familiar macaw having reached their ears, alarming them, especially Carmen who had screeched "DAAAD!" in response. While Sandalwood and his group continued their frantic rush to the barrier mesh and the Compartment of the Carnivores, Kiara and company continued chasing after Dalek, looks of thunder lacing their faces.

"Now we've found proof of that little flying fox and some of his friends' claims of that hideous chameleon shoving parrots into the Compartment of the Carnivores for ourselves," shouted Mina as she hopped over a rock with two of her Tasmanian devil comrades following.

"Sandalwood, Betelgeuse and the others weren't kidding when they told us about that chameleon's evil intentions," put in Mulan as she sidestepped a log and continued to run on all fours. Kiara and the others did not reply and continued their chase of Dalek who had two of the stick-armed chimpanzees hot on his tail.

"GET BACK HERE, you MURDEROUS, PARROT-KILLING, OVERGROWN SKINK!" bellowed one of the chimps and with that, she lunged forward and attempted to slam her stick onto Dalek's back but Dalek darted to the right, making the chimp's stick miss and slam into the sand instead. However, the chimp darted off after the chameleon with her companions in tow. As Dalek dashed by Kiara and the other animals, Lusamine's father and two of the other Livingstone's flying foxes lunged forward and tried to pounce onto the chameleon only to miss and crash into the sand. Mulan then dived at Dalek with her front paws outstretched but she also missed and was sent sliding on her front into a bush. A bushy crash, accompanied by a yelp of pain from Mulan's mouth as her face and upper body were scratched by the plant's branches travelled from their source and to Sandalwood and company's ears, prompting them to halt abruptly. Achernar flashed the others a look.

"Was that Mulan the panda?" asked the little great green macaw with surprise. As he said this, Castor and Pollux spotted some familiar forms as they began to search for something. At this, the two brothers of Poppy and sons of Titan and Brooke gasped and commanded the others to dive into hiding, which they did behind a cluster of more bushes. Atreyu, Sandalwood and Altair, who were puffing and panting from running behind the flyers followed. After this, Sirius parted some leaves and peered out. Sure enough the group of kids' gazes found Kiara and company as they entered search mode.

"Where did that chameleon go!?" asked one of the chimps which Sandalwood, Sirius, Bellatrix and Spica identified was Herbert.

"Chameleon?" whispered Bellatrix in confusion. Then it struck her.

"I don't know," replied one of the flying foxes which Sandalwood and Acerola identified was Lusamine's father, "He just darted past us so fast that we missed him."

"Search for any footprints," commanded Kiara, "We've GOT to catch that lizard and bring him to Dundee on the double!"

The other animals obeyed and began to spread out to look for any clues as to where Dalek had darted off to. When Sandalwood and company heard this, smug chances were exchanged.

"Looks like they've finally found that rodent in scales," said Acerola with a hint of spite against Dalek in her voice as she said this.

"But it looks like he has managed to outrun them," said Atreyu sadly.

"Let's get a move on before any of those grownup animals sees us," said Sandalwood warily. The others were about to move when suddenly, a rustle of leaves was heard, making the group freeze and scan their surroundings.

"Now what?" growled Adenine.

"I hope no-one has spotted us," murmured Cytosine as he huddled against Thymine and Guanine. Sandalwood and Acerola continued to scan one cluster of leaves after another with fear-laced eyes while Bellatrix, Sirius, Spica, Carmen (despite the disturbance of hearing her father screech in agony urging her to continue to the Compartment of the Carnivores), Capella, Achernar, Castor, Pollux, Altair and Atreyu, their faces laced with suspicion and defiance, did the same with the leaf clusters opposite the two flying fox pups. Altair had even picked up a small stick and had it poised to attack in case the group came under threat of anything suspicious. However, they were currently unaware that something had dove into hiding in a bush near them but neither it was aware that Sirius and company was nearby. A lizard-like creature was piercing Kiara's group as they continued to search for it with its turreted eyes under a rim of a sparkling object worn over the head. A mouth was widened into a smug grimace under the turret-eyes as it watched Kiara and company continue to scan their surroundings for any trail it might have left but to no avail, but because it was so engrossed in watching Kiara and company, it failed to notice that a certain macaw chick and his cousins were unwarily stepping towards him, their eyes also scanning their surroundings.

As Sirius, Spica and Bellatrix slowly paced towards another bush, Spica felt something gently hit her on the back of the head. At this, the Spix macaw's head snapped round and she drew in a gasp, alerting Sirius, Bellatrix and subsequently Sandalwood and the others. The others in the group then stopped to stare at Spica as she froze stiff in astonishment, her widened amber eyes fixated on something.

"What have you found, Spica?" asked Sandalwood but this sentence was ended with a gasp of his own as the flying fox pup's eyes also landed on the thing. Then the eyes of Sirius, Bellatrix, Adenine, Thymine, Guanine, Cytosine; Carmen, Capella, Achernar, Castor, Pollux, Acerola, Atreyu and Altair picked out the thing Spica had spotted first. The thing that struck Spica on the back of a head was a thin, slender, curly vine but on closer inspection, it appeared to be scaly, and it was moving and flicking at the air like a cat's tail. Dread and worry welling within them, Sandalwood and company then slid their eyes along the flicking vine and saw that it thickened. Then from the thick part of the vine, a lanky object emanated and ended in a flat pad in the sand. The skin of the entire vine and lanky thing was covered in scales but also some red stripes. Sandalwood shook his head in disbelief.

"Isn't that…" he began but then the group was made aware of some hissy sounds. These sounds were short and formed a sequence, like a laugh. It was then that Sandalwood's gaze travelled further from the thick vine, along a scaly log and eventually to the opposite end of the tail where a metallic dome was resting. At this, shock tore through the little flying fox as recognition of the thing set in. This thing was no log and the vine flicking at the air was no vine at all, and it was the thing that must have rustled some of the leaves. Sandalwood backed away and ushered the others on.

"Let's continue before that chameleon spots or hears us," said the Brazilian flying fox quietly, his wary gaze fixated on the thing which was indeed a chameleon. Achernar and Capella then popped their heads just above some of the bushes and saw Kiara's group continue to search for Dalek, the Tasmanian devils sniffing out the chameleon's scent.

"Don't those lot know that Dalek is here?" asked he in a low voice. As he said this, Sirius came in, his brown eyes ablaze with pure malice as they locked on the chameleon's body.

"No they don't, but I have an excellent idea to blow that scaly rat's cover," hissed the Spix macaw, vengeance dangerously boiling within him. Atreyu deduced what Sirius was planning to do.

"Oh, no, don't tell me you're gonna…" whispered the emperor penguin chick but Acerola's wing tapped on his shoulder, promoting him to move along. Atreyu then followed Acerola who followed Sandalwood with everyone else except Sirius in tow. As soon as fifteen of the sixteen animals were away from Dalek, Sandalwood gazed at Sirius and nodded to him, his green eyes also laced with pure rancour on Dalek. It was the most acidic hatred the flying fox pup had ever borne. Sirius, a fiendish grin forming on his beak, then quietly crept towards Dalek's flicking tail but before he could launch a painful attack on Dalek's back leg or tail, he froze suddenly when a hiss blew his way, ruffling his electric blue feathers. This hiss was laced with a familiar acidity but there was something else in the hiss as well. As he realised this, Sirius's gaze snapped to the head of the chameleon and to his immense horror, he found himself on the receiving end of an extremely rancorous and volcanic glare from a pair of turret-like eyes. From not too far away, Acerola and the others flinched harshly when they realised that Sirius and Sandalwood had been spotted, and Sirius only managed to stifle an alarmed gasp as Dalek continued piercing him with a laser-like glare of pure wrath and hatred, his mouth emitting an extremely angry hiss. However, Sirius's alarm gave way to pure anger and vengeance as he returned Dalek's rancorous glare. Sandalwood also came up beside Sirius and gave the chameleon an acidic glare as well.

"Hello, you… s-s-s-s-slimy s-s-s-s-s-slug in s-s-s-s-scales-s-s-s-s-s-s!" hissed Sirius tauntingly, bitterly mocking Dalek's hissy sounds. This sent immense shock tearing through the chameleon and he recoiled in utter surprise and offense. Then without hesitation and the savage temper he had got from his grandmother Jewel taking control within him once again, Sirius lashed at Dalek's hind leg and with all his might, sank his beak HARD into the chameleon's ankle. A massive hiss of sheer agony erupted from Dalek's mouth as Sirius tasted blood as it oozed out of Dalek's skin near the bite area, his brown eyes ablaze with wrath. Acerola and the others all backed away as Dalek's massive hiss reached the ears of Kiara and company as they snapped around in the direction of a certain bush. Then Sandalwood, pure wrath also volcanically flaring within him, rushed around, seized a twig of a branch near Dalek's face and bent it back as far it would go. Then as soon as he had pulled it at that point, Sandalwood shouted, "Hey, lizard lips!"

Dalek stopped hissing in agony and turned in Sandalwood's direction, a pained look on his face just in time to receive a painful snap to the face from a twig. Dalek jerked his head back and let loose another cry of pain as the thin slender piece of wood snapped hard in his face. As the chameleon covered the area of impact with his front padded hands, Sandalwood released an extremely loud hiss to attract Kiara and her group's attention before retreating after Acerola and the others with Sirius in tow.

"There!" came Mulan's voice. As a pattering of animal feet sounded on the sand, Dalek, his padded hand on his face where Sandalwood had snapped a twig into it, looked up just in time to find himself on the receiving end of a large number of furious gazes from different animals, among them an echidna, a panda, some chimps, some flying foxes and a few Tasmanian devils. Sticks held by the chimps and some of the other animals were also aimed at Dalek, Herbert with his makeshift net poised to catch the chameleon as well. Dalek flashed a, "Oh, bother!" facial look as Kiara said, "We've got you now, you PARROT KILLER!"

"Time to catch you and bring you to justice for the deaths of Claude the cockatoo, those two kakapos and the other parrots you have given to a pack of caracals and servals to be killed and eaten," added Wally the orangutan. Then Herbert surged forward and tried to snare Dalek in his net but the chameleon darted away, making the chimp's net miss.

"AFTER HIM!" bellowed Kiara, "DON'T LET HIM GET AWAY!"

With that, a massive thundering of chimpanzee, panda, Tasmanian devil, flying fox and other animals' feet pounded on the sand as Kiara's group rushed after Dalek. Dalek, panic tearing through him and his right hind leg bleeding and dripping blood on the sand and also emanating agonising pain along with his scratches and bite marks he had received from his seven victims threatening to hinder his attempt to escape, dashed for the nearest tree, which happened to be the one situated by the wall and a window. Desperately and with his wounds crying in pain, the chameleon scrabbled up the tree trunk, his padded hand frequently hitting his precious namesake aliens' dome hat to keep it from falling from his head on the way up. As Dalek scrambled up the tree trunk, Herbert and his chimp gang swiped their sticks and hands after him only to miss. Nearby, Lusamine's dad and his flying fox companions scrambled up another tree and took to the air to fly at Dalek and catch him from the air. As these winged mammals came his way, Dalek ducked and dodged the furry, membranous winged missiles and continued to a branch nearest to the window, which turned out to be open. Then as soon as he was on the branch, Dalek made a break for it as the flying foxes continued trying to attack him and knock him off the branch. Behind the chameleon, Herbert and his chimp gang had managed to climb the tree and were now hot on the chameleon's tail while from the ground, Mina and the other grounded animals including Kiara tossed stones and fruit shell pieces at Dalek to slow the chameleon down and help their flying friends and the chimps to catch him. However, the chameleon continued his frantic escape towards the window, lashing his harpoon-like tongue at the flying foxes in an attempt to defend himself. Lusamine's father was struck by the slimy harpoon and was knocked into a wall where he slumped down and landed in the sand. Two more flying foxes were sent flying in the chimps' direction where one of them slammed into Herbert's face, almost knocking him off the branch while another chimp caught the other stunned flying fox. However, the other flying foxes continued their relentless attack on Dalek while the ground animals continued shooting stones and fruit shell fragments at the chameleon from below. Then after a few more minutes of dodging everything that came his way, Dalek reached the window, jumped onto the ledge and scrambled thro0ugh the open pane to outside much to Kiara's group's chagrin.

"BOTHER!" shouted Herbert in frustration and hurried over to the window, his chimp companions and the remaining flying foxes close behind. On the ground, Kiara and the others including Lusamine's father, who had recovered from crashing into the wall and the floor, looked up.

"Can you guys see him?" asked Kiara as the others looked up worriedly. In reply, Herbert cautiously approached the open window, pushed it open and peered outside. The chimps behind him kept a hold on him so that he did not fall. Herbert then carefully peered out of the open window and began to scan the outside environment. A gust of wind blew through his black fur and ruffled it and he flinched at the sheer drop below him for the artificial jungle was on a floor above the ground. Chimpanzees were tree-dwelling apes as well as ground-dwellers and were thus normally used to heights, but this spot was clearly not a safe place to be, even for a chimp. Then after a few more minutes of scanning the outside environment for any signs of Dalek and fearing the drop below him, Herbert was about to give up and return inside when his eyes caught-sighted a flash of metallic glinting. At this, the chimpanzee turned and spotted the metallic object.

"Herbert," called one of his female chimp companions, "Let's get you back inside. It's not safe out there."

"Hang on a minute, Marge," replied Herbert, his hand in the air to reinforce his message. At this, Marge flashed the other chimps and bats behind her and allowed Herbert to cautiously approach the metallic object which lay discarded on the edge of the outer window ledge. As he did so, he realised that it was metallic brown, domed and had a pair of bumps on it. At this, the chimp seized the hat and returned inside, not wanting to be out of the safe zone any longer and his urge to back away from the massive, straight-vertical drop below him taking over. As Herbert returned inside, Kiara and the others gazed at the chimps.

"Did you find that chameleon?" asked Kiara. In response, Herbert showed her and the others the discarded domed hat. This sent dread tearing through the rest of Kiara's group and some even shuddered as Herbert put on a saddened look. However, under that sadness was a sliver of gladness at the implication of finding Dalek's discarded hat. Then after a while of gazing at the hat in utter astonishment and sadness, Kiara said, "Let's report this to Dundee and then turn our attention to the Compartment of the Carnivores."

The others nodded and prepared to make their way back to Dundee to report their findings regarding Dalek's apparent demise.

 **Meanwhile**

Mercury, Venus, Ceres, Soren, Luna and Augustus cautiously crept through the lands of the carnivores, hiding amongst the bushes and shrubs, their wary eyes constantly scanning the variety of animals living here and their activities such as eating their food, resting, and in the case of the youngsters, playing. The Compartment of the Carnivores was busy today and all the diurnal meat eaters were active and as the six sneaked by, Mercury, Venus and Ceres had managed to identify some of the meat-eating animals, among them the dingo from Australia, the cheetah and leopard from Africa and some rare and endangered species of carnivorous birds such as vultures and meat-eating hawks.

"Those collectors' poacher-workers certainly have done a good job in bringing those exotic animals from abroad and from various parts of the world, haven't they?" whispered Venus in a low voice as she examined the diversity of rare animals present.

"Let's just focus on rescuing Carla, Bia, Tiago, Stella, Spyro, Azul and Mimas," said Augustus in reply. Venus pulled her gaze away from the variety of carnivorous animals and resumed her concentration on the task. As the six ran from one bush to another, Soren happened to spot a familiar form lying amongst some stones. It was a bundle of white fur with greyish-white membranous wings, and her reddish eyes were plastered with immense fear and trauma as they examined the carnivorous animals. This was accompanied by the shaking of her body and her fur was practically on end as though she had seen a ghost or monster. At this, Soren felt immense joy and relief tear through him.

"STELLA!" he shouted in a whispered voice and rushed over to his terrified mate. Augustus, Luna, Ceres, Venus and Mercury followed. Stella, upon hearing her name get called, looked up to see Soren run her way. At this, relief tore through her as well and propelled her from her hiding place, and she ran to meet Soren. Then as the two flying foxes collided, they locked each other in a tight embrace and began to shower each other with passionate kisses and release sobs of joy. Augustus, Luna and the three macaws joined in the embrace.

"W-w-we thought we've lost you," cried Augustus at point-blank range into his daughter's face. He ended the sentence with a kiss to her forehead and a hug.

"We were told you were kidnapped," cried Luna. Soren continued giving Stella one kiss after another and hugged her tightly, but Stella was too traumatised and frightened to even reply. As she trembled in the embrace of her sister, mate, father and the three macaw friends, Stella finally found the urge to speak. As she tried to form words, Augustus checked over her for any injuries. To his relief, Stella only had one or two cuts and bruises, but his worry was now directed at the remaining missing six.

"Dad, Soren, Luna," Stella cried in a strangled voice, "Venus, Mercury, Ceres."

At this, the six backed away and gazed at her. Stella's eyes then began to weep tears, "Carla, Bia, Tiago, Spyro, Azul and Mimas! They've been taken by this pack of small margay-like cats. Some were pure sandy brown with tufts on their ears while the rest had black spot-and-striped golden pelt like a jaguar. They made off with us the moment that lizard with that weird-looking hat resembling that of Victor dislocated Azul's wing and shoved him into here with us…"

"Who else was injured?" asked Mercury.

"And how did you manage to escape those wildcats' clutches?" added Venus. The other four cocked their ears to listen to the important information. At first Stella was reluctant to explain the other things that had happened but she had to.

"I was tossed aside by one of those plain ear-tufted wildcats, who claimed me to be 'useless and unpalatable' to them," she continued, "And I was chased by some of that cat's comrades. Thankfully, some wild-dogs stopped them and chased them away when I shot past them, and I dove into this hiding spot," Stella then shuddered as she went on to explain about the other six, but tears welled in her eyes as she formulated the words.

"Stella," said Augustus gently, "Where are Carla, Bia, Tiago, Spyro, Azul and Mimas?"

Venus, Mercury, Ceres, Soren and Luna gazed at Stella as she struggled to formulate an answer to this question.

"Azul's had his wing… dislocated," she murmured, tears falling down her cheeks and more seeping through her closed eyelids. Augustus and the other five exchanged glances; they had witnessed Azul get his wing pulled out of joint by the chameleon. However, they wanted to know of the condition of the other five.

"Carla, Bia, Tiago, Mimas and Spyro, and of course me," said the albino flying fox sadly, "However, did not suffer any serious injuries but we did put up a savage fight with that chameleon on the way and while he was forcing us through that fence-like thing…"

This prompted more glances to be exchanged between Augustus and the other five: the trail of blood and the gashes borne by that chameleon when they saw him at the barrier mesh.

"But before we could get away and while Azul was still on the other side," continued Stella, "Carla, Bia, Tiago and Mimas were bound with some sort of vines to prevent them from flying away while Spyro was shoved in some sort of bony cage…" she trailed off as her emotions began to overflow and she broke down. At this, Augustus pulled her into a hug to comfort her. Soren and Luna joined in and Stella began to sob into Augustus's chest. Venus, Mercury and Ceres then gazed at each other.

"Well, that's provided us with some valuable information," said Venus, "We'd better find those wildcats and rescue them right away."

"We'll take Stella back to the safety of the other jungle," said Soren as he, Luna and Augustus broke the hug with Stella. Augustus then joined the three macaws' side, a firm look on his face.

"Well, you two do that while we go after the other six," said he firmly. At this, Soren, Stella and Luna shot the older flying fox an alarmed look.

"But Father," said Luna with concern, "Those wildcats could be _extremely_ dangerous. What if you or Mercury, Venus and Ceres get hurt?"

"Look, just do as I say, daughter," said Augustus in an authoritative voice, "And once Stella is back in the safety of our friends and the other friendly animals in the other jungle, I want you to get backup for us, okay?"

"That's an order, Luna," said Venus when she saw Luna hesitate. At first, the three flying foxes were reluctant to leave, but after receiving four firm looks from Augustus and the three macaws, they relented.

"Okay, but you be careful," said Soren as he helped Stella to her feet, "and we'll be back with backup as soon as possible."

"Hopefully, that lizard that dislocated Azul's wing will have been caught and dealt with," added Luna, a glare on the direction of the barrier mesh to Dundee's land. Then after sharing a few last hugs with each other, Augustus's group split up with Stella, Soren and Luna leaving for Dundee's land and Augustus, Mercury, Venus and Ceres going after Carla, Bia, Tiago, Mimas, Azul and Spyro.


	61. Chapter 60

**Chapter 60- the rescue of Carla and company begins**

Jewel backed away with Gylfie and Aurum, her eyes laced with no sympathy whatsoever fixed on the seriously battered and bloodied humans as they struggled to stand up, the pain from their injuries the Spix macaw and two fruithawks had inflicted on them making them wince while Blu, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Io, Europa, Byron, Athos, Porthos, Titan, Enceladus, Trixie, Oberon, Miranda, Aramis, Titania, Umbriel, Indigo and Victor, all of who were exhausted and puffing and panting from the fight with the group of humans, regrouped and backed away to glare furiously at the humans, Jewel and the golden fruithawks joining their side, their claws and talons covered in blood. Through the steel mesh above the half-wall, Aiden, Blueberry, Phoebe, Squaw'tagnan, Pluto, Charlotte, Kira, Lavender and Garrett, together with some of the animals also glared or gazed at the humans as they winced in pain from the injuries inflicted on them by Jupiter and company. Petunia, Vega, Deneb, Polaris, Acerola, Lillie (who had returned to the safety of the artificial jungle), Gladion and the rest of the kids shuddered at the state of the group of humans while Dundee, Olympia and the other animals were utterly dumbfounded at the violence they had just witnessed.

Jewel, Gylfie and Aurum certainly did give these humans a serious clawing, biting, slashing and in short, a furore and had inflicted them with countless bleeding scratches and bites all over their faces, arms and upper bodies, decking the humans out with red stripes and gashes in their clothing such that they looked like they had been dragged through a briar of thorny plants. As they continued to glare at the seriously beaten humans, Mars growled, "That's what you get for messing with untamed birds that utterly DESPISE humans they don't trust or have mistreated them."

"You certainly did show them what for, you three," said Trixie as she stood with Enceladus to Jewel, Aurum and Gylfie. The trio all took the complement in thanks.

"They deserved it," growled Jewel rancorously as she glared at the seriously beaten humans as they continued to struggle to stand up and groan and wince in pain from their numerous scratches, "Mind you I'd have given that slime-ball Nigel a good beating like how I have done those creeps."

"And I hope our savage attack on them will teach those thieves not to mess with birds like us," growled Gylfie.

"I agree," put in Aurum, "You deserve great credit for helping us to attack those uncaring humans."

Gylfie just smiled in thanks at the compliment much to the surprise of Blu and the others.

"That's the first time I've heard those two fruithawks congratulate each other on something," said Europa, "I thought those two hated each other."

"Well, never mind about that," said Blu as his mind turned to something else; "We've got some birds to rescue."

"Carla and the other six, of course!" cried Jupiter in surprise, "I completely forgot about them."

As he said this, the sounds of shouting travelled through the corridor to the group's ears, alerting them.

"We don't have time to discuss this outside of the jungle," said Blu when he realised that some humans were coming, "Let's go back into the artificial jungle before those humans turn up."

With that, he darted into the two-door compartment with Jewel, Gylfie, Aurum, Jupiter and the others in tow. As Blu closed the second door after the last of the group consisting of Uranus, Neptune, Miranda and Umbriel had entered the jungle area and the group had touched down to meet the other animals, Neptune moved onto the next important subject.

"Who will go to help Mercury and the others with him in rescuing Carla and the other six?" asked the hyacinth macaw. Blu was about to reply when Phoebe, Squaw'tagnan and Arcturus spotted something approach the whole gathering.

"Guys, look," said Phoebe and pointed a talon to what she, her mate and daughter had spotted. At this, Blu sand the others followed Phoebe's point and when their eyes landed on what the three Lear's macaws had seen, short gasps were drawn in by some of them.

"Soren, Luna!" cried Jupiter and with that, the burly scarlet macaw darted off to meet the two flying foxes as they flew towards the group. Blu, Jewel, Pluto and some of the others as well as Dundee and Olympia followed. As the animals approached the two bats, Blueberry, Saiph, Regulus, Denebola and Aiden spotted someone else in Soren's foot claws.

"Isn't that…" Aiden began as surprise tore through him.

"STELLA!" cried Jupiter, finishing Aiden's sentence. The moment that name which was the name of one of the kidnapped victims, reached the others' ears, Blu and company accelerated over to the trio of flying foxes. Soren then gently lowered Stella, who was badly shaken and still frightened based on her trembling body, onto the sand, the couple, together with Luna, were swallowed up by a cloud of colourful feathers as Blu and company gathered round them to hug them. Jewel then hugged Stella.

"Oh, you're alright," she cried with relief.

"We thought we lost you," put in Aiden as he, Blueberry, Saiph, Regulus, Denebola and also Pluto, Lillie, Gladion, Neytiri and Charon took turns to hug Stella as well. Soren and Luna also received hugs from the others in Blu's group while Dundee and the other animals looked on.

"Looks like one of the missing victims in question has been rescued," said one of the pandas who was Mulan's friend, to Dundee. Dundee just nodded in agreement. Then as soon as Stella's friends had broken the hug with her and Soren and Luna, Blu came up.

"Where are Mercury, Venus, Ceres and Augustus?" asked he.

"And also Carla, Bia, Tiago and Azul, Spyro and Mimas?" put in Jupiter. As he said this, Eragon walked in. At this, Stella gazed up at Blu and the others with him as they gazed back at her with worried looks. Upon this question being asked, Soren walked in to answer on Stella's behalf.

"The other four including Augustus has ventured further into the carnivore grounds to search for the other six kidnapped victims including those three Spix macaws," he said. At this, horrified gasps rolled through the crowd, especially Dundee and his group.

"Those four are by themselves in the Compartment of the Carnivores!?" blurted out Olympia in disbelief.

"But that quartet could easily put themselves in danger," said Nick, Dundee's younger brother, "Especially the macaws since Carnassial and his gang are a bunch of parrot-eating wildcats."

Blu, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto and some of the others with them including Charlotte, Kira, Lavender and Garrett flashed worried glances at Dundee's massive group while some of the kids, among them Petunia, Vega, Deneb and Polaris, emitted worried and dreaded squeaks. Kira was especially wracked with worry for her three cousins in particular.

"Well if Mercury, Venus, Ceres and Augustus don't go after Carla, Bia, Tiago, Azul, Spyro and Mimas," protested Stella, "Those six, especially the five macaws, are likely to be served as dinner at the clutches of those wildcats."

As she said this, Dundee came in with another important question.

"Have you seen Dalek?" he asked, to Stella's confusion. Then Betelgeuse, Rigel, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka stepped forward under the care of Io, Europa, Byron, Athos stepped in.

"He's that parrot-detesting chameleon who wears that strange domed cap hat," said Rigel, before her gaze turned to Victor's fruit-shell hat, "Sort of like Mr Victor's hat but manmade."

Stella gazed at the little half-ruby macaw with a confusion-laced look. However, the answer to Dundee's question came from across the clearing; the voice who Betelgeuse, Rigel, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka identified was Kiara the echidna's.

"We did try to catch that chameleon, Dundee," said the echidna as she walked towards the group with some more animals, among them some bats including Lusamine's father, the chimps including Herbert and also Mulan the panda, "But unfortunately, he escaped out of a nearby window."

At this, Dundee and the other gazed at Kiara's group as they approached the gathering of animals and soon enough, a metallic glint shone in Herbert's hands. The animals including Rigel and company looked on in surprise as Herbert went over to Dundee and the other animals and presented him the sparkling object, Dalek's namesake alien race cap.

"The last we saw of him was on the ledge of the window," explained the chimpanzee as he set down Dalek's cap onto the sand for all to see, "When I and my chimp gang," he turned to face his chimp companions, "followed him through the window, he had disappeared and left behind that cap."

"Apparently, he must have fallen from the window to the ground far below us," added Marge, one of the female chimps. Surprised gasps rolled through the crowd. In Dundee's tent, the parrots all exchanged glances, some of them wearing sceptical looks.

"So, are you meaning to say Dalek has died?" asked Dundee.

"Well, based on how we found this cap," said Herbert, "and the drop below us, it would seem so."

Kiara and the others with her murmured in agreement to which Dundee put on a small smile while Blu and the others with him just looked on and said nothing.

"Well, if that chameleon has fallen to his death then that means that he has taken his murderous antics and attitude towards all the parrots here with him," he said, "So that means it is now safe for all the parrot members to come out of my tent," he flashed a smile at the parrots in the tent as they continued gazing out with surprise. However, some were ecstatic to hear that the parrot-detesting chameleon, the one who always caused the parrots trouble, had disappeared at last. Steven, Kevin, Greg and Sardonyx put on smug faces.

"At least there'll be no more parrot deaths at the hands of that scaly rat," hissed Greg bitterly.

"Absolutely," said Sardonyx. The other parrots who heard this including Steven and Kevin nodded in agreement but despite the smugness Steven's family felt for Dalek's apparent demise, the grief over the loss of Lars still gripped them hard and it will be a long time before they could move on from this loss. Dundee and the others then all thanked Kiara and company for the news but then the seriousness returned as the emu leader moved on to the next important thing.

"But first," he said, "We need to send backup to the rescuers who had gone into the Compartment of the Carnivores to rescue the remaining victims Dalek had likely shoved in there but at the same time," he turned to Olympia and said, "You set up some patrol groups to check the whole area to make sure that Dalek is well and truly gone."

The cassowary nodded and left to set up the patrol groups while Dundee turned to some more animals to select who will be entering the Carnivore Compartment and help with the rescue of Carla and company. As he did that, Blu gazed at the strange animals with his company gathered round him.

"I sure hope Ceres, Venus, Mercury and Augustus are alright," he said worriedly, "Based on the information that emu and his group have given us about that meat-eating animal place, it sounds awfully dangerous."

"Perhaps as dangerous as the territory of that colony of flying foxes led by… um… he-who-must-not-be-named," said Soren with a dark look. He daren't say the name of the dreaded flying fox colony leader for fear that he might stir up some sensitive nerves, especially Stella and Luna for they were the nieces of that bat but Blu and the others understood what he meant.

"Correct, Soren," said Blu with a serious frown, "But now is not the time to discuss the flying fox subject. Now is the time to turn our attention on helping Mercury and the other three rescue Carla and the other six…"

As he said this, Eragon stepped in, a frown on his face.

"Hey, have you seen Sandalwood, Acerola, my grandson Altair and some of the macaw chicks anywhere?" he asked, "I've been searching for them during your dealing with those wretched humans out there but I cannot find them."

At this, stern glares bore into the archaeobird, making him flinch.

"Are you meaning to say that Sandalwood and some of the kids have slipped away?" asked Jewel harshly. Eragon flinched again and began to tremble, especially as worry began to well in the others. Charlotte began to look for Sirius, Bellatrix and Spica. To her dismay, the three chicks were absent as well.

"Sirius and the two girls have gone as well," she said. Then Frodo came in with Garrett and Lavender, dread plastering their faces. Nearby, Pitaya, Sylvester and Alegria looked on with worry.

"It doesn't look good," murmured Sylvester to his adopted sisters.

"Adenine, Thymine, Guanine and Cytosine are missing as well," said Frodo.

"As are Castor, Pollux, Achernar, Capella and Carmen," put in Garrett.

"As well as Acerola," added Lavender. This sent immense horror tearing through the others of Blu's group, especially Stella, Soren and Luna.

"Oh, no, not _Acerola as well!"_ cried Stella with her wings covering her face.

"Now we've got some missing KIDS to deal with!?" snapped Jupiter at Eragon.

"B-b-b-but I did t-t-t-tell those k-k-k-kids to stay with us," stammered the archaeobird timidly as Jupiter loomed over him with a look of thunder on his face. Behind Jupiter, Io, Europa, Byron, Athos, and also Porthos, Titan, Enceladus, Trixie and Oberon, Miranda, Aramis, Titania, Umbriel, and Indigo and Victor wore the same thunderous looks as the first scarlet macaw.

"Don't you realise that whole of GANYMEDE'S family could be in danger!?" shouted Io furiously. Betelgeuse and Rigel flinched harshly and ducked behind Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka, Saiph, Arcturus, Regulus and Denebola. Whenever their mother got angry, they always felt fear flare within them. Lillie and Gladion also hid behind Pluto and trembled while the other kids, among them Antares, Pitaya, Sylvester and Alegria, also ducked behind some of the other adult macaws, especially as outraged looks formed on the faces of Frodo, Lavender and Garrett.

"I'm gonna GIVE THOSE NAUGHTY KIDS A GOOD HIDING WHEN WE FIND THEM!" bellowed Lavender loudly, her ponytail spiking out.

"We'd better split up and find them on the double," said Blu but before he could turn to the other adult members of his group to speak to them, a voice came in.

"They might have left for the Compartment of the Carnivores," it squeaked. At this, Blu and company's heads, along with those of Dundee and company, all turned and faced a small group of young bats, monkeys and lizards as they walked in. the group of flying fox pups, young lizards and monkey kids were led by a familiar Livingstone's flying fox pup with a familiar spider monkey by her side. As recognition took hold within Betelgeuse, Rigel, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka and also Lillie, Gladion, Alegria, Pitaya and Sylvester, especially of the flying fox pup at the front, their feathers rose hostilely. However, the faces of the flying fox pup and her comrades were laced with concern, especially as they gazed at Blu and company.

"Lusamine," hissed Connie in Dundee's crowd with hostility. Shade and Sadie, her parents, just looked on as Lusamine and her group stopped before Blu and company. The moment they did, Io stepped forward.

"Have you seen Sandalwood and the other missing kids, little flying fox?" she asked Lusamine. Then Lusamine's spider monkey friend, Guzma, stepped forward. As he did so, Eragon cocked his ears to listen.

"We saw a group of chicks and two flying fox pups hurry off in the direction of the Compartment of the Carnivores," explained the spider monkey. At this, Blu and company's upper bodies and heads jerked up in horror. Stella, Soren and Luna also gazed at Guzma as he went on to explain.

"We also overheard them that they are going to enter the Compartment to rescue some kidnapped parrots while Kiara over there," the spider monkey said, nodding to Kiara and her group, "were dealing with that Dalek chameleon…"

Glances were exchanged between the listeners. Olympia shot Dundee a worried look.

"Looks like we're gonna have to set up another rescue group, Dundee," said the cassowary.

"TAKE US THERE as FAST as you CAN!" bellowed Blu to Lusamine and her group. Lusamine and company nodded rapidly and darted off. Blu, Jewel, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto; Charlotte, Kira, Lavender and Garrett; Porthos, Titan, Enceladus, Trixie and Oberon; Miranda, Aramis, Titania, Umbriel, Indigo and Victor; Phoebe and Squaw'tagnan, Blueberry, Aiden, Eragon, Marella, Frodo and Charon all charged off after Lusamine's group with Dundee and some of the others following. As they left, Blu shot Neytiri, Luna and Stella an alarmed look, Stella latching her membranous wings onto Petunia, Vega, Deneb, Polaris and Betelgeuse and Rigel when they tried to follow.

"Look after the other kids while we rescue Sandalwood and the others!" called Blu as he left.

"Okay, be careful!" called Neytiri as she held Saiph, Regulus and Denebola with her unbroken wing, her other one still in its cast. Sardonyx and Greg ran in to occupy the other kids of Sandalwood's group as well to prevent them from running after Blu and company, much to the kids' disappointment. As they watched Blu's group disappear in the direction of the Carnivore Compartment, Petunia, Vega, Deneb and Polaris looked on in worry.

"I hope they also help Uncle Mercury, Aunt Venus, Aunt Ceres and Mr Augustus rescue Aunts Mimas, Carla and Bia and Uncles Tiago, Spyro and Azul as well," squeaked Petunia fearfully. Her three cousins just replied with agreeing nods as they and the others watched Blu and company hurriedly leave.

 **Meanwhile**

Back in the Compartment of the Carnivores, Augustus, Mercury, Venus and Ceres hid behind some rocks and a bush, their horrified gazes on the scene before them. What the quartet saw was a pack of wildcats. Some of them were pure pale sandy brown and resembled a wildcat Mercury, Venus and Ceres had seen in a book called a lynx while some of the others resembled the wildcat Augustus had sometimes seen in the Amazon Rainforest called a margay based on their golden pelt decked out with black blotches and streaks. These wildcats which were called caracals and servals were gathered around an entrance to a den shaped like a gaping mouth full of teeth.

"That must be the group of wildcats that emu was talking about," whispered Venus. Augustus then scanned the activities of the caracals and servals and saw that they were sat in an arc with a pile of leaves in the middle of the partial circle.

"Can you see Carla, Bia, Azul, Mimas, Spyro and Tiago anywhere, Augustus?" asked Ceres. Augustus scanned the surrounding area enclosing the caracals and servals as they continued to happily prepare for their meal until his eyes picked out a flash of colour being held at the paws of two caracals and a serval. That flash of colour was struggling and a familiar voice was emanating from it.

"There," said the flying fox with a point of his membranous wing. At this, Ceres, Mercury and Venus followed Augustus's point and when their eyes landed on the flash of colour, alarm tore through them. Ceres then saw a pair of talons get pinned against something by a serval paw and then bound to it with some strong vines. Behind those talons was a trail of long blue tail feathers. However, before the blue-throated macaw could recognised who these talons and tail feathers belonged to, the trio of two caracals and the serval, along with several more caracals and servals, then lifted something into the air. Then what Augustus and the three macaws saw next sent coldness shooting through their blood and turned it into ice cold water.

"Oh, NOOO!" cried Ceres in a whisper. The other three did not say anything. Held in the paws of the caracals and servals as they returned to the main group were five long sticks and tied to each of those sticks were a bundle of feathers. Carla was tied to one, Bia was tied to another, Tiago was tied to a third, Mimas was tied to a fourth and Azul, with his dislocated wing, was tied to a fifth. All five macaws were tightly bound but Ceres, Augustus, Mercury and Venus could see that all five of the macaws' faces were saturated with pure wrath and rage. Carla was especially struggling and writhing in her restraints, determined to free herself and perhaps give these wildcats a piece of her mind. Muffled chirps emanated from her bound beak and her talons tried to move but because she was so tightly bound she could not move them at all. That look of rage was mirrored on the faces of Bia, Tiago and Mimas and they writhed in their restraints as well. Azul, however, clearly had agony thrown into the acidic glare, his dislocated shoulder screaming in agony because of this, he could not writhe as much as the other four.

"Those five are tied to their sticks like how humans would handle kebabs, or lumps of meat, at a barbeque party," whispered Mercury. Augustus did not reply for he had no idea what 'kebab' or 'barbeque' were, having never heard of them.

"Where's Spyro?" asked Venus. At this, Mercury shot out a talon and pointed to something. The other three followed the Lear's macaw's point and saw two more servals walk in after the caracal carrying the pained and enraged Azul tied to his stick. The two servals were carrying some sort of bony cage which based on the shape of the bones was a tight ribcage the wildcats had salvaged from a pile of bones somewhere in the Compartment. Stuffed within the bony cage was a bundle of metallic purple feathers and based on his features, it was clearly Spyro and like Carla and the other four macaws, the young archaeobird's beak was bound shut and his wings and feathered legs were tied tightly with vines, and his face was saturated with pure wrath. Unlike the macaws, Spyro had been shoved into a bony cage as Stella described it. Augustus and the three macaws then all winced when they saw that a small cut ran close to Spyro's neck. That cut must have been inflicted on the archaeobird by a sharp tip of one of the bones of the cage when the caracals and servals shoved him into it.

While Venus, Mercury, Augustus and Ceres continued to watch Carnassial's group as continued to prepare Carla, Bia, Tiago, Azul and Mimas who were tied to the sticks with vines, and Spyro who was in the bony cage, another group of animals came in and hid behind a fallen log and another bush not too far away from Mercury's group. Sandalwood, together with Sirius, Spica and Bellatrix; Adenine, Thymine, Guanine and Cytosine, Carmen, Capella and Achernar; Castor and Pollux and Acerola, Atreyu and Altair, then peered out from over the log or behind the bush and gazed at Carnassial and company with Carla and the other five in their talons. Sirius, Bellatrix and Spica emitted whimpers when they glimpsed the flashes of blue belonging to Carla, Bia and Tiago while Adenine and his siblings shuddered when they saw the aqua blue and yellow form of Mimas. Carmen picked out Azul while Altair picked out his dad Spyro in the cage of ribs while Castor, Pollux and Acerola spotted Mercury, Venus, Augustus and Ceres a short distance away from them, their gazes also on Carnassial's group.

"There's Grandpa with Carmen's grandma Mrs Ceres; Sirius, Spica and Bellatrix's grandma Mrs Venus and Mr Mercury," whispered Acerola. Sandalwood flashed a glance at the older macaws and flying fox and returned his gaze to Carnassial and his group as they set up Carla, Bia, Tiago, Azul and Mimas on their sticks against a tree trunk or some rocks. Capella frowned.

"Those caracals and servals have tied those five macaws to _sticks,"_ she hissed, before her gaze turned to Spyro, "While Mr Spyro's been placed in a cage of bones."

"They never tied Betelgeuse to a stick or shoved her into a cage when they had her," said Sirius in a low voice.

"Shh, that lead caracal's gonna talk," said Acerola. Sandalwood's group fell silent and began to watch a hulking caracal then approach Carla, Bia, Tiago, Azul and Mimas, a triumphant and hungry glare on his face. Mercury, Venus, Augustus and Ceres also saw Carnassial approach the five tied up macaws and began to discuss a plan of rescue, unaware that they had a group of potential helpers, Sandalwood's group, nearby.

"I'm afraid today will be your final day of seeing the lovely sun, my pack's next lovely meals," crooned Carnassial as he began top pace back and forth before Carla and the other four, their glares laced with rage, confusion and fear. As Carnassial spoke, the tongues of the other servals and caracals all snaked out of their mouths and licked their lips.

"Dalek certainly has done a good job in nabbin' some adult parrots at our request," continued Carnassial, his mouth dripping saliva as he looked forward to a macaw meal. The other caracals and servals emitted titters. Then Carla's glare flashed with fury.

"Look here, you tuft-eared cat-face," the chubby Spix macaw snarled, "We do NOT have time for this NONSENSE! We've got a bunch of KIDS TO RESCUE FROM HERE!"

"By what?" asked one of the servals in a mocking voice whom Sandalwood and some of the others recognised was Alecto, "Wanderin' around the human's corridors after escapin' the artificial jungle where you should remain? Yeah, that's very smart."

"Well you shouldn't have been wandering around in the humans' corridors then, parrots," added another cat, a female caracal. Titters then rolled through Carnassial's group. However, Carla and company did not find this at all funny. Then Spyro struggled in his bone cage while Bia began to speak.

"We are NOT from this place," snapped the brown-eyed spitting image of Jewel, "We're from the OUTSIDE and we have COME TO RESCUE SOME KIDS that have been brought here by those humans and their poacher workers!"

Tiago, Azul and Mimas all screeched in agreement. However, to the disgust of Carla and company and to that of Mercury, Sandalwood and their groups, Carnassial and his gang, mocking smirks marking their faces, just exchanged glances and shrugged, some tittering.

"I'm sorry, my pack's meals-to-be, we have no idea what you're talkin' about," said Carnassial.

"Those humans are human CARERS, not CLIENTS for some poachers!" put in Shenzi, another caracal.

"And to add, those kiddies of yours are not important now," added Banzai, another of the wildcats, "Neither are your pretty relatives. Now is the time to meet your fate and prepare for it."

The other caracals and servals all nodded in agreement and licked their lips again. At this, Tiago writhed viciously in his restraints and spewed acidic threats at Carnassial and company while Mimas, Carla and Bia seethed in silence. Azul, his shoulder still screeching in pain, however, just looked on in pained fear. Then Carnassial nodded to four or five other caracals.

"Bind those macaws' beaks with some vines and shut them up," he commanded, "The sooner those five macaws are prepared for dinner, the better."

"Yes, I can't WAIT to have these REAL treats inside our tummies," cooed Alecto with wicked excitement. The five caracals nodded and seized some strong vines behind them and left for Carla and company. Then Shenzi came in.

"What are we gonna do with the four-winged bird creature in the cage of ribs, Carnassial?" asked she.

"Put him to one side for now," said Carnassial, "We'll have him for dessert or something after we have finished eating the parrots."

Shenzi smiled and left after the other five caracals to help prepare Carla and company for the rare meal the group had been waiting for so long for while Spyro in his cage was transported by three servals to a spot away from where the caracals and the servals will be consuming the parrots. As the margay-like cats carried him off, Spyro clung onto the white 'bars' with his wing claws and gazed worriedly at Carla, Mimas, Bia, Tiago and Azul and struggled, desperate to get out of his trap and free his friends. However, the servals screeched at the archaeobird to shut him up as they continued to carry the poor son of Andromeda and Eragon away. As the three servals did that, Carnassial nodded to some more servals and several caracals who had more vines in their paws.

"Tie the beaks of the macaws," said the caracal leader. His underlings nodded obediently and went straight toward Carla and the other four tied to their sticks. Some more caracals seized the sticks and moved them horizontally so that the macaws' beaks were within reach. As Shenzi and two or three other caracals prepared to bind her beak, Carla began to protest.

"What are you DOING!?" she screeched. At this, Carnassial's face loomed over her, his piercing, menacing eyes hovering close to her own, terrified green ones.

"It is time, fatty," said the caracal casually, making Carla's eyes flash with hurt, "We don't have time for any more pointless talks."

Then before Carla could protest, a pair of paws appeared and began to tie a piece of vine to her beak. Carla's cries suddenly turned into muffles as her beak was bound tightly. Behind the rocks and bush, Mercury, Ceres, Augustus and Venus each exchanged glances and then moved on. They were prepared to put their plan into action. Augustus turned to Ceres and Venus and said, "Right, you two go and rescue Spyro while Mercury and I see to Carla and the other four," the flying fox flashed a glance at the servals and caracals as they bound Bia's beak shut with another piece of vine, and then Tiago's, "Come on, let's move it before those wildcats set to putting their plans to eat the macaws into action."

Ceres and Venus nodded and left to follow the servals as they continued to carry Spyro away while Augustus and Mercury left to continue to watch Carnassial and his gang as they then bound Mimas and Azul's beaks shut. Not too far away, Sandalwood and the others also prepared to move when they saw Ceres and Venus pass them by in the direction of the servals and Spyro. At this, Atreyu formulated a plan.

"Why don't we split up and have some of us follow that blue macaw and the deeper blue and yellow macaw to rescue that four-winged bird creature and the rest of us rescue those other five parrots with the larger bat and the dark blue macaw?" asked the emperor penguin chick, "I'll go after the former two macaws with Altair and some of the others?"

At this, Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Sandalwood, Adenine, Thymine, Guanine, Cytosine and Carmen all waved to Capella, Achernar, Atreyu, Castor, Pollux, Altair and Acerola and with that, the group of kids split up. Sirius and company went after Mercury and Augustus while Atreyu's group went after Venus and Ceres.


	62. Chapter 61

**Chapter 61- the rescue of Carla and company begins part 2**

Blu and the others followed Lusamine's group toward the dividing mesh between Dundee's land and the Compartment of the Carnivores. As the group rushed along, Blu, Jewel, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto noticed a scattering of footprints and drops of dried blood.

"These are Dalek's footprints," explained Kiara as the seven macaws gazed at the prints and blood dots, "It's clear that that chameleon has dragged his victims to the Carnivore Compartment."

"Looks like they must have put up a pretty savage fight," said Mars with concern.

"They likely did," said Mina the Tasmanian devil with a dark look. She was still clearly shaken from seeing that horrible chameleon injure that blue-throated macaw and seeing his true colours for the first, and to the Tasmanian wolf's relief, the only time and she had hoped that she would never see such sadistic craze ever again, "but that chameleon's gone for good now. Let's focus on rescuing those other victims Dalek had shoved into the Compartment."

Blu, Jewel and Mars did so when the group stopped before the mesh. Lusamine then went over to the small hole in the corner.

"Sandalwood and the others with him went through this hole," explained the little Livingstone's bat. As she said this, Dundee walked over to the hole and glared at it.

"Then we're gonna follow them," said the emu with determination. At this, the other animals flashed the emu a look.

"But how are you and the other large animals going to fit through that tiny hole, Dundee?" asked Lusamine's father.

"That hole's small enough only for a macaw and similarly sized animals to squeeze through," added Uranus before his gaze turned to Neptune, Indigo and Victor and saw that these hyacinth macaws would not be able to pass through that small hole. Dundee then gazed at Uranus, an undeterred look on his face.

"We don't need to worry about that hole being too small for large animals such as myself," said the emu in a firm voice, "We just need to make it bigger."

With that, he nodded to Wally and some other apes including Herbert and some of the other chimps. With obedient smiles, the apes, those that were super strong, walked forward towards the barrier mesh while Dundee, Olympia and Mulan commanded the other animals to stand back. Wally, Herbert and the other chimps and orangutans then hooked their fingers onto the holes of the mesh and began to pull with all their might, straining as they did. Some of the other animals, among them Mina and her group, came in to help and soon, the sound of metal wire being ripped from their foundations under the sand, accompanied by the straining noise of various animals, filled the air. As Wally's group began to tear the mesh from its binding points, the sounds of human chattering reached the other animals' ears. At this, Blu and the others including Gylfie and Aurum who had come to help, turned in the direction of the noise and saw some of the humans run about outside the artificial jungle.

"Sounds like those humans are searching for us," said Pluto worriedly. Dundee then felt a flash of dread well within him. He did not want the humans to see what his group was up to with the barrier mesh.

"Hurry, Wally, gang," he commanded.

"We're working on it!" retorted Wally as the orangutan and his gang continued to heave the mesh from its foundations and distort the net of wires upward to widen the hole they had made.

 **Meanwhile**

Carnassial and his gang then stood the bound and gagged Carla, Bia, Tiago, Mimas and Azul against another tree trunk while the rest of the caracals and the servals sat in a ring, bib-shaped leaves tied around their necks as they prepared for their meal. Above the group in an adjacent tree, Mercury, who had sneaked along with great care to avoid getting spotted, then glared down at the caracals and servals below him. Augustus sneaked past Mercury and clambered onto the branch of the tree whose trunk was used as a support to stand Carla and the other four against by Carnassial and his gang as well as where the gang of caracals and servals were. Then as soon as he and his gang had set up Carla and the other four bound macaws on their sticks, Carnassial admired the five soon-to-be meals one last time, his greedy feline mouth stretched into a grimace.

"Dalek certainly has done a good job in catching us five adult macaws," he said greedily, stopping briefly to lick his lips as he looked forward to the very rare taste of adult macaw flesh landing in his mouth, "I hope we make the most of these delicious parrots since this is, after all, a rare treat."

"And after this, we'll perhaps cause those dingoes over there trouble," said another of the caracals, a nod to a group of Australian red dogs nearby. Carla, Bia, Tiago, Mimas and Azul, their beaks tightly bound by the vines, all whimpered as Alecto, one of the servals with a wide smile stretching across her face as she relished the caracal's suggestion in causing some dingoes bother and looked forward to it, came forward. Behind Carnassial, the rest of the caracal and serval gang all smiled greedily and licked their lips too and also nodded at the caracal's idea. However, they were unaware that a small group of younger macaws and a flying fox were nearby, had overheard the caracal's suggestion and had crept towards the cats' targets in mind.

Sandalwood, Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Adenine, Thymine, Guanine, Cytosine and Carmen had sneaked towards a living spot where a small pack of dogs from Australia, dingoes, lived and were asleep, Adenine having overheard what one of the caracals had said about potentially causing these dogs trouble and had suggested to Sandalwood and the others in telling the dingoes that and have them attack Carnassial and his gang before they did which would potentially provide the group and also Augustus and Mercury, a distraction they needed in rescuing Carla, Bia, Tiago, Azul and Mimas. As the young kids crept carefully towards the pack of dingoes, being wary as to avoid waking them up until the time was right; Adenine flashed a worried glance at Carnassial and company.

"Hurry, you lot," he whispered to the other eight, "Carnassial and his gang are about to start their meal."

Sandalwood flashed his own worried glance at Carla, Bia, Tiago, Mimas and Azul and shuddered before resuming his concentration on the dingoes. However, a hair and feather-raising question emerged from one of the servals' mouths from Carnassial's gang and reached Sandalwood's group's ears, turning their blood to ice.

"Which macaw would you like us to eat first?" asked Alecto. Carnassial's piercing eyes then began to scan Carla, Bia, Tiago, Azul and Mimas back and forth for a total of two times until finally, his eyes landed on the macaw of choice.

"This one," he said, a paw pointing straight at Carla, much to the macaw's alarm and the alarm of the other four. Bia, Tiago, Mimas and Azul all squirmed fearfully as Carnassial continued, "Because she is the fattest and is likely to contain plenny of meat than the other four, and I _lu-u-urve_ fat birds."

At this, Alecto smiled, reached with her paws towards the stick holding Carla and seized it. Above Carnassial and Alecto, Augustus and Mercury glared down as Carla, terrified whimpers escaping her tightly bound beak, was moved on her stick and taken away from her brother, sister and the other two, the latter four looking on with fearful, tearful eyes. Bia tried to call Carla's name but her beak was so tightly bound by the vine that she could not get her older sister's name out. Then Tiago tried to spit acid at Carnassial and his gang but like Bia, he could not get words out of his vine-bound beak and the only sounds he made were muffles and strangled screeches. Then Carnassial laid Carla on her stick down in the middle of the ring formed by his prepared gang and began to whisper taunting words to his first prey. As he did that, Mercury prepared to drop down upon the caracal the moment he could set to his kill while Augustus prepared to formulate a distraction for some of the servals standing on guard around Bia, Tiago, Mimas and Azul as these four helplessly looked on at Carnassial as he then began to taunt Carla, something he had always done to his previous parrot victims Dalek had given to him and his gang before killing and eating them.

 **At this moment**

While Augustus and Mercury prepared to rescue Carla, Bia, Tiago, Azul and Mimas, Venus and Ceres had followed the servals as they carried Spyro in his cage away. The servals had placed the caged archaeobird who was wincing slightly from the pain from the small cut on his neck, the result of being forcibly shoved into the tight cage, amongst some rocks before retreating to some bushes themselves to talk and rest as well as wait for Carnassial's call to join the macaw treat with the other wildcats. As the servals checked Spyro in his cage one last time, the archaeobird tried to casually talk to them in the hopes of convincing them to be allowed out of his bone cage.

"Hey, I can, um… help you divide the meat you receive from your human carers for I am good at dividing large lumps of food into reasonable portions," said Spyro, "But only if you let me out of this cage."

However, none of the three servals replied and just walked away towards the bushes. Spyro began to enter pleading mode.

"Please, just let me out of this cage and I'll do anything for you," cried the strange four-winged dinosaur like bird in desperation. At this, one of the servals bluntly turned round and shot Spyro a nonchalant look.

"The only thing you'll be doing for us is wait in there until Carnassial decides on your fate," said the spotted cheetah-like cat unsympathetically, "Now do us a favour and shut that snout-like beak of yours or I'll do it for you."

Spyro, at this flinched. Venus and Ceres who were in hiding also winced. This tone of voice used by the serval and his choice of words brought to the Spix and blue-throated macaws' minds the way the poachers' cats of Brutus's group often spoke to caged birds in their clutches all those years ago. However, Venus and Ceres pushed aside this thought and refocussed on planning on rescuing Spyro. Then as soon as he was sure that Spyro had taken in his threat, the serval left and joined his two comrades, certain that there was no-one around to rescue the archaeobird. Then as soon as the three servals were some distance away from Spyro, Venus and Ceres began to make their move and began to creep towards the archaeobird. While they did this, a few young birds and a flying fox arrived and hid behind a large boulder and peered at the three servals as they left Spyro unattended. Capella, Achernar, Castor, Pollux, Acerola, Atreyu and Altair had crept after Venus and Ceres and were now gazing at the three servals. Castor and Pollux turned their gazes in Ceres and Venus's direction as they slowly crept towards Spyro.

"Those three spotted margay cats have made a careless mistake in leaving Mr Spyro unattended," whispered Castor.

"Those three servals could do with a distraction to buy Mrs Venus and Mrs Ceres some time to rescue Mr Spyro," whispered Pollux. Acerola, Atreyu and Altair, at this, gazed from the trio of servals as they settled down to chat and Ceres and Venus as they reached Spyro and saw that the two blue-and-gold macaw chicks had a point. Though the servals were too engrossed in talking with each other, being cats they were likely to have sensitive hearing. Also, one or all of them could potentially flash a glance at Spyro occasionally to make sure that no-one was rescuing him and since Venus and Ceres were macaws, those three servals would not hesitate to pounce onto them and possibly bind them to take to Carnassial and the rest of the gang of caracals and servals where they would join Carla, Bia, Tiago, Azul and Mimas in becoming meals for those wildcats. While Acerola's group began to ponder on what distraction they could use to direct the servals' attention away from Spyro, Venus and Ceres, the latter two had finally reached the archaeobird much to his relief.

"Oh, am I glad to…" began Spyro but Venus hushed at him to be quiet.

"We're gonna get you out of this place," whispered the Spix macaw. Spyro's wing claws then went to the scratch on his neck.

"Those plain ear-tufted and margay-like feline brutes weren't half rough with me when they shoved me into this cage of ribs," muttered Spyro in a low voice as Ceres and Venus set to moving the ribs containing him. His gaze then turned to a sharp tip of one of the bones, "During that process, my neck got caught on the tips of one of them and inflicted a scratch. It was quite painful."

Venus and Ceres did not reply and lifted the cage containing Spyro from the rocks. However, as the two prepared to move Spyro, something walked by. Ceres happened to turn her gaze in the direction of the large four-legged moving form as she watched her step amongst the smaller rocks and as soon as her eyes connected with the stare of the creature, which was a rare and endangered species of Asian wild dog with reddish-brown fur, a short, sharp screech erupted from the blue-throated macaw's beak. In turn, the wild dog emitted a bark of surprise and darted off. Ceres and the dog's cries of fright startled Venus and Spyro and they both flashed Ceres an alarmed look while the three servals nearby, and also Acerola and company, jumped to attention when they heard a parrot squawk and a dog bark.

"Did you guys hear that?" asked the first serval to his two comrades. The other two small spotted cats nodded and began to examine the surroundings. When they saw the three servals enter alert and suspicion mode and begin to examine the source of the noises, Capella, Achernar, Castor and Pollux, Acerola, Atreyu and Altair felt alarm tear through them. Acerola turned her gaze toward Venus, Ceres and Spyro as the three calmed down, Ceres holding her chest as her heart was beating rapidly and her breathing rate was heightened, both the result of the scare by the Asian wild dog which Achernar had identified as a dhole from one of Bia and Virgil's rare animal books back in Brazil, and began to rapidly formulate a plan.

"We'd better intervene there and then, folks," said the auburn flying fox pup.

"But those servals could be very dangerous," protested Capella, "They may be small but they can be fierce…"

"They're heading for those three brightly coloured tree birds," said Atreyu. At this, Capella, Acerola and the others shot an alarmed look at the servals and saw that Atreyu was right. The servals were heading back towards where they had placed Spyro, suspicious looks lacing their faces. Seeing that Ceres and Venus were in imminent danger of getting caught by the three servals, Acerola and the others left their hiding place to plan an interventional attack on the servals.

Venus glared after the reddish brown dog as it darted away while Ceres continued to calm her nerves.

"That dog looked like one of those Asian canids," said the pigtailed Spix macaw.

"What's a 'canid'," asked Spyro.

"Dogs such as wolves and the city dogs like our greyhound friends back in Brazil," explained Venus, "But we don't have time to talk about animal types. Let's get out of here before those spotted cats see us…"

No sooner than these words had left her beak when a scornful and mocking voice made their blood, and the blood of Spyro, freeze.

"I'm afraid you've spoken too soon, you two attempted thieving parrots," it said. At this, Venus and Ceres, Spyro in his bone cage in their wings, turned to the speaker and found themselves on the receiving end of three pairs of piercing wildcat eyes and under those eyes were mean smiles stretched across their faces.

"Oh dear, looks like your cover has just been blown you two macaws," hissed the lead serval meanly when he saw that Venus and Ceres were stricken with surprise.

"And it looks like Carnassial and his gang will be having two extra treats to the five they already have," added one of the leader's companions to which Venus and Ceres could not reply, the stun from being spotted blocking their choice of words. The lead serval then turned to him and the third serval.

"Seize them," he said, "and bind them to take to Carnassial…"

As the serval spoke, another sound erupted, cutting the lead serval off, making the group freeze and the three servals into shooting suspicious glances this way and that.

"Now what!?" snarled the lead serval in frustration and with impatience. Venus, Ceres and Spyro also scanned the environment.

"That sounded like a flying fox screech," said Spyro for a hunch as to the sound's source had welled within him.

"In a place where only carnivores live?" asked Venus. Then Ceres felt suspicion well within her but she was not at all pleased. That sound was indeed a flying fox cry but it wasn't from any flying fox. While the three servals, the blue-throated macaw, the Spix macaw and the caged archaeobird continued searching for the source, a small auburn furred comet with black membranous umbrella-like wings of skin exploded from behind a tree trunk, heading straight for the three servals. Her blue eyes were ablaze with fire like that of burning sulfur and her mouth was open and poised for attacking as she surged towards the three servals. However, as Acerola rocketed towards the three servals, the third serval spotted the furry auburn and black comet.

"HEY!" he cried. At this, the other two servals, and also Venus, Spyro and Ceres, followed the third serval's glare just in time to spot Acerola surge towards the lead serval's face and, without hesitation, sink her teeth into the serval's ear as hard as she could to the point of tasting blood. A massive screech of agony erupted from the spotted cat as Acerola shot away before his paws shot to his bitten and bleeding ear. Venus, Spyro and Ceres threw on flabbergasted looks as they identified the auburn creature.

"ACEROLA!?" barked Venus. Suddenly, a serval paw appeared and seized the pigtailed Spix macaw by the neck much to the alarm of Ceres and Spyro.

"VENUS!" cried these two together as the second serval yanked Venus away but before he could run off with her, several more winged comets, this time with blue, yellow, green, red and metallic purple, appeared and pounced onto Venus's captor and the other serval and began to savagely bite and claw at their faces and upper bodies; Capella, Achernar, Castor, Pollux and Altair had attacked. The moment the two blue-and-gold macaw, two great green macaw and archaeobird chicks were upon the other two servals with another attacker, a penguin chick with a black and white head and grey downy feathered covered body armed with a stick, joining in the fray with Acerola returning, the serval released Venus, prompting her to flee and return to Ceres and Spyro. The three older adult macaws and archaeobird watched in utter astonishment as Acerola and company continued to savagely bite, claw and attack the three servals, Acerola going for the lead serval, his paws grasping his bleeding ear where the flying fox pup had bitten him, once again to tear out his facial fur and score her claws over his face. Seizing the opportunity brought about by the distraction thanks to Acerola and her group's intervention, Ceres commanded Venus to take Spyro to safety.

"Get Spyro outa here while I help those kids," commanded the blue-throated macaw. At first, Venus hesitated, fearing for Ceres's safety but then she relented. While Venus hurried off with Spyro in his cage in her talons, Ceres launched herself into the fire consisting of the brawling servals and Acerola and her group.

While Ceres went to rescue Acerola and her group as they continued to savagely attacking the trio of Spyro's serval kidnappers, Mercury and Augustus continued to watch Carnassial as he continued to taunt a tightly bound and gagged Carla, the rest of his gang waiting patiently for the share of their first macaw. Azul, Bia, Tiago and Mimas looked on helplessly as Carnassial continued to taunt the older sister of the two Spix macaws, some servals and caracals standing around them to guard them. Across the clearing from Carnassial's gang, Sandalwood, Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Adenine, Thymine, Guanine, Cytosine and Carmen were, by now, dangerously close to the pack of sleeping dingoes. However, they continued watching the unfolding drama within Carnassial's group as the lead caracal continued giving Carla taunting remarks.

"I'm afraid you have nowhere to go now, my fat tasty treat for my gang," crooned Carnassial meanly; his mouth hovering close to Carla's terrified face, "except into our mouths and bellies along with your four little friends over there," Carla shuddered and began to whimper timidly. Carnassial's smile widened when he saw the fear in his first victim's eyes, "but you don't need to worry, it will only be a quick death," as he said this, the caracal raised his paw and clicked the lethal claws, before lowering the sharp weapons to Carla's neck, right near the area where the carotid artery, the main artery of the neck, was, "All I need to do is sever the most important blood vessel in your neck and make you bleed out…" Carnassial paused dramatically, "just like how I did our previous parrot treats before we consumed them."

Carla shuddered and whimpered all the more as Carnassial then prepared to make his final move. Looking up to his serval and caracal gang members, Carnassial said, "You ready for our first meal, gang?"

All the servals and caracals, their tongues sliding around their mouths greedily, all yelped yes in unison.

"Let's just get down to it, already," muttered Alecto impatiently. Banzai, Shenzi and some of the others also made impatient frowns, much to Carnassial's gleeful smile. Turning back to Carla, the caracal raised his claws.

"Say goodbye to the light of day, our first macaw treat," crooned the caracal, his small fishhook-like claws glinting in the light like daggers much to Carla's terrified whimpers and squirming. However, she could not move much due to being tightly bound to the stick. Bia, Tiago, Azul and Mimas looked on, whimpers escaping their bound beaks but before Carnassial could make the killing blow on his first victim, he and the other caracals and servals failed to notice a Lear's macaw creeping above them on a branch directly above Carnassial and Carla. Mercury continued to watch Carnassial as he prepared to slay Carla and the moment his eyes landed on the caracal's claws about to strike her neck, his protective instinct violently erupted within him. With an extremely loud screech, the Lear's macaw launched himself from the branch and pounced directly onto Carnassial's back, much to the immense horror and shock of the other caracals and servals, surprise of Carla, Bia, Tiago, Mimas and Azul and also Sandalwood and company near the dingoes. Then as soon as he was on Carnassial's back, Mercury, his eyes blazing grey infernos, then began to score his claws into the caracal's back flesh.

A massive screech of agony erupted from Carnassial as wounds opened in his back and blood was drawn, making him bolt away from Carla. Carnassial's cries, as well as the screeches of Mercury, carried through the air of the Compartment of the Carnivores and attracted the attention of many of the other animals, and the dingoes Sandalwood and the others with him were about to wake were jolted from their slumber, much to the young bat pup and chicks' alarm. The other caracals and servals then surged in to help their leader to seize Mercury when suddenly; a brown and black comet dived in and struck each of them across the face for Augustus had attacked. With his blue eyes blazing fires like those of Mercury's grey eyes, the flying fox struck some of the servals and caracals across the faces with a wing and sank his teeth into either the cheeks or foreheads of some others. As the comet of black membranous wings and brown fur soured over their faces, the stunned caracals and servals either screeched in pain or were thrown back by the force of the strikes from Augustus's wing. Then as soon as he had stunned many of the members of Carnassial's gang, Augustus made a beeline for Carla, seized her and began to try and drag her to safety, Carla's green eyes beaming with joy.

While the chaos continued between Carnassial and his gang and Mercury and Augustus, Sandalwood, Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Adenine, Thymine, Guanine, Cytosine and Carmen found themselves on the receiving end of some canine glares. At this, the flying fox pup, three Spix macaw chicks, four Catalina macaw chicks and the blue-throated macaw chick and granddaughter of Ceres all returned the glares of the dingoes with timid gazes. The group of dingoes, who resembled domestic dogs with reddish fur and white bellies and originated from Australia, then glared down at Sandalwood and the eight macaw chicks suspiciously and angrily, striking fear into the nine small kids. As their fear and intimidation caused by the Australian feral dogs' stare continued to boil, Bellatrix flashed Sandalwood a look.

"Wh-wh-what were we g-g-going to t-t-tell these w-w-wild dogs again, S-S-S-Sandalwood?" she stammered. Sandalwood, however, felt his tongue freeze in his mouth, the fear of the dingoes' vicious stare blocking his ability to reply. The fear then jolted within them as one of the dingoes, the leader of the pack then spoke in a very angry and suspicious voice.

"What are you pesky little birds doing in here!?" growled the reddish dog. At this Adenine, the reason why they had approached the dingoes in the first place finally surfacing within him, stepped forward to explain. However, due to the immense fear of the outraged dogs which caused his body to shake, the eldest son of Ganymede and Mimas struggled to form words.

"W-w-well," he stammered, his gaze glued to the fierce glare of the lead dingo's face, "Y-y-y-you kn-kn-know th-th-those c-c-c-caracals and servals o-o-over there?"

The lead dingo's eye blinked with confusion.

"You mean those furballs Carnassial and his gang?" snapped the Australian dog.

"What about them!?" added another dingo fiercely, a female surrounded by three smaller dogs which Sandalwood and the others deduced were puppies. Sandalwood and the others then flashed Carnassial and his gang as they continued combating Mercury and Augustus, Augustus having managed to drag Carla to the safety of some bushes and untie her from her bounds and stick, much to her relief and Mercury still savagely attacking the caracals and servals as they tried to catch him. However, Azul, Bia, Mimas and Tiago were still tied up, in need of rescuing.

"W-w-well, um…" began Adenine but then he found that his tongue refused to move due to the immense fear caused by the dingoes' glare piercing him and the other eight. Then the lead dingo's ears fell back, his back hackles raised and his head lowered and he began to advance toward them, making the fear boil all the more within the nine kids and making them back away.

"Well, if you little troublemakers are here to make a joke, we will NOT TOLERATE IT!" snarled the lead dingo, his teeth gritted, making Sandalwood and the eight macaw chicks spring about an inch into the air and their feathers, and Sandalwood's fur to spike out. Behind the leader, the other pack members also began to advance towards the nine young animals. Bellatrix's pigtail feathers and the feathers in Spica's Jewel-like crest also fanned out. The fear was boiling so much that the minds of all nine of the kids went fully blank and they felt like running. Then at last, Carmen came forward and in a split second, managed to get the reason out.

"Carnassial and his gang are planning on causing you dingoes TROUBLE!" she blurted out in an instant. At this, the dingoes stopped and exchanged confused glances. Then the leader glared back at Carmen.

"Are they REALLY!?" snarled the reddish dog furiously, his fur bristling.

"Those servals and caracals are honestly a PAIN IN THE TAILS!" growled another of the female dingoes. Then Adenine stepped forward, a sliver of courage he had managed to find streaking within him.

"It's true," he said, "Carnassial and his gang want to cause you dingoes trouble after eating those five macaws but…" he flashed a glance at Mercury as he continued viciously attacking Carnassial and his gang when suddenly, a caracal paw managed to hit home and the Lear's macaw was sent flying towards the group. Sandalwood, Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Adenine, Thymine, Guanine, Cytosine and Carmen all let loose screams of horror when they saw Mercury tumble to a stop near a pile of bones, dazed from being hit so hard. The dingoes looked on in surprise as Adenine, Thymine, Guanine and Cytosine rushed over to their dazed non-biological great-uncle.

"MR MERCURY!" cried the four blue-and-gold/scarlet macaw chicks together. Sandalwood, Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix and Carmen then returned their gazes to the dingoes as they glared bitterly at Carnassial and his gang as they prepared to move Bia, Tiago, Azul and Mimas whole three of them, Alecto, Shenzi and Banzai, had cornered Augustus and the freed Carla. At this, wrath began to boil within the leader.

"Let's go over to those rotten cat brats and GIVE THEM A PIECE OF OUR MIND FOR PLANNING TO CAUSE US TROUBLE!" barked the leader, his gaze on the equally wrathful members who replied with agreeing barks. Sandalwood, Carmen, Sirius, Spica and Bellatrix then saw the dingoes as they entered attack mode. As soon as the Australian dog pack launched themselves into a bound towards Carnassial and his gang, the five darted to the side out of the dingoes' way, Sandalwood running along.

"Nothing like seeking additional help from those caracals and servals' biggest rivals and enemies during a big rescue, eh, gang?" cried Sandalwood excitedly as he ran away with Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix and Carmen flying just above him. As soon as they had reached a safe distance, the five stopped and turned to watch the dingoes as they charged towards Carnassial and company, angry barks erupting from their mouths.

Augustus continued trying to intimidate Shenzi, Banzai and Alecto, his membranous wings spread protectively across Carla as she timidly backed away against a rock.

"I think we should have changed our minds about that little white bat and included _it_ in our meals as well," growled Shenzi fiercely, her cat eyes boring into Augustus, "but unfortunately, flying foxes are _grotesque_ RATS with WINGS that are totally UNPALATABLE to US!"

"Well, I'm glad to hear that but I wish YOU found parrots equally unpalatable as WELL!" retorted Augustus rhetorically, his attention completely away from the insult of flying foxes being 'rats with wings'. At this, Carla's eyes flashed with surprise at Augustus's boldness. Shenzi, Banzai and Alecto each exchanged stunned glances but then returned their glares at the furious flying fox.

"I think talking with you winged rat is a WASTE OF TIME!" bellowed Shenzi and with that, the female caracal raised her paw, flared her claws and prepared to swipe Augustus whose boldness had quickly flashed to alarm, causing him to cover Carla protectively. However, Augustus and Carla's alarmed glares darted towards something behind Shenzi and her comrades. At this, the flying fox barked at Carla to flee and the pair quickly bolted like a pair of gazelles. Shenzi, Banzai and Alecto, at this, looked on in surprise as Carla and Augustus made a break for it but before they could wonder what made the two dart off so quick, a bark reached their ears an d before the three cats knew it, they were tackled in the side by some reddish comets on four legs. Shenzi released a screech of surprise as a dingo rammed into her side and slammed her against a nearby tree trunk while Banzai and Alecto were sent flying into a nearby thorn bush, resulting in them facing a thorny and painful landing. Then soon, a seriously dazed and surprised Shenzi found herself face to face with an angry glare from a reddish dog while behind her, many of Carnassial's gang found themselves confronted by more dingoes. From a distance, Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix; Adenine, Thymine, Guanine and Cytosine; Carmen, Mercury and Sandalwood and also Carla and Augustus watched on as the confrontation between the dingoes and Carnassial's gang began to unfold. The lead dingo glared daggers with Carnssial who was wincing from his bleeding back inflicted upon him by Mercury.

"We've been told that YOU fur-eared menace was planning on causing us TROUBLE!" snarled the Australian dog fiercely. Behind him, several more dingoes, their ears flattened; teeth bared and back fur spiked upward, growled in agreement. At this, Carnassial shot confused glances this way and that before returning his timid gaze to the lead dingo. Now it was HIS turn to be afraid.

"I-I-I-I d-d-d-didn't say anything about c-c-c-causing you d-d-d-dingoes trouble," he stammered, trying his best to look innocent, "H-h-h-h-honest."

However, the lead dingo looked unconvinced. Behind him, several servals and caracals had managed to seize Bia, Tiago, Azul and Mimas who were still tied up and sneak away the moment the dingoes arrived. The dingo and his gang then prepared to attack Carnassial and his gang.

"I'm afraid your immature protests don't fool US!" he bellowed and with a massive bark of pure rage, the reddish dog sprang himself into the air and leaped at Carnassial. However, the lead caracal, despite his wounded back, darted to one side, making the dingo miss. Around Carnassial and the lead dingo, the other dingoes had launched themselves at the servals and other caracals and within seconds, a massive fight broke out. However, the servals and caracals that had Bia, Tiago, Mimas and Azul managed to sneak away and make their escape. Augustus and Carla rushed over to Mercury as he struggled to his feet with Sandalwood, Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Adenine, Thymine, Guanine, Cytosine and Carmen's help. The moment Carla saw Sirius, Spica and Bellatrix; she released a cry of immense disbelief and joy and rushed over to them. The three Spix macaw chicks turned just in time to be swept into a massive hug from the freed Spix macaw. While Carla and the three chicks relished their union, Augustus was giving the other six the furious eye along with Mercury who had managed to come to.

"How DARE you wander off into danger, you LOT!" he bellowed, making Sandalwood, Carmen, Adenine, Cytosine, Guanine and Thymine flinch, "YOU could have been KILLED!"

"We're sorry, Grandpa!" cried Sandalwood in a strangled voice. Augustus and Mercury then softened and swept the six kids into a tight hug as relief took hold.

"Oh, don't you lot EVER endanger yourselves like that again," cried Mercury, "You had us worried when we saw you wandering around in this dangerous place."

Sandalwood, Carmen, Adenine, Cytosine, Guanine and Thymine returned the older flying fox and Lear's macaw hug when suddenly; Carla's voice brought them back to reality.

"Wait, where are Bia, Tiago, Azul and Mimas?" cried the chubby Spix macaw and Spica's mother. At this, Augustus and Mercury looked this way and that when Thymine's eyes landed on something sneaking away from the brawling caracals, servals and dingoes.

"THERE!" she cried and pointed to the something. At this, Augustus, Mercury and Carla followed Thymine's point and when their eyes landed on the still-bound and gagged Bia, Tiago, Mimas and Azul in the clutches of some of the caracals and servals receding into the distance with a familiar caracal with a scratched back following them, alarm tore through them. Augustus flashed Mercury, Carla and the kids a stern look.

"You re-join Venus and Ceres and help them rescue Spyro if they hadn't done so already while I follow those wildcats," he commanded and before anyone could protest, the flying fox was off. Giving up, Mercury commanded the others and they darted off to look for Venus, Ceres and Spyro and also Acerola, Capella, Achernar, Castor, Pollux, Atreyu and Altair who had gone to help the two macaws rescue the latter one's father.


	63. Chapter 62

**Chapter 62- clouds of chaos and brawling**

While the dingoes and the servals and caracals continued to brawl, attracting the attention of the surrounding carnivorous animals, many who cheered them on, Venus, Ceres, Capella, Achernar, Castor, Pollux, Acerola, Atreyu and Altair were rushing along with Spyro in their clutches. Behind the group, the three servals, their faces and upper bodies slashed with fresh wounds and bite marks with one of them with a bleeding ear where Acerola had sunken her teeth, gave chase, the fires of pure rage burning in their golden cat eyes. As the trio of spotted cheetah-like cats pursued Venus and company, the lead serval began to spew a poisonous cocktail of vitriolic threats.

"When we GET HOLD OF YOU interferin' RODENTS," he bellowed, "I'M GONNA…" and with that, the acidic cocktail began to spit from his mouth. Acerola and the other six kids all winced and shrieked as the content of the serval's screeches, stuff that they shouldn't be hearing, explosively assaulted their ears while Atreyu's flippers flew to his ears to block out the toxic darts. Venus and Ceres, their eyes screwed shut, continued to carry the caged Spyro who was also wincing from the acidic content, along despite the serious assault of the serval's threats on their ears and their nerves.

"So much for this place being called 'PARADISE SANCTUARY'!" barked Venus as she ran along, jumping aside to avoid a stray rock which almost snagged her talons, "This place is NO PARADISE at ALL! It is just a RARE ANIMAL COLLECTOR'S BASE with a FAÇADE of a CONSERVATION AREA!"

"It isn't a sanctuary either!" shouted an equally enraged Ceres in agreement, "Huh, 'Paradise Sanctuary' eh?" the blue-throated macaw flashed a series of scornful glances this way and that at the artificial indoor jungle, "'Paradise for Illegal Rare Animal Collectors to Hide Their Poached Loot', more like."

"Look OUT!" shouted Atreyu when he saw another obstacle heading towards Venus and Ceres. At this, the Spix macaw and the blue-throated macaw looked up and saw an outstretched branch from a log. They tried to sidestep it but Venus could not move in time and the small branch slammed into her belly, a screech of pain exploding from her beak at the moment of impact.

"AUNT VENUS!" cried Castor, Pollux, Capella, Achernar and Altair at the same time while Acerola, Spyro and Atreyu all flinched. As Venus was stopped dead by the small log branch, Ceres was carried forward from the momentum of running so fast and as she lurched forward, the cage of ribs holding Spyro began to stretch and distort between the two macaws much to the imprisoned archaeobird's surprise. Then a split second later, the rib held by Venus slipped from her grasp, making Ceres, who still hung onto the cage of ribs, stumble forward and accidentally throw the cage, with Spyro in it, towards a nearby tree trunk. Acerola and the others looked on in horror while the three servals looked on in disbelief and outrage as Spyro in the cage was thrown forward due to the catapult effect initiated with Venus's collision with the log branch. However, the accident turned out to have a glittery lining like the metallic feathers of Spyro's plumage as the moment the cage made contact with the tree trunk, the loud shattering sound of a cage of bones jumped into the air, along with Spyro's cry of surprise. Capella, Achernar, Castor, Pollux, Acerola, Atreyu and Altair, and also Ceres, watched on as fragments of white sticks exploded everywhere and a metallic purple archaeobird collapsed onto his belly, stunned from the impact. Venus, who was clutching her belly from where she had struck the log branch, also looked up while the three servals also watched on. Then the moment she saw Spyro collapse onto the ground, Ceres charged forward.

"Spyro!" she cried. Capella, Achernar, Castor, Pollux, Acerola, Atreyu and Altair followed. Spyro struggled to sit up and gazed at the bone fragments scattered all around him as he was surrounded by Ceres and the seven kids and when he realised that he was no longer in the cage of ribs, a wave of joy came over him.

"I'm FREE!" he cried but then he was swallowed up in a group hug by Ceres, Capella, Achernar, Castor, Pollux, Acerola and his son Altair. Venus also flew over and joined in the hug.

"Oh, I'm so GLAD you're alright," cried Ceres. Then Venus, despite the pain emanating from her belly, began to examine Spyro for any injuries. Thankfully, the archaeobird only suffered a few bruises from the impact, and the scratch on his neck was starting to heal.

"We're sorry for that," said Venus apologetically, "I did not see that log branch in time."

"But at least you're free," said Altair with a smile. Spyro's muzzle-like beak then widened into a smile of his own and he pulled his son into another hug while Capella, Achernar, Castor, Pollux and Acerola hugged him from the sides and behind. Atreyu looked on at the reunion with a smile.

"Wish I was with Mom, Dad, and Uncle Mumble in an embrace like that," he said in a low, longing voice. However, the happy moment was slashed in two when the sound of a serval cry exploded from nearby. At this, Atreyu jumped about two inches in the air and flashed a frightened glance at the source's sound.

"Er, guys," said the emperor penguin chick, "We'd better go!"

As Atreyu said this, Venus, Ceres, Spyro, Capella, Achernar, Castor, Pollux, Acerola and Altair all looked up and to their horror, they saw three extremely furious spotted wildcats, their flames of wrath burning ever higher now, charge towards them. At this, Capella, Achernar, Castor, Pollux, Acerola and Altair all released screams of fear while Venus and Ceres seized them and Spyro from the pile of broken rib bones when one of the servals, the lead one, launched himself into the air, his back feet propelling him like a spring. Then as he flew towards Venus and company, the wildcat's claws flared and his mouth opened as the serval entered kill mode. Seeing that they would be unable to escape the serval's killing pounce in time, the eight birds and flying fox pup all embraced each other tightly and braced for a brutal slashing but before any of them could feel the sharp points of serval claws rake over their skins, a BAM was heard, followed by an enraged screech and a second screech of agony, but the first screech was not from a wildcat. At this, Venus and company remained in brace mode for another few seconds but when they felt no sharp points hit them, they slowly looked up to see that the serval was absent from his line of pounce, but was thrown aside against a tree trunk. To Venus and Ceres's surprise, a familiar navy blue bird with teal markings on his face and orange-yellow beak lappet and eye rings was standing over the serval, his grey eyes saturated with wrath and Venus could see that the side of the serval's head had received a fresh set of scratches. There was only one source from which these scratches came from. The moment Venus saw the navy blue and teal macaw which was a Lear's macaw; she felt a wave of joy wash over her.

"Mercury!" she cried. Mercury flashed Venus and the others with her a smug nod as Atreyu came in and smashed a rock over the serval's head to knock him out, hissing disdainfully at the wildcat as he did it.

"I hope it hurts, spotted otter-face," hissed the young emperor penguin spitefully. Ceres, Spyro, Capella, Achernar, Castor, Pollux, Acerola and Altair also looked on in joy but that joyful moment was shattered when they sand Venus found themselves at the mercy of two pairs of fierce some eyes armed with a mouth each of razor-sharp teeth and a pair of paws bearing fishhook-like claws. However, before the other two servals could lash at Venus and company, a cerulean blur came in and knocked them away, clawing each of them across the face with her talons.

"GET AWAY FROM AUNT VENUS AND MY FRIENDS, you PESKY SPOTTED CAPYBARAS!" screeched the cerulean form, which was Carla and with that she added a second slash of her claws to each of the servals, making them screech in agony. Then a moment later several colourful blurs, three blue, another blue and yellow and four more with as variety of colours, shot in and ploughed into the two servals like rockets. The two servals cried again as Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Adenine, Thymine, Guanine, Cytosine and Carmen tackled them away from Carla and sent them flying into a nearby tree trunk. Then a familiar form with amber fur and black membranous wings appeared, puffing and panting from running along behind the macaws. As the two servals struggled to their feet, Carla lunged at them to try and drive them away, Mercury joining in the fray. While these two macaws attacked the servals, Sandalwood, Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Adenine, Thymine, Guanine, Cytosine and Carmen all surrounded Spyro and hugged him.

"You've been busted out of your cage," cried Sirius with relief. Spyro flashed a glance at Venus and Ceres who shrugged. Behind them, the two servals, along with the lead serval after he struggled to his feet after receiving a bump to the head from Atreyu with a rock, retreated, Mercury tearing after them with an extremely loud screech, having given up and not wanting to face any more injuries. Then Carla and Mercury flew over to Spyro to check on him.

"I can see you've managed to get Spyro out of that prison of bones," said Mercury.

"It was actually by accident," said Venus slightly sheepishly, "I crashed into a lock branch and sent the cage flying out of Ceres's wings."

"That was when I accidentally tossed it at a tree trunk and it shattered like glass," added Ceres. The blue throated macaw then frowned, "Anyway, where's Augustus?"

At this, Sandalwood came in.

"He's gone after Uncles Azul and Tiago and Aunts Bia and Mimas," he replied. At this, Ceres, Spyro and Venus flashed Carla, Mercury and Sandalwood a horrified look.

"Augustus has gone after those lynx-like cats and their spotted companions by himself!?" blurted out Venus.

"He might not stand a chance against those caracals and servals," put in Ceres.

"Especially with his most vulnerable parts of his body, his membranous wings," added Spyro, "What if those wildcats decide to target him with their claws…"

"That is why we're gonna catch up with Augustus and help him rescue the four remaining caught victims," said Mercury sternly. His gaze then flashed this way and that at various points of the carnivores' artificial jungle, worry coming over him, "Let's get outa here before any of those humans show up and try to catch us…"

No sooner than these words had left his beak when Atreyu saw something come the group's way, but it wasn't a pack of caracals or servals. At this, the little emperor penguin chick let loose a scream of terror, alerting Mercury, Venus and the others. When they saw a group of two-legged figures hurtle towards them with some sort of containers, some with flexible mesh attached to a ring on a stick, aiming for them.

"SCATTER!" cried Mercury and with that, the group all exploded in different directions as a large basket held by one of the humans zoomed in and slammed into the ground only to miss. A hiss of frustration emitting through her teeth, the possessor of the basket stood up and aimed her eyes at the streaks of bright colour as some of Mercury's group fluttered away. Atreyu also jumped aside to avoid getting netted by another human, a man, with a net, before scrabbling to flee. Nearby, more humans had come in to try and quell the brawling dingoes, caracals and servals, the surrounding animals looking on timidly and too frightened to help but the inferno was burning so high that it proved a real challenge for them and a few of them received quite some nasty scratches and bite wounds from a few servals and caracals when they seized them and dragged them out of the battle cloud. Cries of pain took off into the air as these humans were scratched and bit. While this was happening, the humans pursuing Mercury and company began to attempt to catch them again. Sandalwood managed to jump backwards from another woman who tried to trap him in another net. As her net slammed to the ground where the little flying fox pup had been a second before, the woman emitted a curse word in Spanish and glared fiercely at Sandalwood, her net poised to strike again. Sandalwood backed away from the human toward a tree trunk, his green eyes inflated with immense fear as the human towered over him, her net in her hands.

However, as the woman advanced towards Sandalwood, her comrades busily chasing after Mercury and the others including Acerola and Atreyu as they dodged and dived out of the way of their baskets, boxes and nets as the humans swiped them at them, to Sandalwood's alarm, a sandy brown blur dived in and tackled the woman to the side. Sandalwood released a scream of terror as he watched the human female stumble and then fall into a bush but then his green eyes caught sighted the tackler that had knocked the woman down, and within moments, he was on the receiving end of that tackler's eyes… and they belonged to a familiar female caracal. At this, Sandalwood snapped his frightened gaze to the caracal's bitter glare consisting of hatred and malice saturated eyes and borne teeth. And based on a set of red lines strewn across the caracal's plain sandy brown coat, the result of one of the dingoes attacking her, and her feminine features, Sandalwood identified the caracal as Shenzi, much to his immense alarm, and Shenzi was saturated with pure vengeance and wrath.

"YOU little RAT WITH WINGS AGAIN, huh?" growled the caracal viciously, "I might have known it was YOU who guided those Australian dogs into attacking us and interruptin' our imminent rare meal."

Sandalwood's eyes darted to a flash of cerulean behind Shenzi as Carla, with an especially terrified Sirius, Spica and Bellatrix in her talons, narrowly escaped getting trapped under a box by one of the humans before his eyes returned to the laser-like malice beam in Shenzi's eyes. Sandalwood then tried to swallow his fear and put on a brave face.

"YOUR rare meals!?" he rhetorically retorted, "YOU can't eat INNOCENT PARROTS, CERTAINLY NOT some of our FAMILY MEMBERS!"

At this, regret at revealing the fact that Carla, Bia, Tiago, Azul and Mimas were part of his extended family stung him and Sandalwood's black wings flew to his mouth. Shenzi flashed a look of confusion.

"Family members?" she said.

"It's NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS," snapped Sandalwood fiercely, the first fierce voice he had managed to get out in his life, "I'm just saying that YOU CANNOT EAT INNOCENT PARROTS!"

Shenzi was about to retort when suddenly, "SANDALWOOD!"

At this, Sandalwood snapped his gaze to his name's caller and saw Atreyu, together with Acerola, Altar, Carmen and Spyro, gaze at him in horror, especially at the sight of the caracal confronting him. However, the five could not remain stationary for long and were forced to move when a net came their way, one of the other men attempting to catch them only for them to dodge and flee Shenzi also flashed a glance at the five gazers as they scattered, Spyro carrying Altair, and turned her bitter gaze back at Sandalwood.

"Time to cut to the chase I think," snarled the caracal and with that, she entered killer mode and crouched into a pouncing position, her teeth bared and her fur spiked out. Sandalwood, upon seeing the transformation of his confronter, especially as her fiery eyes bore into him like a serpent's glare, snapped his glance this way and that until his eyes landed on a nearby rock. Thinking quickly, especially as Shenzi lurched towards him with her mouth open wide not to eat him but to kill him, Sandalwood seized the rock and stuffed it right into the caracal's mouth, making her bite down on it, much to her surprise. As Shenzi then began to struggle to dislodge the rock from her mouth with a paw, Sandalwood made his escape. The little flying fox pup charged past the brawling dingoes, caracals and servals with the humans struggling to break up their fight and rushed towards the tree. As Sandalwood charged along, a serval, Alecto who was covered in cuts from her landing in some thorns, flew his way as a dingo powerfully kicked her with his back feet like a horse. Sandalwood was forced to brake to a halt as the serval crash-landed in his path but she got up and glared daggers with her dingo opponent, too blinded by anger to notice a spot of amber fur and black membrane wings near her. As the dingo and serval began to circle each other, their eyes locked and their fur puffed out, as well as their mouths emitting a growl and a hiss, Sandalwood charged along when he heard a caracal screech behind him. At this, the little bat stole a terrified glance behind him and when he saw that Shenzi, who had managed to spit the rock out of her mouth, was hot on his tail. Frightened, Sandalwood charged on and soon, a vicious caracal-versus-flying fox pup chase had erupted as Shenzi began to chase Sandalwood like a cat after a mouse about the clearing and around a variety of obstacles such as trees, bone piles and rocks. Occasionally, Shenzi would try to swipe Sandalwood with a paw only for him to dodge and continue running while Sandalwood sometimes hopped over smaller obstacles such as a stray bone or small rock with the caracal bounding after him, sometimes launching a paw swipe at the pup only to miss. Then after cornering a log and some bones, the flying fox pup and the caracal raced towards the inferno of brawling dingoes, servals and caracals and also the humans trying to quell the fight.

As soon as he was near the humans, Sandalwood began to weave in and out of the humans' legs, narrowly avoiding getting stepped on as feet slammed into the ground, forcing Shenzi into following him and doing the same, causing chaos for the humans and adding to the difficulty in their task of quelling the brawl between the caracals, servals and dingoes. Sandalwood, due to his size, was able to weave in and out of the humans' legs unnoticed. All he had to do was avoid the feet but since Shenzi was much bigger than him, she found passing around the legs and through far more difficult. Legs snagged onto her body and she unintentionally toppled those humans and made them fall down, much to their frustration. One of them landed on his backside right into a patch of thorns with a massive scream of agony as the needles jabbed his rear. Shenzi, who was too engrossed in chasing Sandalwood, however just raced by and didn't even flash a regretful glance at the human. Then after causing two more humans to fall flat on their faces, one of them holding and restraining a dingo only for it to leap out of his arms and pursue a serval, Shenzi pursued Sandalwood into a nearby clearing.

While Shenzi continued to viciously chase Sandalwood, Acerola, together with Carla, Venus, Mercury, Spyro, Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Adenine, Thymine, Guanine, Cytosine, Carmen, Capella, Achernar, Castor, Pollux, Atreyu and Altair continued to dodge their pursuers' attempts to catch them in their nets, boxes and baskets. Venus, Mercury and Carla, with a very frightened Sirius, Spica and Bellatrix in their talons, continued darting out of the path of the swiping nets and boxes held by two of the humans as they continued to attempt to trap them in those catching tools, the two humans' comrades continuously going after Ceres, Acerola, Spyro, Atreyu, Adenine, Thymine, Guanine, Cytosine, Carmen, Capella, Achernar, Castor, Pollux and Altair with their nets and boxes only for these animals to dodge and dive out of the way. One of the men lurched towards Spyro, who had Altair, Castor and Pollux in his fore-wings with a net. Spyro, alarmed, dived to one side as the three boys in his wings screamed, sending the man slamming onto his front and sliding headfirst into a bush. Nearby, Atreyu and Acerola continued darting from side to side as a woman tried trapping them in a box, her determination and frustrated rage-fuelled glare fixated on them. With a frightened gasp, the emperor penguin chick seized the flying fox pup and dived to one side as the woman's box slammed onto the spot where the two of them had been a second before. The woman then picked up the box and launched at the emperor penguin and bat pup again with it but Atreyu jumped in the opposite direction to avoid the attempt, sending the box crashing once again into the sand. Then after another three attempts of picking up the box and trying to trap the two animals in the box only to miss on all three times, the woman gasped as Atreyu rocketed through her legs with Acerola in her wings. Stunned, the woman fell onto her belly as Atreyu quickly took Acerola to safety, a terrified glance flashed at the collapsed human.

"Where's Sandalwood?" cried Acerola. At this, Atreyu looked this way and that until his eyes landed on a small amber and black form being viciously chased by a lynx-like cat with sandy brown fur, an enraged screech exploding from her mouth as her paw lurched towards the amber furred form to swipe him only for him to corner sharply and dodge. Alarmed, Atreyu and Acerola drew in horrified gasps.

Ceres shoved Carmen, Capella and Achernar out of the way as a net held by one of the men came swooping down on them before jumping onto the man's head and applying her talons full force. Carmen, Capella and Achernar, together with Adenine, Guanine, Thymine and Cytosine, watched on in amazement as the blue-throated macaw, her lush blue and yellow feathers spiked out, especially her ponytail feathers, and her eyes blazing light grey firestorms and her beak emitting a savage, wrath-filled cat-like screech, then began to savagely attack the man like a hawk. The man dropped his net and sent his hands to his head to protect it as Ceres continued slashing her claws over his head and shoulders and drawing blood, agonised screams and curse words in Spanish erupting from his mouth.

"Go, GRANDMA!" cried Carmen as she watched her paternal grandmother continue her relentless attack on the human. The other six also cheered on Ceres as her beak went straight for the human's hands and latched onto one of them in a hard bite, before clamping onto it as hard as she could. The human screamed as agony seared through the area where Ceres's beak had attached began to try and dislodge Ceres from his hand, but Ceres immediately released her grip on the human's hand, making the human grasp his bitten and bleeding hand with the other. Ceres was about to launch another vicious attack of clawing and biting on the human when suddenly, a bloodcurdling scream erupted nearby, but it was not from Sandalwood or Atreyu and Acerola or Spyro, Castor, Pollux and Altair. Their blood freezing and Ceres's rage flashing immediately to horror, Ceres, Carmen, Capella and Achernar, Adenine, Guanine, Thymine and Cytosine and also Spyro, Altair, Castor, Pollux, Atreyu and Acerola all converged their horrified glances on the screamers but when they saw who were screaming, their hearts and stomachs dropped like wounded birds.

"VENUS, MERCURY, CARLA!" cried Ceres. The others looked on to see that the three said birds, together with Sirius, Spica and Bellatrix, had been successfully netted by one of the women, who was calling to her comrades that she had caught some of them and was demanding a cage before the six birds could start viciously escaping the net. Sandalwood also briefly flashed a glance at Mercury and the other five in the net but he was forced to snap out of that glance as Shenzi launched another paw swipe at him and continued chasing him about the clearing, and Atreyu and Acerola had launched into a chase after the latter's cousin and his chaser to help him out of that situation, leaving the others to gaze in utter horror at Mercury, Carla and Venus as they held Sirius, Bellatrix and Spica who were frightened and cowering in their wings, as they gazed in disbelief at their captor. Around their captor, several of the other humans had hurried off to seize a cage. Then Ceres's volcanic rage took control of her once again as the urge to save the six macaws erupted within her and she launched once again into savage attack mode. With an extremely loud screech and surging towards the woman holding the five Spix macaws and Mercury in the net, making the woman look up and her way in surprise, Ceres prepared her talons and as soon as she was near the woman, she slashed her talons right over the woman's face, sending her face jerking in her direction of flight and loosening her grip on the net. As soon as the net was loosened, Mercury and Venus attempted to remove the ring holding the mesh of thread over them and Carla, Sirius, Bellatrix and Spica but a pair of human hands rushed in and slammed onto the ring of the net, preventing the six macaws' escape. Spyro, after commanding Altair, Castor and Pollux to dive into hiding, then rushed towards the man as he held the net firmly over the six macaws to attack him but before he could launch himself into the air at the man's head, the archaeobird was suddenly plunged into darkness. However, Spyro failed to notice this until he struck against a firm surface. At this, alarm tore through the four-winged bird as he found that he was trapped in a solid cube without a floor, especially as he heard a muffled voice, his captor, yell at the other humans that he has caught 'the prehistoric dino-bird' in Spanish.

Not too far away, Carmen, Capella, Achernar, Adenine, Guanine, Thymine, Cytosine, Altair, Castor and Pollux all looked on in utter horror as the man that had thrown the box over Spyro and as another woman finally netted the enraged Ceres with another net, forcing the blue-throated macaw into crashing onto the floor. However, still fuelled by rage, Ceres began to viciously writhe in the net's mesh but a pair of human arms, both protected by a thick coat and gloves to prevent her from sinking her beak or slashing her claws over the arms' owner's skin, came in and surrounded her to restrain her. Nearby, two more women helped the woman whom Ceres had clawed across the face, to her feet and began to treat her bleeding wound with some medical towels. From their net prison, Venus, Mercury, Carla, Sirius, Bellatrix and Spica looked on in utter horror as Ceres struggled in the man's protected arms, screeching and struggling to writhe her way out of the clamp but the man refused to slacken his arms. The ten kids then exchanged glances as the comrades of the captors then came in to help the three humans cage their caught birds.

"We've gotta do something, guys," said Altair. As the archaeobird chick said this, Adenine shot the woman who had boxed Spyro a fiery glare.

"Then SOMETHING IT IS!" bellowed the oldest son and chick of Ganymede and Mimas as a surge of courage took hold of him. Then without hesitation and before anyone could stop him, Adenine lofted himself into flight and began to surge towards the woman that had caught Spyro like a multi-coloured comet.

"Adenine, NO!" cried Guanine but her older brother was already out of earshot. From their net prison, Mercury, Venus, Carla, Spica, Bellatrix and Sirius watched on in astonishment and horror as Adenine surged towards the woman holding Spyro under the box.

"What is that Catalina macaw DOING!?" cried Venus.

"He's gonna put himself in danger," cried Sirius.

"Adenine, TURN ROUND AND FLY TO SAFETY!" cried Carla. Adenine, his anger and determination to rescue Spyro deafening him to Carla's shouts at him to fly to safety, continued rocketing towards the woman who held Spyro under the box, his ocean blue eyes blazing infernos like the amber eyes of his pure scarlet aunt Io whenever she got furious. One of the men who had a cage in his hand saw the multi-coloured comet shoot towards his colleague. At this, he called out to the woman in Spanish. At this, the woman flashed him a surprised glance and turned round but the moment she did, a set of tiny needle-like claws belonging to a multi-coloured macaw chick plunged right into her face, hitting her forehead. With a massive scream of sudden pain and of surprise, the woman was bowled over as the incensed Adenine plunged his tiny claws into her face, releasing her weight from the box and allowing Spyro to lift it off of himself. As soon as she was knocked down, Adenine began to flutter about the woman's head and bite and claw her, screeching furiously. As they watched Adenine then unleash his fury on Spyro's captor, Guanine shot the other eight kids a look having changed her mind about staying out of the commotion.

"Time to help my big bro, I think," she growled. Cytosine, Thymine, Carmen, Capella, Achernar, Altair, Castor and Pollux all nodded in agreement and then without another second's hesitation, all nine pairs of chick wings were opened and all nine of them lofted into flight and surged like tiny comets towards the humans, especially towards the captors of Ceres, and Mercury and the Spix macaws while Adenine continued his assault on the woman, landing a bite of his beak or slash of his tiny claws on whatever area of skin he could find. With her hands covering her head as Adenine continued his savage attack, the woman called out to her comrades to take the captured birds away in Spanish. At her command, the man that had hooked Ceres then removed the blue-throated macaw from the net with Ceres's captor's help, picked her up and prepared her for caging as one of the other men rushed forward but before the two men could cage Ceres, several green, red, aqua blue and yellow comets charged in and tackled both men square in the face. The man holding Ceres was bowled over as Castor, Pollux, Achernar and Capella, their faces saturated with volcanic rage, ploughed into his face.

Ceres cried in shock as she was thrown from the man's protected arms and across the nearby clearing. However, she had managed to stop herself from crashing into the sand by flapping her wings. As soon as she had done that, Ceres looked on in horror and bewilderment as the other six chicks, Cytosine, Thymine, Guanine, Carmen and Altair savagely went for the man holding down Mercury, Venus, Carla, Bellatrix, Sirius and Spica under the net and knocked him down as well, allowing the six macaws to escape. Carmen and Altair then retreated to a spot to rest but found themselves cloaked by shadow. At this, the pair looked up and saw a man approach them with a cage but before he could threaten the blue-throated macaw and archeaobird chicks, a metallic purple blur shot in and tackled right into the man's side. Spyro, his blue eyes ablaze with wrath and the parental instinct to protect his son and Carmen controlling him, had rushed in and charged into the man's side to knock him away from the two chicks. Carmen and Altair flinched as they watched the man then tumble towards some of the frightened animals that had come to watch the commotion, too afraid to come in and help, Spyro having tackled him with such force. The animals then scattered as the man then crashed into a bush, dazed.

While this happened, Achernar, Capella, Castor and Pollux found themselves at the mercy of a woman armed with another net but before she could plunge the mesh on a ring and stick onto the four chicks. The two great green and two blue-and-gold macaws shuddered as the woman advanced towards them, her eyes blazing with frustrated rage. Nearby, Guanine, Cytosine and Thymine were sending another man stumbling towards a vulture's nest to drive them away from Venus as she held a terrified Bellatrix, Spica and Sirius in her wings, the man trying to swipe his hands at the three chicks and protect this face and upper body at the same time.

"Thymine, Cytosine, Guanine!" cried Venus, the three Spix chicks in her wings looking on in silent horror as they watched the three Catalina macaw chicks and Adenine's younger siblings continue to buzz and dart around the man's head and upper body like multi-coloured bees. As this happened, Sandalwood continued to try and outrun the still-enraged Shenzi as she chased him like an enraged cat after a mouse when he saw Guanine and her two younger siblings continue to attack the man. Seizing the opportunity, the little bat-pup, despite the fatigue that had set in his muscles and breathlessness gripping him, surged forward with Shenzi in hot pursuit. Behind Shenzi, Atreyu and Acerola continued following but they screeched to a halt when they saw what was imminent.

"Sandalwood!" cried Acerola. As Sandalwood approached the tumbling man under the attack of Cytosine, Guanine and Thymine, Shenzi let loose a cackle behind him when she heard that the bat pup was tiring from running around so much.

"I'vr got ya now, ya little rat with wings!" she crooned, "As soon as I have got ya, I'm gonna do what Carnassial would have done to you when he chased you around last time."

Sandalwood didn't look back at his chaser and continued running. As soon as he was near the human's feet as he continued to try and drive away his three Catalina macaw attackers, unaware of the surroundings around his feet, Sandalwood jumped right over the man's right foot. Shenzi, upon seeing this, tried to follow the little amber flying fox pup through the man's legs but because she was bigger, the man's legs snagged onto her body! The man let loose a cry of surprise as he felt his legs catch onto something but with a final tackle from Cytosine to his face, his balance was thrown right off. Venus, Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Carla, Mercury, Ceres, Spyro, Altair and Carmen and also Atreyu and Acerola watched on as the man fell like a tree over Shenzi and landed right into a vultures' nest! The vultures all jumped out of the way as the massive human crashed into their precious construct and its contents. Then seeing that their hard work in constructing the nest was ruined, the vultures felt rage consume them and within seconds, the man found himself at the mercy of the beaks and talons of the carnivorous scavengers as they began to attack and claw him.

Atreyu and Acerola flashed a smug glare at the human as he continued to be under attack from the vultures and also at Shenzi as she was dazed from the human's legs catching her when Acerola's eyes saw something threaten two familiar chicks. At this, the flying fox pup turned and saw Carmen and Altair under threat from the woman with a net. Without hesitation, Sandalwood's cousin charged forward and as soon as she was near the woman, Acerola tackled the person square in her face and sent her stumbling away from Carmen and Altair. The woman let loose a cry with shock before her foot snagged onto a stone and she was sent tumbling into a thorn patch, Acerola, Atreyu, Carmen and Altair all flinched as the sound of thorny vines was crushed, followed by a massive scream of agony. Acerola then looked up and blew a disdainful raspberry at the woman as she struggled painfully in the thorn patch.

"Serves you right for treating us like things, you ungrateful human!" she yelled scornfully. As she said this, Spyro, Venus, Mercury, Carla, Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Carmen, Capella, Achernar, Adenine, Guanine, Thymine, Cytosine, Altair, Castor and Pollux, and Atreyu and Sandalwood who was puffing and panting so much from all that running, all gathered around her.

"Excellent job, Acerola and Carmen," said Venus as she shot an unsympathetic glare at the woman in the thorn patch. However, the moment of relief was cut off as the group found themselves cloaked with shadow. At this, the group of animals all turned and saw a number of the humans advance towards them with nets, boxes and two cages.

"Oh, mangoes and oranges!" hissed Ceres in frustration.

"Don't those pesky humans ever give up!?" asked Spyro. Acerola, Atreyu and Sandalwood then felt a thought enter their heads.

"I wonder how Grandpa is doing," said Acerola. At this, Sandalwood's eyes lit up and he darted off in the direction where Augustus had left to rescue Bia, Azul, Tiago and Mimas.

"Sandalwood!" cried Atreyu and he retreated after him with Acerola following, leaving Spyro, Venus, Ceres, Carla, Mercury and the thirteen kids. Timid glances flashing at the humans as they prepared to lurch forward and capture them, Ceres commanded Spyro to take Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Adenine, Thymine, Guanine, Cytosine, Carmen, Capella, Achernar, Castor, Pollux and Altair to safety.

"You take those thirteen outa here and find Blu and company while we distract those humans and keep them occupied," commanded the blue-throated macaw. At first, Spyro hesitated, the concern for the four macaws' safety holding him in place. However, Venus reinforced Ceres's command.

"That's an ORDER, Spyro!" said the pigtailed Spix macaw authoritatively. Spyro, jolted by the command, then nodded and immediately retreated to safety with Altair, Carmen and the other kids in tow while Venus, Ceres, Mercury and Carla prepared to wreak more trouble for the humans as they closed in on the quartet with their nets, boxes and cages again. As they left, Sirius flashed a worried glance back at Carla and the other three.

"I hope Grandpa Blu and company get there in time," he murmured.

"And I sure hope Mr Augustus rescues Mom, Uncle Azul, Aunt Mimas and Uncle Tiago from that Carnassial and a few of his comrades as well," put in Adenine. The others flashed him an agreeing look before following Spyro to safety just as the chaos between Carla, Venus, Mercury and Ceres and their would-be human captors erupted once again as the latter group lurched at the four macaws to try and catch them only for the four macaws to dodge and retaliate with a savage barrage of clawing and biting with their talons and beaks.


	64. Chapter 63

**Chapter 63- explosions of more shocks, horrors, rage and chaos**

 **Meanwhile**

Blu, Jewel, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, along with Charlotte, Kira, Lavender, Garrett, Io, Europa, Byron and Athos, Porthos, Titan, Enceladus, Trixie and Oberon, Miranda, Aramis, Titania, Umbriel, Indigo and Victor, Phoebe, Squaw'tagnan, Blueberry, Aiden, Frodo, Eragon, Marella and Charon continued to either run or fly along with Dundee and the other animals as they hurried through the Compartment of the Carnivore grounds. When the group of animals had forced their way into the land through the barrier once Wally and the other apes had widened the hole enough for the larger animals like Dundee and Mulan the panda to squeeze through, they had been met with protests from some of the carnivorous animals that it was not safe for them to be here since many of the animals would eat them. However, Dundee and the others had told them that they had a rescue to carry out and continued. Also, before the group entered the compartment, Dundee had commanded Lusamine and her group to return to Dundee's land and community for it was not safe for these youngsters to participate despite Lusamine's protests but the Livingstone's flying fox leader and her friends eventually complied and left for the area.

As Dundee and company continued to rush through the Compartment of the Carnivores, some of Blu's group was fraught with worry, especially for Sandalwood and the other missing kids, Atreyu, and also Carla, Bia, Tiago, Azul, Mimas and Spyro as well as Ceres, Augustus, Venus and Mercury.

"I sure hope my son is okay," cried Eragon as he ran along despite his shoulder still being in a cast which still rendered him unable to glide. Above the archaeobird, Gylfie and Aurum the golden fruithawks flew along, having decided to help.

"If ANY OF THOSE WILDCATS have harmed a single FEATHER on the HEADS of any of those KIDNAPPED SIX MACAWS," snarled Jewel, her eyes blazing teal firestorms as she flew after Blu who was saturated with worry, "I'M GONNA SCORE MY CLAWS THROUGH THEIR PELT!"

"We cannot have Saturn back in Rio losing one of his daughters as well as my son losing his mate and Adenine and his three siblings losing their mother," muttered Jupiter as he feared for the life of his blue-and-gold daughter-in-law Mimas. The flustered vermillion scarlet macaw also shuddered as the memories of how Ganymede, Mimas and the others had been in terrible danger several times before during the Great Battle for the Sanctuary de Amazon back in Brazil with the flying foxes, especially during that final battle in the Spix macaw tribe's ravine three years back.

"Ganymede has been through enough heartbreak as it is," put in Io as she flew alongside Europa, Byron and Athos with Mina the Tasmanian devil below them. The worry for Mimas especially plagued her mind, "I wouldn't be surprised that our brother back in Rio would be seriously worried for her."

Io could not bear to see her brother suffer another breakdown if anything had ever happened to Mimas, and Titan and Enceladus nodded in agreement to Io's statement of Ganymede being worried as did Porthos and some of the other macaws. During the past major adventures and well besides the Great Battle for the Sanctuary, before then in fact, Mimas, Titan, Io, Ganymede and some others including Carla, Bia and Tiago had crossed paths with a variety of dangers, some even life-risking, such as the adventure to Jurassic Jungle to find the treasure and save the Sanctuary de Amazon from losing its protected reserve status when they had to face the lethal predatory bat-birds: giant, carnivorous pterosaurs that were supposed to be extinct with the dinosaurs and other extinct animals and Miranda had almost been eaten by some of them. Now, Mimas, Azul, Carla, Bia and Tiago were in a different sort of danger: getting eaten by a pack of wildcats in a rare animal collector's place with the _façade_ of a _conservation enclosure_ , and that revelation behind the so-called 'Paradise Sanctuary Foundation' project and its deeds still made Blu and the other former pet macaws' bloods boil and their stomachs churn. This was no different from that group of poachers led by Lysandre and his falcons led by Cazador who had disguised themselves as bird studiers to sneak into the Sanctuary de Amazon to poach macaws but the Paradise 'Sanctuary' seemed to take animal collecting under the guise of conservation to another, more sinister level. Pushing away these thoughts, Blu, Jewel and the others continued to fly with Dundee and the other animals through the Compartment of Carnivores, worry for the lives of Carla, Bia, Tiago, Azul, Mimas and also Sandalwood, Venus, Mercury, Augustus, Ceres and some of the other missing members including Spyro gripping them hard.

While Dundee and company were in the Compartment of Carnivores Luna, Stella, Soren and Neytiri were with the other animals of Dundee's community looking after the other kids. As the two daughters of Augustus and Melissa and Charon's mate watched over Petunia, Vega, Deneb and Polaris the Spix macaws; Betelgeuse, Rigel, Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka and Canopus the red macaws; Procyon the blue-and-gold macaw, Mira the blue-and-gold/hyacinth hybrid; Fomalhaut the blue-and-gold/great green hybrid; Antares the great green/military hybrid, Sylvester the Cuban red macaw and Frodo's biological son and his adopted sisters Alegria the Dominican green-and-yellow macaw and Pitaya the purple-and-pink macaw; Aldebaran the scarlet/great green hybrid; Indigo and Victor's daughter Gertie, Phoebe and Squaw'tagnan's daughter Arcturus, and Saiph, Regulus and Denebola the glaucous macaws, and Lillie and Gladion the toucans and two of Diantha and Tom's chicks, the sound of the two doors on either end of the mini entrance compartment opening, accompanied by the sounds of footsteps and talking, reached the group's ears. At this, Neytiri who was playing with her nephew Saiph and chicks Denebola and Regulus shot an alarmed gaze at the entrance compartment. The other animals also gazed at the same spot.

"Some of those humans are entering the area," said Pitaya as she watched some two-figured forms enter the artificial jungle land through the two-door compartment and talking amongst themselves. Sylvester, Gladion, Lillie and Alegria then frowned at the faces of the humans and saw that their eyebrows and mouths were twisted into looks of determination and disgruntlement. However, there was something else held in the hands of the humans as they continued to chat amongst themselves about something, but it sent alarm tearing through Stella, Luna and the other kids and also some of the animals surrounding them. Nick, Dundee's younger brother who had opted to stay behind and look after the other animals while Dundee was on the rescue mission, deduced what the arriving humans were up to.

"I believe they might be searching for those newcomers who have left with Dundee and the others to the Carnivore Compartment," he said, his eyes fixed on the sticks with a flexible cone-shaped mesh attached to a ring at one end of each of them which Soren, Luna, Stella and Neytiri and some other animals identified as nets. Luna, Soren and Neytiri then began to order the kids to Dundee's tent and safety while Stella crept cautiously closer to the humans as they continued to talk in Spanish, one of the languages the albino twin sister of Luna was fluent with, and began to translate as much of the conversation as she could to English for she had felt suspicion prick at her. The other animals, among them Connie, Finnick the macaroni penguin and Steven and Kevin who were under the care of an adult scarlet macaw and a friend of Greg and Sardonyx who had gone with Blu, Dundee and the others to help in the rescue, exchanged confused glances as they watched Stella begin to translate the conversation of the net-armed humans.

"What are they saying, Stella?" asked Soren after he had moved the kids to the safety of Dundee's tent with Neytiri. Beside these two, Betelgeuse, Rigel, Saiph, Regulus and Denebola slowly crept from the shadows of the tent and also listened in. Stella's reddish eyes were twisted into a frown as she tried picking out bits of words she could understand.

"They're talking about… um…" she began but she trailed off as she heard the conversation take a turn into another subject but as she continued to translate the words, her white fur began to bristle and her skin felt heated. Her face morphed into a look of horror and disbelief.

"Stella," said Luna.

"What are those humans saying?" asked Nick, the other animals looking on. Stella then turned her head back to gaze at the others, but her facial expression sent worry rippling through the crowd, especially Neytiri, Soren, Luna, Betelgeuse, Rigel and the other kids of Sandalwood's group. The colour of the skin under Stella's facial fur had drained, her ears flattened and the flying fox looked as though she was about to become unwell. Some of Dundee's community animals threw on horrified looks.

"That white flying fox looks as though she's about to faint," commented one of the proboscis monkeys as it examined Stella's dread-stricken look.

"Are you alright, ma'am?" asked one of the grey-headed flying foxes, a friend of Shade and Sadie, Connie's parents, politely. Finnick exchanged worried glances with his penguin friends including Tiana and Jacques, two of the chinstrap penguin chicks but the other animals said nothing. But nothing could prepare their ears for what Stella's mouth said next but it did not surprise Betelgeuse and the other kids of Sandalwood's group.

"You're not gonna believe this, but I have just heard them talk about some poachers and their assistant dogs and crows in the Sanctuary de Amazon and in Rio, Brazil," said Stella. At this, disbelief tore through the group.

"WHAT!?" shouted Nick.

"Poachers, with assistant dogs and…?" added another proboscis monkey. Stella then turned round and re-cocked her ears to the conversation carried out by the net-armed humans. Luna came in to help translate the Spanish chattering.

"…I hope our… poachers and… their helper pets… whom…" began Stella. Neytiri and Soren came in with some other animals including Nick.

"'Whom'?" repeated Neytiri with confusion. Nick the emu just said nothing, disbelief gripping his beak and blocking his ability to choose a set of words. From the tent, Betelgeuse and the others looked on but with unsurprised and expectant looks on their faces for they were already familiar with the human workers' intentions behind their 'rare animal project'. Stella and Luna continued translating the humans' conversation.

"'Whom… we have sent to… that Amazon Rainforest nature reserve… in Brazil will have…" said Stella. Then Luna spoke next.

"Caught some adult… blue macaws… four-winged dino-something-or-other birds," as Luna said this, Betelgeuse quietly mouthed the words 'four-winged dino-something-or-other birds' while Gladion whispered, "Altair, Mr Eragon and Mrs Andromeda's species."

Luna continued, "Ptero-something-or-other bats…" she picked out the names of other rare creatures listed by the Spanish-talking humans, among them the species of red macaw thought to be extinct in Cuba which Gladion, Betelgeuse and the others, especially Sylvester, deduced was the Cuban macaw, Sylvester and his biological family's species, until the conversation finally resumed and Luna continued to translate: "for our… animal collection… in our conservation area…"

Disbelief tore through Nick's group as these words reached their ears from Luna's mouth, especially as Stella and Luna flashed each other a disbelieving look.

"For their WHAT!?" hissed Nick incredulously. None of the other animals said anything and continued to listen to Stella and Luna's translation of the conversation as they resumed it again.

"We desperately… need some breeding pairs… of those… ultra-rare and… supposed-to-be-extinct animals... so that they can… start families here… and establish a… population of those… " said Stella, translating the words spoken by one of the men. At this, the white flying fox flashed Neytiri a horrified look.

"Are you meaning to say that those humans who work here, in this conservation area, are in fact rare animal COLLECTORS rather than CONSERVATION HELPERS!?" blurted out the glaucous macaw and Charon's mate incredulously. Stella and Luna gazed at Neytiri, Soren and the disbelieving animals behind her, among them Nick.

"So it's true?" asked Soren in utter disbelief. Just then the sounds of flapping small wings alerted them. Betelgeuse, Rigel, Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka fluttered in, confirmatory gazes on their faces.

"It is, Mr Soren," said Betelgeuse without hesitation.

"We've been investigating that in the rooms of their section," put in Rigel. The triplet offspring of Byron and Europa named after the three stars of Orion's Belt nodded in agreement. Nick threw on a horrified look as the other animals in the main crowd exchanged glances. Horrified looks also appeared on Connie, Steven, Kevin and Finnick's faces.

"So we animals haven't just been rescued from those poachers, some of who had some dogs with them and perhaps corvids but we have been purposely _poached_ by those poachers and their assistant pets from our homes and brought here as a mere COLLECTION!?" shouted Nick in immense disbelief and disgust.

"That's true, Mr Nick," said Betelgeuse.

"Those poachers, with their assistant dogs and crows and perhaps several other pet types, are hired by those humans to travel out into the world, poach rare animals and bring back here," added Rigel.

"Under the guise of animal rescuers and preservers," added Alnitak.

"And we believe that those poachers who took us along with Sandalwood and Acerola a few days ago might have been some of those workers of those 'conservation' humans," put in Alnilam. Mintaka nodded in agreement. Nick, Soren, Stella, Luna and Neytiri exchanged outraged looks.

"Blu and the others who are familiar with humans who truly care for their environment, are gonna be nauseated and volcanically outraged when they hear about these findings," growled Neytiri. As these words left the glaucous macaw's beak, one of the proboscis monkeys, who WAS nauseated and felt his stomach churn violently within his tummy, brought on by the revelation of the ugly truth behind the 'Paradise Sanctuary' project, darted off to throw up somewhere. In the flying foxes' tree, the bats, especially Connie, winced in revulsion.

"I don't wanna be a collector's item," murmured Connie. The other animals also jerked their heads as they winced at the ugly truth and revelation. As they did that, Neytiri noticed one of the female humans armed with a net gaze at the animals with a familiar facial expression. At this, the glaucous macaw squinted at the young woman's face and saw that it was laced with the same look Blu, Jewel and the other older macaws including her parents-in-law Pluto and Lapis Lazuli had told her that Fernando, Jack and Jill frequently bore when they used to work with Marcel and Frank and their poacher groups. Soren also saw the face on the female human.

"She does not look happy at all," he said but before he and Neytiri could take enough time to examine the lady's face closer to confirm whether this was true or not, Nick's voice rang out.

"Return to the other animals!" barked Dundee's younger brother. At this, the pattering of feet on the sand sounded as Soren, Neytiri, Stella, Luna, Betelgeuse, Rigel, Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka and the rest darted off to join the other animals as the net-armed humans spread out to check on them and search for 'those newcomers (Blu and the others with him)'. As Neytiri's group darted back into Dundee's tent, a rare spider monkey came in, a shocked gaze on her face as she glared at Stella and Luna.

"I don't believe this," she muttered, "After all these years, those humans have been hiring poachers to collect rare animals rather than preserve us?"

"It's complicated," replied Luna, before a frown came upon her face, "But I hope our friends retrieve those kidnapped seven macaws and four-winged bird from the wildcats so that we can make our way out of this devious wretch of a place."

At this, Connie flashed a despondent look at the white flying fox as the female spider monkey just gazed at her and left to join her relatives as they began to chatter in despair about the news. As the spider monkey left and Stella, Soren, Luna and Neytiri turned to Gladion, Lillie and the other kids to command them to stay within Dundee's tent, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka gazed in the direction in which Blu and company had left.

"Please, come back with Aunts Carla, Bia, Mimas and Uncles Spyro, Azul and Tiago, Mr Blu," the triplets murmured together before turning and joining the others in Dundee's tent just as a net-armed man went by the entrance to check on the tree animals such as the bats.

 **Meanwhile**

Augustus continued creeping after a few of the caracals that had managed to slip away from the massive brawl between the other caracals and servals and the dingoes as they carried four sticks, each holding a colourful macaw, two blue and cerulean and the other two aqua blue or dark blue and yellow, one with a green forehead, tied to them with vines, their beaks also gagged by another piece of vine so that they could not speak or bite their way out of their binds. Augustus glared at the caracals and picked out one particularly sinister faced one as he commanded his comrades carrying Bia, Tiago, Azul and Mimas on the sticks with a paw beckon in a gesture of 'Hurry up!'. While he did that and his remaining comrades passed by him, Carnassial flashed glances at the space after his group and followed his comrades as they disappeared behind some bushes. As he saw the pale brown form of Carnassial disappear around the green balls of leaves and twigs large enough to conceal them, Augustus picked up pace. As he crept towards Carnassial and his smaller gang's hiding spot, he began to formulate a plan in his mind, especially after his eyes picked out another tree trunk rising from near the set of bushes. An 'a-ha' grin then formed on his face and he began to make a beeline for the tree.

While Augustus continued to pursue Carnassial and his group with the four remaining macaws still in their clutches, Sandalwood, Acerola and Atreyu continued running along the grounds of the Compartment of the Carnivores. Around them, several animals that lived here, cheetahs, wild dogs, vultures and many other rare carnivores, were running past the trio in the opposite direction, the sounds of a commotion from the caracal and serval/dingo brawl, as well as the shouts of humans laced with frustration, anger and determination, continued to echo from the direction of the sounds' sources having aroused their curiosity that had compelled them to investigate. Ignoring the passers-by, Sandalwood, Atreyu and Acerola continued following Augustus's direction.

"Isn't it about time you learned to fly now, Sandalwood?" asked Atreyu as he watched the amber flying fox continue to run on the ground ahead of him after his cousin who was in the air. At this, Sandalwood flashed the emperor penguin chick a frightened 'What!?' look. Atreyu looked on in worry, as did Acerola when she heard Atreyu ask that question. It was clear that Sandalwood still feared the thought of being airborne and was reluctant to start flying again despite having succeeded in climbing to an elevated branch, twice, despite his fear of heights. Pushing that problem aside for they had a rescue to tend to, the two flying fox pups and penguin chick continued chasing after Augustus.

Augustus continued creeping towards the tree trunk, his eyes fixed on the bushes where Carnassial and his gang had disappeared. He could hear the sounds of faint chirps of distress emanating from behind the bushes, which he identified was from the four macaws, alongside some quiet discussions.

"Which one shall we eat first, Carnassial?"

"Um… let me think…"

As he heard these words, Augustus's skin prickled. He knew that Bia, Tiago, Azul and Mimas were running out of time. Desperately, and propelled by stress, the flying fox continued rushing quietly towards the tree trunk. However, he was unaware that things were about to take a turn for the worse for him. Just before Augustus could leap onto the tree trunk, his wing thumbs ready to latch onto the rough pores of the bark, a shadow suddenly cloaked him and before he could wonder why a shadow had suddenly appeared over him, some black mesh suddenly appeared in front of him, accompanied by a 'plop' as something hard and attached to the mesh crashed onto the floor. Augustus released a cry of surprise when he found himself stopped in his tracks by the mesh which deformed into a cone shape and soon, Augustus was trapped like a fish in the same device. The flying fox was then greeted with a human face laced with a triumphant smirk as it gazed at him through the mesh.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" said the owner of the net in Spanish, which Augustus identified was a man and translated his words in his head, "A rare flying fox on the loose in the Carnivore Compartment, eh," the man's face then morphed to a frown, "Well you shouldn't even be in here. This is _carnivore_ grounds, not _herbivores_ like you."

At this, Augustus, thoughts for Bia, Tiago, Mimas and Azul who were still in the clutches of the wildcats on the verge of becoming dinner of the latter, suddenly lost his temper and began to flap and writhe in the net and screech loudly in protest. However, the man rose to his feet and clamped the net below the writhing Augustus with his other hand to prevent the bat from escaping and ignored his screeches.

"I'm sorry but you ain't goin' anywhere, bat," continued the man as his catch continued to struggle and writhe like a fish, "You're goin' back to the other compartment where you belong."

Still Augustus continued to screech loudly and flap like a flying fox possessed but the man, his grip firmly on the net below his catch, tightening the net so that Augustus could not escape out the opening, the prepared to leave for the other compartment. Augustus's explosive screeches reached the ears of the still-gagged Bia, Tiago, Azul and Mimas behind the bushes and their eyes lit up, but the screeches had also reached the ears of Carnassial and his remaining comrades, and they were alerted. One of the caracals, a female then parted some leaves of the bushes and saw a figure walk away from the group's hiding spot, something writhing in its hands and screeching.

"Sounds like a rat or something having a temper tantrum," said she as she replaced the leaves, before turning to Bia and the other three as they writhed in their binds.

"Well at least it is that and not one of the animals planning on rescuing these four, guys," said Carnassial casually as he turned to the terrified four macaws, "Let's just prepare to eat these four remaining treats."

He then nodded to another caracal, a male, and said, "Bring me my first macaw of choice."

"Which one?" asked the caracal. The leader then indicated with a paw point to one of the blue macaws: Bia. At this, Carla's younger sister let loose terrified whimpers while Tiago, Azul and Mimas looked on in immense horror and fear, also releasing whimpers from their gagged beaks. The caracal, a wide smirk stretching his cat's mouth across the width of his face, then obediently went over to Bia and reached out to take the stick on which she was bound. Bia tried lashing at the caracal's paws with her tied talons but could not due to her talons being tightly tied to her stick. As the Spix macaw continued to writhe like an angry and frightened mouse, the other three looking on helplessly, especially as the other remaining caracals kept watch over them, Bia was moved on her stick by the caracal towards the leader. Tiago emitted Bia's name in the form of a distorted muffle for his beak was so tightly bound while Mimas and Azul writhed furiously, their eyes shooting pleading gazes at their caracal captors begging them to release them but to these pleading looks were futile. All the three could do was watch helplessly as the caracal underling then lay the tied-up and extremely frightened Bia on her stick down onto the floor before Carnassial who emitted evil chuckles, obviously looking forward to the rare moment he had been waiting for. However, this little group of caracals were unaware that someone was rushing for them.

Not too far away, Sandalwood, Acerola and Atreyu exploded past some piles of bones, logs and thorny patches when their ears picked up the sounds of distressed chirps, alongside some screeches from another direction. At this, the trio screeched to a stop, Acerola almost flinging herself forward and crashing as she braked abruptly in the air.

"You guys hear that?" asked Atreyu. Sandalwood and Acerola cocked their ears to listen. However, as recognition of the screeches' and whimpers' owners took hold, alarm tore through them.

"GRANDPA!" cried Acerola as she identified the screeches' owners as Augustus.

"AND THE OTHER FOUR MACAWS!" shouted Sandalwood. Atreyu flashed the two pups a confused look.

"Oh, some of your relatives and friends?" he asked.

"Sorry, Atreyu, we don't have time to explain, those four macaws need rescuing and QUICK!" shouted Sandalwood and before Atreyu could protest, the amber flying fox was off like a turbocharged mouse. Acerola followed by launching into a rapid flight by beating her wings. Giving up, Atreyu tore off after the two bats. As Sandalwood, Acerola and Atreyu continued to follow the distressed muffled chirps; Carnassial began to issue Bia some taunting comments, his face dangerously close to hers.

"Now it's time to meet you end, my gang's soon-to-be treat," crooned the caracal right into the frightened Bia's face. Bia was trembling like jelly. Her breathing had escalated and her frightened brown eyes were transfixed onto her soon-to-be killer as he emitted a sinister chuckle.

"Dalek certainly has done a brilliant job in giving us five adult macaws to eat. too bad about the one that had got away though but at least we still have you remaining four which is better than nothing," continued Carnassial in his intimidating voice, and as he did that, he clicked his claws and brought it to Bia's face to show her what she was going to do, adding fuel to her extreme fright and she released a terrified whimper. Nearby, the other caracals watched on eagerly while Tiago, Azul and Mimas writhed and flailed in their restraints all the more in a futile to free themselves but some caracal paws rushed in and seized their sticks to prevent them from falling over. Not too far away, Sandalwood, Acerola and Atreyu were within moments from the bushes where Carnassial and his gang had gone into hiding. Acerola fluttered upward and got a glimpse of a flash of sandy brown and some colour. At this, she immediately shot Atreyu and Sandalwood a nod to confirm with 'There they are, behind the bushes!'

At this, without a second's hesitation, Sandalwood, his gaze fixated on the tree trunk, then cornered sharply like a cheetah and shot towards the tree trunk.

"Sandalwood!" cried Atreyu with alarm. However, Sandalwood, his urge to save Bia and the other three from the clutches of the caracals, leapers onto the bark and without a second thought about his fear of heights, began to scrabble up the tree trunk while Acerola prepared to make her own attack from above. Back behind the bushes, Tiago continued throwing out Bia's name in the form of muffled cries from his gagged beak as Carnassial continued to taunt his sister, now with his flared claws.

"But there's no time to explain," continued Carnassial as he prepared to make the killing blow on his first victim as she continued to shudder and whimper, "It is time for our first meal… to be SERVED!"

And with that, the lead caracal's paw, its claws flared fully, ascended and Carnassial prepared to bring his sharp hooks down onto Bia's throat to kill her when suddenly, a furious bat screech rang out, stopping him from inflicting Bia the fatal blow. At this, Carnassial and his gang began to shoot suspicious glances this way and that, while Bia, Azul, Tiago and Mimas, their gazes laced with confusion, did the same.

Acerola came swooping down like a falcon upon the caracals, her eyes blazing blue firestorms and her auburn fur puffed out, her mouth opened ready to inflict injury and as soon as she was level with the caracals, the little flying fox pup shot past Carnassial, much to his surprise and surged straight towards one of the caracals guarding Tiago, Mimas and Azul and without hesitation, she sank her teeth as hard as she could into the ears of one of them holding Tiago as she had done one of the previous caracals before, but Acerola continued her trajectory to turn her bite into an equivalent of a scratch. A massive screech of agony ripped the air apart as the caracal's ear received streaked tooth marks that then began to weep blood. The caracal's paws then went to his bitten ear and his face twisted in sheer pain. Carnassial looked on in utter shock as the other caracals went to inspect their injured comrade but before he could wonder what had caused the attack, another flying fox screech erupted but it was not from the first little flying fox.

"Carnassial, look OUT!" cried one of the caracals as she saw something swoop down at the lead caracal. Carnassial, upon hearing this, looked up just in time to see another flying fox pup with amber fur and blazing green eyes dive down upon him like a mini-hawk. Then before Carnassial could act, Sandalwood, hot rage burning through him like it had never burned before, latched square onto the caracal's face and began to apply his teeth and foot claws full force, perhaps doing the bravest thing he had ever done in his life. Screeches of pain and surprise erupted from Carnassial's mouth as the caracal was thrown backwards away from Bia and soon, Carnassial began to thrash and writhe like a caracal having a seizure in an attempt to dislodge the enraged Sandalwood from his face while Acerola had returned to cause the other caracals trouble. While the two flying fox pups kept the caracals occupied, Atreyu made his appearance by running around the bushes and as soon as he saw Bia lying on the ground tied to her stick, the emperor penguin chick bolted towards her, shooting past Carnassial as he continued to thrash and writhe to dislodge the savage Sandalwood who continued to viciously assault his face, screeches and curse words of frustration exploding from his mouth. When Carnassial sent a paw to strike the little flying fox pup on his face, Sandalwood immediately scrambled up Carnassial's face until he was on top of the caracal's head, sending Carnassial's own paw slamming into his face, inflicting a scratch. Then without hesitation, Sandalwood began to viciously bite and tear at Carnassial's ears, making him writhe and convulse in agony as though he was having an electric shock, screeching in pain.

"GET AWAY FROM MRS BIA, you OVERGROWN TUFTED-EARED CAPYBARA!" bellowed Sandalwood and with that, he sank his teeth hard into one of Carnassial's ears again, inflicting the caracal with an extreme amount of pain and drawing blood. Nearby, Atreyu had seized Bia on her stick and had dragged her out of the danger area as fast as he could, Bia looking on in surprise and relief. As soon as he had dragged the bound Spix macaw to a safe distance, Atreyu seized a hooked bone from a pile of bones and began to work on unbinding Bia's beak with it by inserting it into the vines and pulling. It took some effort but finally, Atreyu finally managed to dislodge the vines from Bia's beak. The moment her beak binds came away, Bia was finally able to speak.

"Oh, what a nightmare," she said as Atreyu set to untying her other bounds, "I thought I was gonna be dead, especially when that lynx-like caracal was gonna slit my throat…"

When she saw the little emperor penguin struggle with the bounds on her wings with the hook-like bone, she said, "Let me see to this."

At this, Atreyu backed away and watched Bia as she used her beak to bite through the vines and snap them. She continued to do this until she was free. As soon as she had finished unbinding her feet by biting through the rest of the vines, Atreyu said, "The other three macaws are still in the caracals' clutches."

At this, Bia shot the emperor penguin chick an alarmed look but before she could speak, a loud scream erupted from nearby. At this, the Spix macaw and the emperor penguin all jumped a foot into the air with Atreyu sensing recognition of the screamer.

"SANDALWOOD!" he cried. He and Bia then shot dreaded gazes in the screamer's direction and to their horror, they saw an amber furred form scurry along the clearing with a massive caracal, its ears bleeding and painting red streaks down the sides of its head and a volcanic look of thunder on its face, in hot pursuit, releasing an extremely loud screech on the go. Bia gazed at Atreyu.

"You go help Sandalwood while I rescue Azul, Mimas and Tiago and also Acerola," she commanded. At first Atreyu stood there, hesitant but as Bia lofted into flight to return to the chaos whipped up by Acerola and Sandalwood, the emperor penguin darted off after the two forms which were a well and truly outraged Carnassial and an immensely terrified Sandalwood, locked in a vicious cat-and-mouse chase once again.


	65. Chapter 64

**Chapter 64- the group splits up**

The man that had captured Augustus in his net continued to hurry back in the direction of the other compartment, his catch writhing viciously in the mesh of his net held tightly by one of his fists to close off the entrance to the mesh and prevent the flying fox from escaping. Augustus continued screeching and flapping like a flying fox having a seizure in the mesh in an attempt to escape and even savagely went for the man's hands and sinking his teeth into them to get him to release the lock on his prison, but despite the needle-like wounds and blood-weeping scratches he kept giving his captor, to his dismay, the man refused to slacken his grip on the net holding Augustus in his 'cage' of flexible mesh but still Augustus continued to writhe and bite at the man as he was continued to carry him along. However, the man was about to cross paths with a certain group of animals heading in the opposite direction to his destination.

While the man continued fleeing with Augustus in his clutches Blu, Jewel, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto and Dundee and the other rescue group members, continued to hurry through the Compartment of the Carnivores. With the group were Gylfie and Aurum the golden fruithawks, Charlotte, Kira, Lavender and Garrett; Io, Europa, Byron and Athos; Porthos, Titan, Enceladus, Trixie and Oberon, Miranda, Aramis, Titania, Umbriel, Indigo and Victor, Phoebe and Squaw'tagnan, Blueberry, Aiden, Frodo, Eragon, Marella and Charon who also ran or flew alongside Olympia the cassowary, Wally, Herbert and the other chimps and orangutans, Mulan the panda, Reepicheep the platypus, Flax and Harakeke the kiwis, Kiara the echidna and Mina the Tasmanian devil and some of her family members, among several other animals including some flying foxes not from Brazil. Around the group, various eyes watched on as an audience of animals living in the Compartment watched them rush by.

"We should be almost in Carnassial and his gang's space now," said Kiara as she ran at the front.

"I sure hope Mercury, Venus, Ceres and Augustus will have rescued Spyro and the five kidnapped macaws from those servals and caracals' clutches by now," cried a seriously stressed and flustered Jupiter as he flew alongside Mars and Uranus.

"Especially our Carla, Bia and Tiago," put in Jewel furiously, her mind flooded with the desire to sink her beak and claws into those wildcats' pelts and the skins of the humans that worked here.

"We will, we just need to pick up speed," said Dundee who was seriously flooded with the stress of what was happening as well as the revelations about this place and its connections to poaching and animal collecting. Olympia, Kiara and some of the other animals flashed their emu leader a worried and concerned glance. Dundee was clearly stressed and distraught. It was though he was going through a serious storm of various crises but it was understandable. The revelation of the ugly truth behind the Paradise Sanctuary's façade and what they were doing, as well as the shock of Dalek's true colours in his attitude towards every parrot species had sent the poor emu over the edge. However, Dundee pushed these thoughts aside to stay focussed on helping Blu and company in rescuing Carla, Bia, Tiago, Spyro, Mimas and Azul and also in finding Sandalwood and the other missing kids, another thing that added to the worries of Blu and company besides the kidnapped six birds and Augustus, Ceres, Mercury and Venus as well. Just then, the sounds of screeching reached the group's ears, making the group abruptly brake to a halt. Dundee threw on a seriously frustrated and snappy look.

"Now what!?" he growled, making Mars, Porthos, Titan, Enceladus, Trixie and Oberon hovering nearby flinch and flash the emu a brief glance but then the six macaws cocked their ears to listen to the screeching in the distance. On the ground, Eragon (his wing and shoulder still in a cast) and Marella stopped to listen alongside Flax, Harakeke, Reepicheep and the Tasmanian devils who also cocked their ears to the screeching sound which had begun to increase in loudness.

"What's that sound?" asked Eragon.

"Sounds like a bird screeching in distress," said Flax. At this, Marella flashed the kiwi a hopeful look.

"Could it be one of the macaws or perhaps my son Spyro?" she asked. Flax, however, only gave the archaeobird a slow gaze which read 'I don't know', much to Marella's disappointment. Nearby, Neptune, Pluto, Charlotte, Kira, Lavender and Garrett had reached a different conclusion about the screaming's owner.

"That screech sounds more like it's from a mammal than from a bird," said Charlotte.

"Like from as bat or something?" asked Kira. At this, Charlotte slowly turned to face Carla, Bia and Tiago's cousin, dread welling within her. Pluto, Lavender and Garrett also felt that same dread come over them like a wave and that dread soon spread to Blu, Jewel, Jupiter, Mars, Uranus, Neptune and the rest of Blu's group including Blueberry and Aiden. Mulan then began to issue her own guess.

"Could it be from one of our flying fox members or something?" she asked, "Like one of the grey-heads or the Madagascan Livingstone's flying foxes?"

At this, Aiden and Blueberry shot in; horrified looks storming their faces as realisation of the screamer gripped them hard.

"That screeching is NOT from a grey-headed or Livingstone's flying fox," said Aiden.

"It's from a _Brazilian_ flying fox," added Blueberry and with that, the glaucous macaw couple and the parents of Saiph both rocketed in the direction of the screeching which was by now louder than before for the source was closer.

"Blueberry, Aiden!" called Pluto and he darted off after them. Blu and Jewel also came in; dread also swamping their faces as they recognised the screeches' owner.

"It's AUGUSTUS!" cried Blu.

"And he's in TROUBLE!" barked Jewel and with that the Spix macaw couple darted off after the three glaucous macaws.

"Blu, Jewel," called Jupiter and he gave chase with Mars, Charlotte, Kira, Lavender, Garrett, Io, Europa, Byron and Athos not too far behind.

"I hope he hasn't been caught by one of the PREDATORS that live in this _horrible_ place," cried Io as she followed her comrades. Then Uranus, Neptune, Porthos, Titan, Enceladus, Trixie and Oberon, Miranda, Aramis, Titania, Umbriel, Indigo and Victor, Phoebe and Squaw'tagnan, Marella, Charon and Eragon rocketed off. Gylfie and Aurum followed, leaving behind Dundee and the other animals.

"Guys," cried Dundee and with that he and the other animals with him charged off after Blu and company.

The man continued to run with the screeching and flailing Augustus still in his net and clutches. By now, his hands were both covered in bleeding scratch and bite marks, the result of Augustus's savage use of his foot claws and teeth on them through the mesh in his attempts to get the man to release him and he still continued to add more and more of those wounds to the man's hands but still the man refused to release him. Augustus glared volcanically at his kidnapper, his eyes blazing blue fire and continued his savage attack on his captor's hands and screeching. However, his desire to be freed was about to come true. As Augustus continued his relentless biting and clawing on the man's hands, the man refusing to release him from his grasp and net, a very loud squawk rang out, stopping the man in his tracks and making him shoot an alerted glare in the direction of the sound. Augustus also gazed in the same direction and before he could deduce the owner of the squawk, that owner had already stormed into his, and also his captor's, range of view, but there was not just one squawker, but _three_.

Pluto, Blueberry and Aiden came rocketing in like a trio of grey-headed turquoise or blue comets, their eyes ablaze with sandy brown, light blue and purple flames of wrath respectively and their feathers puffed out and as soon as those fiery eyes landed on the man and Augustus in his clutches, the three glaucous macaws charged straight towards the man's head and before the man could act, Pluto and his eldest daughter and son-in-law's talons slashed like flying cat claws right over his face and head, Aiden's beak also seizing some of his hair and tearing them clean out of his scalp. A massive scream of sheer pain erupted from the man as a few cuts opened in his face and scalp and agony exploded from ripped out hair roots and in his agony, he flung his hands into the air, tossing his net with Augustus in it, upward in the process. Augustus, terrified and surprised from the sudden, clung desperately to the metal loop supporting mouth of the net, blue eyes inflated with fright as he spun like a fruit in the air, the threads of the mesh entangling around his wings and body. However, as the netted flying fox tumbled downward after a second of floating from being tossed upward, Augustus felt the firm grip of bird talons, seize his wings, body and the net and abruptly stop his fall. At first, the flying fox was alarmed but when his eyes landed on the talons' owners, which turned out to be Blu, Jewel, Jupiter, Charlotte, Kira, Lavender and Garrett, his alarm faded to relief.

As the seven macaws placed him gently onto the ground, Charlotte, Kira, Lavender and Garrett set to biting through the netting to release Augustus from his trap while Pluto, Aiden and Blueberry and now Gylifie and Aurum as well, continued to savagely attack the man nearby to drive him away. The other animals also gathered round as Augustus continued to be freed from his entanglement. Then as soon as he was completely free of his binds, he was swept into a brief hug by Blu and Jewel.

"Oh, Augustus, you're alright," said Blu.

"We've been so worried about you," said Jupiter nearby as Blu and Jewel broke the hug with Augustus. Dundee and the other animals just smiled and exchanged looks. Then Uranus came forward with the most important question.

"Where are Mercury, Venus, Ceres and also Spyro, Carla, Bia, Tiago, Azul and Mimas?" he asked.

"And Sandalwood, Acerola and the missing chicks," added Neptune. The other animals of Blu's group excluding Pluto, Aiden and Blueberry who continued their vicious attack on the human with the two golden fruithawks, also asked the question via their facial expressions. At this, Augustus gave the group a dreaded look.

"Carla has been freed but we suddenly came under attack from a group of those humans," he said, "Some of the sandy brown lynxes…"

"They're caracals," said Olympia, correcting Augustus's guess of the species of Carnassial and some of his gang.

"Whatever they are," said Augustus, "Have managed to slip away with Bia, Azul, Mimas and Tiago in their clutches, especially during a brawl between some of the other wildcats and some of the rare dog species that lives here. I tried following them but I was caught…"

At this, Blu and Jewel flashed each other a dreaded look, and more looks were exchanged between Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune and the other animals present. Then Dundee stepped in.

"Do you know where Carnassial and company have slipped off to?" he asked. Augustus was about to reply when suddenly, screeching erupted from nearby and reached the group's ears, alerting them. That screech was also from a flying fox but it sounded younger this time.

"NOW what's up!?" asked Dundee in frustration. As he said this, Mina saw something rush towards the group. At this, the Tasmanian devil felt alarm and horror explode through her.

"Guys, LOOOK!" she called, calling the others over and throwing a point at what she had spotted. Dundee, Blu, Jewel, Augustus and the rest, now including Pluto, Aiden, Gylfie, Aurum and Blueberry after they had managed to knock the human that attempted to take Augustus and was now covered in countless bleeding bite and claw marks from the three glaucous macaws and two golden fruithawks' attacks on him, out and he lay on the floor, unconscious. As soon as all eyes landed on the incoming screamer, which was indeed a flying fox pup with amber fur and black membranous wings, alongside a pure sandy brown form behind him which was releasing massive cat screeches, its face streaked with blood and pure anger, and its ears in tatters right behind him, horror exploded through them.

"SANDALWOOD!" cried Augustus, Blu, Jewel and Jupiter together. The flying fox pup, which was indeed Sandalwood, zoomed past the group like a speedy mouse, screaming loudly. He only had a few seconds to flash the onlookers a terrified look before rushing away. As Sandalwood zoomed away from them, some of the macaws came forward.

"He's still not yet learned to fly by the looks of it," said Porthos which was met with a glare from Titan, Enceladus and some of the others. Then suddenly, Wally's voice rang out.

"Quick, GET OUT OF THE WAY!" bellowed the orangutan. Then Kiara and Reepicheep surged forward and seized the group of blue-and-gold macaws and pulled them back as the screeching and hulking bundle of sandy-brown fur and muscle that was Carnassial, his cat eyes ablaze with amber flames, zoomed in. Jewel was about to surge at the caracal to land a slash to his face but Herbert wrapped his hands around the Spix macaw and restrained her and the other animals restrained the other macaws, Eragon and Marella to prevent them from going anywhere near the volcanic caracal and Victor was prevented from throwing his fruit-shell hat by Mulan who feared for Carnassial's savage temper flaring up all the more. However, one of the macaws managed to get free and wind up right in the savage caracal's path to the horror of the others. Fury at the caracal chasing Sandalwood was consuming him and clouded out his thinking.

"Titan, get out of the WAY" barked Jupiter. Titan, however, was too blinded by sheer rage at the caracal as he continued to chase Sandalwood and as soon as he was in Carnassial's path, the largest son of Saturn and Orquidea glared viciously at Carnassial, raised his talon and flared its claws but before he could lunge at Carnassial, the caracal, upon seeing the turquoise and yellow form with a grey head in his way, released an extremely loud screech, raised his paw and without hesitation, smashed it into Titan's side as hard as he could to swipe the blue-and-gold macaw out of his way. The other animals screamed in horror as Titan was sent flying a few metres and into a log, where he slammed into it, hard.

"TITAAAAN!" cried Jupiter as he watched the blue-and-gold macaw flop onto the sand. The other animals shot forward and gathered around the stunned blue-and-gold macaw and as they did that, Frodo looked on after Carnassial in utter alarm as the caracal continued pursuing the terrified Sandalwood.

"Look how vicious that wildcat is," said the Cuban macaw in utter horror, wincing as a massive screech exploded from the caracal, "He reminds me of a certain poacher's cat whom I've been told has had a savage temper…"

Augustus and Blu came in and glared after Carnassial as he receded further from the group after Sandalwood.

"We've gotta rescue my grandson and FAST, before that cat does him any harm," said Augustus. However, as he spoke, a scream erupted from some of the macaws, among them Io and Lavender. At this, the Spix macaw and flying fox turned round and saw through a parting of the animals the aqua blue and yellow form of Titan but he did not look good. The blue-and-gold macaw's face was twisted in sheer agony and his wing was clasping the side where Carnassial's paw had made contact and on the darkening aqua blue wing flight feathers, a red bloom had formed. Dundee flashed Blu and Augustus and the others a dreaded look.

"He's been injured by Carnassial," he said, "We've gotta get him back to the safety of my land pronto."

"But what about Sandalwood and the others?" protested Mars. Then Jewel had an idea.

"I know, some of us will go after Carla, Bia, Tiago, Spyro, Mimas and Azul and rescue them if they hadn't been already, some of us will rescue Sandalwood and some of us will take Titan outa here to safety," she said, "I've been waiting long enough to give those savage cats a piece of my mind after all."

"But, Jewel it's too dangerous!" protested Jupiter.

"What if you get hurt?" put in Uranus.

"And besides that, those caracals and servals are extremely dangerous and there are humans prowling around here," put in Wally. However, Jewel's wings had already darted out and she had lofted into flight.

"No time to argue," she snapped. Then Blu glared after Carnassial and Sandalwood as they receded more into the distance.

"And WE'LL go after Sandalwood," he said before flashing a 'Right?' look at Augustus. Augustus nodded in agreement. This was met by alarmed looks from Kira and the others.

"But Uncle Blu…" began Kira.

"We don't have time to decide who's going to do what, Kira," snapped Augustus. Then Charlotte, Lavender and Garrett gazed after Jewel as she continued to recede from the group.

"We're gonna help Jewel," said Charlotte.

"Yeah, especially if she is gonna run into danger," put in Garrett. At this, Kira gazed at the two and Lavender as thoughts about Carla, Bia and Tiago flashed in her head. She had immediately reached a decision.

"Then in that case, I'll go with you," she said, "There's no way I'm gonna lose my cousins again like what almost happened in the Great Battle for the Sanctuary at the clutches of you-know-who flying fox…"

She gazed at Augustus who nodded in understanding at who she was referring to. Then Jupiter put on a determined look.

"And Venus, Ceres and Mercury will need our help too," he said, before gazing at the other animals, "Who's with me?"

At this, Mars stepped forward. Then Uranus, Neptune and Pluto stepped up, as did Charlotte, Kira, Lavender and Garrett; Io, Europa, Byron, Athos, Porthos, Titan, Enceladus, Trixie and Oberon, Miranda, Aramis, Titania, Umbriel, Indigo and Victor, Phoebe and Squaw'tagnan, Blueberry, Aiden, Charon and Frodo.

"We're gonna help too," said Io, the others nodding in agreement. Then Gylfie and Aurum came forward as did some of the animals of Dundee's group.

"You're gonna need some help in case you lot run into danger," said Reepicheep. Blu was about to reply when suddenly, Sandalwood's cries in the distance alerted the group, startling them all into looking in the distant flying fox pup's direction.

"Time to get some air under our wings, I think," said Augustus and without another second's delay, the flying fox ran to a tree, climbed up its trunk and dropped into the air. Blu followed by lofting into flight but not before giving the others a stern look.

"You lot be careful, especially around those caracals, servals and other carnivorous predators in this place," he said as he left, before his eyes turned to Eragon and Marella who had made the choice to help some of Dundee's group members transport the injured Titan back to safety, "And you two look after Titan and the others until we've sorted out this mess."

"Okay, you be careful," said Eragon and with that, he turned to help Titan, who was clasping his slashed side he had received from Carnassial with his face twisted in pain from the wound, stand up. Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Kira and the others then lofted into flight and split apart to either follow Jewel or fly after Venus, Mercury and Ceres with some of the other animals including Olympia, Mina, Reepicheep, Flax, Harakeke and Kiara following on the ground while Dundee ordered the remaining animals to help take Titan back to safety, while Blu and Augustus gave Sandalwood and Carnassial chase. As he was carefully lifted into one of the chimp's hands with Eragon and Marella helping, he gazed after Blu and Augustus.

"Make sure… you don't… end up… on the receiving end of… that lynx's… fury, you two," said the blue-and-gold macaw through a pained and gritted beak.

"Try not to speak, little macaw," said Herbert gently as he took a large leaf from a grey-headed flying fox to tend to his wound, "We're gonna take you outa here."

"Yes, you didn't half take a massive blow and scratch from that wildcat," put in Eragon as he patted Titan on the forehead with his wing claws. Titan breathed a sigh as he was then transported away from his crash site.

 **Meanwhile**

Bia found herself cornered against a large rock, one wing which appeared to be scratched in the other, one of the caracals glaring murderously and hungrily at her, its tongue painting the lips of its mouth with saliva that dripped grossly from it and its paws moving its body towards the terrified Spix macaw. In the background, Acerola continued causing trouble for the other caracals while Atreyu attempted to get to Azul, Mimas and Tiago who were still tied to their sticks. Bia had also attempted to rescue these three but a caracal had blocked her way, swiped its claws at her, catching her wing and inflicting a scratch and had chased her to this rock where it had cornered her, and since Bia had been grounded due to the scratch, which were two streaks on the bony part of her wing where the caracal's claws had made contact and were weeping some blood and painting a red trail down the cerulean feathers of her other wing, Bia was trapped. The middle daughter of Blu and Jewel's first brood shuddered, her terrified hazel eyes fixed on the piercing glare of the caracal's cat-eyes as their owner continued advancing towards her, a hissy laugh of triumph no different from that of Dalek the chameleon escaping through its drooling mouth and sending shivers coursing through Bia's nerves, spine and skin and making her tremble and hyperventilate with immense fright.

Not too far away, Acerola managed to convince the group of the other caracals into pursuing her and abandon Azul, Tiago and Mimas to allow Atreyu to reach them and untie them.

"There you go, Atreyu," called the auburn daughter of Sebastian and Anabelle as she led the caracals away, "Untie them NOW!"

Atreyu, after seeing Acerola fly away with the caracals in hot pursuit and seeing that the three tied-up macaws were now free to rescue, wasted no time. Quickly, the emperor penguin chick darted over to Tiago, Azul and Mimas and, with a bony hook he had found earlier, began to try and loosen the binds of Tiago from his stick, the male Spix macaw, his beak bound by a piece of vine, looking on with a mixture of relief and hope. While he did that, Acerola continued bravely leading the caracals away from the remaining three macaws when she saw Bia's situation. When she saw that the Spix macaw was trapped against a rock with an injured wing with her predator closing in on her, alarm tore through her.

"Oh, no, MISSUS BIA!" cried Acerola and with that, the flying fox pup sharply darted from her flight path in Bia and her predator's direction, her pursuers following.

"Get back here, you little winged RAT!" bellowed one of her chasers. Acerola did not flash a glance back and continued rocketing towards Bia and her predator but as the flying fox pup approached the pair, Bia saw the auburn and black comet of fur and membrane wings heading her way. Her caracal predator also noticed her, having picked up the sounds from the flying fox pup and her chasers.

"Acerola, CHANGE DIRECTION!" barked the alarmed Spix macaw, "DON'T WORRY ABOUT ME!"

Acerola, however, was too blinded and deafened by her determination to rescue Bia to hear her warnings and continued to surge towards Bia's predator, an enraged screech exploding from her mouth and her foot claws poised for attacking but as the flying fox pup approached Bia's predator, the caracal, a flash of outrage taking over its face, bellowed, "Oh, no, you DON'T, you little RAT WITH WINGS…"

Then without a second's hesitation and to Bia's horror, the caracal raised a paw and as soon as Acerola was near, the paw swiped the air like a tennis racket, a human thing Bia was familiar with and knew was used in the sport of tennis to swipe a ball back and forth. And that paw struck Acerola just like one of those balls, hard. Bia let loose a massive scream of terror and shouted Acerola's name as she watched the ball of auburn fur and black membranous wings careen away from her and land in a shrub. This done, the caracal resumed its attention on Bia as the others gathered around her.

"Good job," said one of the other caracals, "You've saved us a heap of trouble from that winged rat."

"Let's just focus on turning this macaw into dinner," said the caracal and with that, the group of caracals began to advance on Bia, much to her fear. Nearby, Atreyu had managed to free Tiago's beak of the vines binding it shut with the hooked bone and he had begun to work on biting through the rest of the vines to free himself but in the process, he had heard a brutal swipe of a small furry body and a scream of horror. At this, the emperor penguin chick flashed a glance in Bia's direction and to his horror, he saw that Bia was now trapped not by one, but SEVERAL caracals, the others that had been Acerola's chasers. Seeing that Bia was running out of time, Atreyu gazed at Tiago as he bit through the vines binding his legs.

"You free the other two macaws," he told Tiago, "I've got to…"

Suddenly, the emperor penguin chick was cut off by a massive screech, making him stop midsentence. Tiago also popped his head up as did Azul and Mimas who were still tied up. At first, Atreyu thought it was a caracal screech but then he saw that the caracals and Bia's would-be eaters had also stopped and had begun shooting suspicious glares in every direction. Furthermore, none of them had done the screeching. That screech came from a parrot, and an EXTREMELY ANGRY one.

Jewel surged forward, her eyes blazing tear infernos and her cerulean feathers puffed out like a porcupine's spines, towards the pack of caracals that had cornered Bia. Seeing that her daughter was trapped and that her wing had borne a scratch, her temper violently exploded like a massive volcanic eruption. With an extremely loud, ear-piercing screech and without hesitation, the apoplectic Spix macaw, as soon as she was near the caracals, zoomed past the face of the one at the front and nearest to Bia like a cerulean comet, and as she did, she scored her claws right over the caracal's face. Bia let loose a stunned shriek as the caracal at the front was thrown in Jewel's direction, screech erupting from its mouth and blood flying after Jewel. The other caracals also cried and backed away in utter shock and surprise when all of a sudden, more macaws and some other animals suddenly appeared out of nowhere and pounced onto them as Jewel swerved round and threw herself at the first caracal, latched onto its face with her claws and began to savagely bite and claw her, screeching loudly. Bia ducked as a massive fight erupted between the caracals and the newcomers, which were two chimps, two kiwis, a green-winged macaw who Bia recognised as Mars and two blue-and-gold macaws, a hyacinth macaw and a great green macaw whom Bia identified were Porthos, Enceladus, Trixie and Oberon. As these four and Mars, together with the two chimps, one of which was Herbert, and Flax and Harakeke the kiwis began to viciously attack the caracals with Jewel mauling the face of one of the caracals that had cornered Bia in the first place, a scarlet-like macaw appeared with four more Spix macaws and a glaucous macaw. At this, Bia gazed at the six new arrivals with a mixture of surprise, joy and relief.

"Frodo, Charlotte, Kira, Lavender, Garrett, Charon!" she cried jubilantly as the six newcomers began to check her over.

"No time to explain," said Frodo as he and Charlotte flashed a horrified look at her scratched wing.

"We're getting you outa here," added Charlotte. Kira, Lavender, Garrett and Charon then flashed Jewel, Mars, Porthos, Enceladus, Trixie and Oberon and the other animals as they continued their assault on the caracals. Trixie managed to slash her massive claws over the face of another caracal while Flax swiped at another caracal's feet with his own, knocking it down. Just then, a massive cry of agony erupted from nearby, but it was not from Jewel's group. At this, Frodo, Charlotte, Kira, Lavender, Garrett, Charon and Bia all jolted their heads up and turned in the direction of the screamer and realised that it was Azul who was screaming in agony from the pain of his dislocated wing as Pluto freed him from his binds while Blueberry and Aiden freed Mimas. Despite being disturbed by Azul's constant cries of agony, Bia was relieved to see the last two finally get freed. Then as soon as Azul was freed, Mulan took the opportunity to examine Azul's dislocated wing while Dundee checked Mimas and Tiago for any injuries they might have. While the lead emu did this, Atreyu came in, an alarmed look on his face.

"Acerola," he cried, "Where's Acerola?"

At this, Bia flashed the emperor penguin chick a horrified look. _Acerola, who was swiped away by one of the caracals!_ Horror sweeping through her, the Spix macaw darted off in the direction where she believed she saw Acerola fly and crash land after being swiped.

"Bia!" cried Frodo and with that he, Charlotte, Kira, Lavender, Garrett and Charon ran after her with Atreyu close behind.

At the foot of the shrub in which she had flown into after being swiped, Acerola lay limply on the floor. From the battle cloud of animals and caracals nearby, Porthos shot in, having noticed a flash of auburn fur out the corner of his eye while attacking one of the caracals. As he flew in, he cried, "ACEROLA!" and touched down beside the bat pup's limp body and picked her up. Moments later, seven more macaws turned up with a penguin chick. Bia, Frodo, Charlotte, Kira, Lavender, Garrett and Charon gathered round Porthos as he examined the limp Acerola in his wings. Charon and Kira examined the pup and checked her pulse.

"She's unconscious but she's alive," said Kira much to the relief of Porthos and Bia.

"Let's get her to safety," added Charon. Atreyu gazed at the limp Acerola and sighed with relief. Just as the group of eight were about to leave with Acerola in their wings, Jewel and the others had managed to drive off the rest of the caracals but one of them was struggling to find its way, its face badly mauled by Jewel who unsympathetically glared at it as it bumped into a tree and covered its mauled face with its front paws. Jewel spat at the floor at the caracal smugly as she strode away with her blood-covered talons and beak.

"That's what you GET for threatening one of my KIDS, you FLEA-BITTEN CAPYBARA!" she bellowed scornfully. After this, she turned to face Bia and Tiago as they came running towards her and as soon as the trio met, they locked each other in a hug, the others looking on. Mars, Pluto, Charlotte, Kira, Lavender, Garrett and Porthos, Enceladus, Trixie and Oberon, Blueberry, Aiden and Charon also shared a hug with Mimas as relief also flowed through them at her wellbeing but the group had been horrified at Acerola's condition and what had happened to her. Then after the union hugs were broken, Dundee came in, a stern look on his face.

"We still have some other individuals that need help and rescuing," he said, "as the job is still not complete."

"I was gonna say that, whatever bird you are," said Jewel as she stood with Bia and Tiago.

"He's called Dundee and he's an emu," said Herbert with a frown.

"Whatever he is," said Jewel casually. Then Bia noticed that someone was missing.

"Where's Dad?" she asked.

"And also Mom, Aunt Venus, Uncle Mercury and Mr Augustus," put in Mimas.

At this, Mars shot her, Bia and Tiago a look.

"Blu and Augustus have gone to save Sandalwood while Venus, Mercury and Ceres were supposed to be rescuing you," he said. As he said this, a massive screech of distress erupted from nearby, sending dread shooting through the group. At this, Mars felt horror wash over him like a tsunami. He recognised the owner of that screech. Driven by alarm, the green-winged macaw's wings shot out and he lofted into flight.

"MARS!" cried Pluto.

"That was VENUS!" cried Mars as he flapped into flight, "Sounds like she's in TROUBLE!"

At this, Jewel, along with Bia, Tiago, Mimas, Charlotte, Kira, Lavender, Garrett, Porthos, Enceladus, Trixie and Oberon, Blueberry, Aiden, Charon and Frodo also felt alarm tear through them.

"Then that means Jupiter and the others that have gone to help Venus, Ceres and Mercury will need our help as well," said Jewel. She then shot Frodo, Blueberry, Aiden, Charon, Charlotte, Kira, Lavender, Garrett, Bia, Mimas and Tiago and said, "You lot return to safety with Acerola and Azul while we go and help the others out of this horrible mess. Furthermore, Blu needs my help in rescuing Sandalwood as well."

"But Mom," began Bia but Jewel hardened her glare.

"That's an order, Bia," said her mother. Pluto also flashed the same commanding glare at Bia and company. At this, Bia reluctantly turned to the others, nodded and turned to leave. Charon gazed at Jewel, Pluto and Mars and said, "I hope you come back in one piece and with the other missing members of our family as well."

"We will, Charon," said Mars, "Now go before anything else shows up and put you guys in danger again."

"And also escort this emperor penguin chick back to my land as well and look after him and the others until we return," said Dundee, his gaze on Atreyu. However, as the emu said 'My land', he felt his gut turn. He didn't feel this place was his home anymore after the ugly truth about its use had been revealed. Atreyu then came over to Bia and her group and as soon as he was with the macaws, Bia's group began to make their way back while Jewel, Mars, Pluto and the other animals including Dundee continued further into the Compartment and in the direction of the screams.

As Bia, Tiago, Mimas, Charlotte, Kira, Lavender, Garrett, Porthos, Titan, Enceladus, Trixie and Oberon, Blueberry, Aiden, Charon and Frodo left with Acerola in Porthos's wings, Azul with his dislocated wing and Atreyu by their side, Charlotte flashed a worried glance at Dundee and company as they receded into the distance.

"I sure hope they rescue the others including the missing kids and Sandalwood," said she, worry gripping her.

"Let's just get outa here," said Bia, desperation to leave these horrible grounds, especially after almost getting eaten by the caracals and servals, biting at her like their teeth. Charlotte turned her head round and obeyed. As the group left, Atreyu also gazed back at Dundee's group.

"Please, save the others and come back," he murmured. Then thoughts for Sandalwood especially churned in the little emperor penguin's mind as he followed the macaws back to Dundee's land.


	66. Chapter 65

**Chapter 65- a climactic confrontation and the appearance of some unexpected helpers**

Meanwhile, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune, together with Miranda, Aramis, Titania and Umbriel, Indigo and Victor, Phoebe and Squaw'tagnan, Io, Europa, Byron and Athos, continued to zoom in the direction of Venus's screech with some of the other animals, among them Olympia the cassowary, Kiara the echidna and Reepicheep the platypus, close behind. The macaws had dread boiling within them as they feared the worst for Venus, Ceres and Mercury and whoever else was with them, such as Sirius, Bellatrix and Spica who were still missing with several other kids, and possibly one of the kidnapped six macaws as well. As the group continued in that direction, the sounds of a brawl reached their ears. Reepicheep instantly recognised the sounds.

"Sounds like many of Carnassial's gang members have picked a fight with some of the dingoes again," he said with a suspicious frown.

"Or the other way round," said Kiara.

"Do fights between those Australian dogs and those wildcats happen often?" asked Miranda nearby as she flew with Aramis, Titania and Umbriel. Kiara was about to reply when suddenly, the source of the sound which was the battle cloud of brawling servals, caracals and dingoes, melted into view. Near the main battle cloud, several servals and caracals were fleeing some thunderous-faced dingoes as they chased them past some terrified onlooker animals who were still too frightened to intervene, forcing some of them, such as vultures, to scatter and move their eggs out of the servals and caracals' path as they darted past with their dingo pursuers rushing after them, angry barks escaping their mouths. As they approached the scene, Jupiter looked on in horrified astonishment.

"Good grief," he murmured. As he gazed at the brawling cloud of dingoes, caracals and servals, with one or two humans trying to intervene only to be driven back by the swipes of paws or bolting caracals and servals as they darted from the cloud with some dingoes in hot pursuit, Uranus and Neptune began to scan the surroundings for any signs of Venus and the other still-missing group members. As the three did that, Indigo and Victor spotted some two-legged figures hurry off with something in their arms. In those arms screeches of distress were emanating. At this, the two hyacinth macaws felt horror tear through them.

"Guys!" called Indigo and with that, she and Victor pointed a talon at the fleeing forms. At this, Jupiter and the others followed the two macaws' points and also spotted the fleeing two-legged forms. At this, alarm tore through them, especially as Uranus saw a flash of some shades of blue, among them maya blue and cerulean, and also purple with a metallic glinting and a smother of other colours, from some sort of barred containers held in the arms of the two-legged fleers, which the group identified as humans.

"There they are," cried Uranus and with that he rocketed off after the fleeing humans, Jupiter, Indigo and Victor and then the others with them following, leaving only the animals of Dundee's group.

"Macaws!" cried Olympia in alarm and she gave chase with Kiara and Reepicheep and the other animals.

The flashes of blue and other colours in the cages held by the humans as they continued to flee, which were indeed Venus but also Spyro, Carla, Sirius, Spica and Bellatrix; Adenine, Thymine, Guanine and Cytosine; Carmen, Capella and Achernar, Altair, Castor, Pollux, Mercury and Ceres, were struggling in their prisons metallic bars and slabs as the humans continued rushing away from the brawl, screeching and squawking. Four of the humans had managed to catch these eighteen birds and cage them during the chaos Venus and the others tried to wreak on their opponents and as Spyro tried to lead the kids to safety. Now the humans were making their getaway with all eighteen birds in their clutches, their eyes screwed shut and their teeth gritted as the screeches from their captured animals continued to assault their ears. Venus clung to the bars of her cage and continued to screech and squawk at the top of her lungs in the hopes of attracting attention, the others joining in to amplify the distress call. Venus and Mercury were especially in hysterics as the way their captors handled them in their cage triggered a massive flow of bad memories of when they were captured and caged as chicks many, many years ago before they were taken to Europe, something Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Adenine, Thymine, Guanine, Cytosine, Carmen, Capella, Achernar, Castor, Pollux and Altair had been told, along with the other kids including Sandalwood, Acerola and Ferdinand, by Venus, Mercury and also the other adult birds of the ordeal the former two had been through when they were their age. It also appeared that Ceres, along with Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto and also Saturn back in Rio had likely been through a similar ordeal as well though the memories of their incidents had been deeply buried under a pile of trauma but despite this, being handled like this in their cages also sent Ceres into a panic and the reminders of the poacher incident leading to Sandalwood and the other kids' capture and bringing to this fake 'sanctuary' also added to the terror of Venus and the others, especially the kids and Carla who was being tortured by flashes of memories of seeing Sandalwood and the others, especially Spica her oldest daughter, get seized by the poachers and their pet crows and dogs and whisked away, and Sirius and the other kids with him were being tortured by the trauma of that incident.

As the humans attempted to escape with Venus and company in their clutches, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Miranda, Aramis, Titania, Umbriel, Indigo, Victor, Phoebe, Squaw'tagnan, Io, Europa, Byron and Athos, thunderous and volcanic looks lacing their faces, continued to pursue them, the instinctive urge to save Venus and company having taken control of their minds while behind the enraged macaws, Olympia and the other animals struggled to keep up. However, Jupiter's group and their targets were about to cross paths with a certain flying fox pup trying to outrun a particularly enraged caracal, his ears tattered and streaks of dried blood carving dark red trails down the sides of his face, as he continued to chase the poor bat pup like a cat after a mouse with a certain Spix macaw and older flying fox in turn chasing after that caracal in an attempt to rescue the pup. Sandalwood jumped onto a tree trunk and then leaped off it, narrowly escaping yet another paw swipe from Carnassial whose mind was warped with unspeakable wrath. The caracal let loose e savage screech as his paw slammed into the bark of the tree trunk where Sandalwood had been a split-second before. Realising he had missed, the caracal dashed off after Sandalwood again. Sandalwood, who continued to frantically run on all fours, flashed a terrified glance at his chaser and continued to flee.

"GET BACK HERE, you LITTLE RODENT WITH WINGS!" bellowed Carnassial and with that, the caracal tried to close the gap between himself and Sandalwood again when suddenly, both he and the bat pup were alerted by the sounds of distressed macaw squawks. Sandalwood flashed an alarmed look in the direction of the screeches as he continued running, Carnassial doing the same but with a look of wonder. Some distance away, Blu and Augustus, seeing Carnassial flash a curious look in the squawks' source, immediately saw the opportunity to snatch Sandalwood.

"Right, here we go, Blu," shouted Augustus as he and the other closed in on Carnassial, "You snatch Sandalwood while I attack that lynx."

At this, Blu flashed Augustus a 'What' look, concern flaring within him but Augustus retorted, "Just do AS I SAY!"

At this, Blu obediently turned his head and fixed his gaze on Sandalwood and prepared to snatch him from Carnassial's path with his talons while Augustus aimed for Carnassial's back, his teeth and foot claws poised for biting and slashing the moment he pounced onto the caracal's (who he kept incorrectly identified as a lynx based on his ear tufts) back. However, as the two attempted rescuers charged towards Sandalwood and Carnassial, Sandalwood's eyes had already caught sighted some incoming humans and their screeching cargo. In the midst of the chaos, Sandalwood's eyes landed on the screeching and writhing cargo of colourful feathers, igniting recognition within him but the moment it did, horror tore through the little flying fox pup. Thinking quickly and totally unaware that Blu was zooming towards him from behind, his talons poised to snatch him from Carnassial and to safety, Sandalwood darted from Carnassial's path, much to the caracal's surprise and rushed towards a nearby large rock. Then without a second's hesitation and not thinking about the rock's height, something that would normally send him into a frenzied panic and freak him out violently, the amber furred flying fox pup jumped onto the boulder's surface and scrabbled up it, Carnassial, with Augustus hot on his own tail, following. Then what Sandalwood did next sent astonishment tearing through Blu. The moment Sandalwood was on top of the boulder, his eyes fixated on the caged cargo of the incoming humans which were Venus and the other captured birds including Sirius, Carla, Bellatrix and Spica, as well as their captors who carried them, the little flying fox pup heaved himself from the boulder's surface with his wing thumbs just before Carnassial's paw came in and slammed onto the spot where he left, the claws digging into the hard surface of the rock, and _straight into the air_.

Then as Blu slowed to a hover and looked on, Sandalwood, his wings spread out, then glided a short distance towards the human carrying Venus, Carla, Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Mercury, Ceres and Carmen in one cage and landed square on the human's arm.

"Sandalwood!" cried Blu as he then watched the flying fox pup, his green eyes blazing unspeakable rage, the biggest fire of rage he had ever conjured, glared at the human holding Venus and the others' cage and without further hesitation, sank his teeth into the skin human's arm as hard as he could to the point of tasting blood. Cries of immense pain and surprise erupted from the human's mouth, followed by the human throwing his arms upward and accidentally tossing the cage containing Venus and the others with her into the air, before writhing to get Sandalwood off his arm only to be struck down by the other humans carrying the cages containing Spyro, Adenine, Thymine, Guanine, Cytosine, Capella, Achernar, Castor, Altair and Pollux, sending their cages flying as well as the humans fell down like skittles in the human game of bowling.

Venus immediately wrapped her wings around Carla, Sirius, Spica and Bellatrix as they screamed in terror while Mercury and Ceres wrapped their wings around Carmen and each other as they were sent flying in their cage but before they could hit the ground in a hard crash, their cage was stopped, dead as three pairs of talons had wrapped around the cage bars. At this, the seven macaws all slowly opened their eyes and gazed upward to see that Athos, Io and Europa were hovering above them, their talons wrapped around the bars.

"It's alright, we've got you," said Athos before a sigh of relief escaped his beak, "it's a good thing I'm good at being a goalie."

"Same here," said Europa with a brief smile. At this, Venus, Carla, Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Mercury, Ceres and Carmen formed smiles of relief. Nearby, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune had managed to catch the cages containing Spyro, Adenine, Thymine, Guanine, Cytosine, Capella, Achernar, Castor, Altair and Pollux before they could go crashing into the ground as well.

"Good catch, macaws," said Olympia as she looked on with the others. Miranda, Aramis, Titania, Umbriel, Indigo and Victor, Phoebe and Squaw'tagnan and also Blu and Augustus also looked on with relief as Sandalwood emerged from the heap of collapsed humans but that relief was immediately shattered by the shouts of more humans. At this, Olympia shot a horrified glance in the direction of the sounds' sources and to her immense dread, she saw more humans rush in, some of them armed with nets and boxes. At this, she turned to the other animals and barked, "You get those caged macaws outa here while we deal with those humans."

At this, Jupiter barked to the others with him to seize Venus and the others and make a break for it while Blu rushed towards Sandalwood but as he did that, a massive caracal screech erupted from nearby, sending horror exploding through him and the other animals, especially Sandalwood.

"Mr Blu, look OUT!" cried Sandalwood. At this, Blu shot a horrified gaze in the direction of the screech just in time to see a dried blood-faced caracal rush towards him and Sandalwood and heave himself into the air with his back feet, his front paws, their claws fully flared, aimed at the pair. Behind the truly apoplectic Carnassial, Augustus recovered himself from the shock of almost hitting the boulder during his attempt to pounce onto Carnassial's back only for the caracal to dodge and nearly send Sandalwood's grandfather crashing into the hard surface of the massive rock. As he recovered, he flashed a horrified gaze at Blu and Sandalwood as Blu immediately seized Sandalwood and took off, moments before Carnassial's front paws, their claws flared, plunged into the sand where the two had been a split-second before. Not deterred by the miss due to his immense desire to kill Sandalwood in revenge for sabotaging his and his gang's 'rare treat' of adult parrots, Carnassial took off after Blu as he carried Sandalwood off. Victor then removed his fruit-shell hat and was about to throw it at Carnassial as he rocketed by after Blu and Sandalwood but two talons landed on his wing and stopped him from doing so.

"Don't try to strike that caracal with that fruit shell hat, Victor," said Phoebe as she and Squaw'tagnan latched their talons onto Victor's wing.

"But…" began Victor but Squaw'tagnan hardened his gaze.

"It's a bad idea, Victor," he said, "that lynx-like cat is consumed with so much rage; you could make it much worse by striking him with your fruit-shell hat which could be detrimental to Blu and Sandalwood."

At this, Victor relented and placed his hat on his head again. As he did so, Jupiter's voice exploded

"Everyone, FLEE!" cried the vermillion scarlet macaw. Then within seconds, Phoebe and Squaw'tagnan latched their talons onto Victor and dragged him away with Indigo following. Around the four, Athos, Io and Europa hastily transported Venus, Carla, Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Mercury, Ceres and Carmen in their cage with Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune with the cages holding Spyro, Adenine, Thymine, Guanine, Cytosine, Capella, Achernar, Castor, Altair and Pollux, who clung onto the bars in terror, following, Byron, Miranda, Aramis, Titania and Umbriel not too far behind. As the group fled and Olympia, Kiara and Reepicheep and the other animals prepared to face the incoming human newcomers who were now seconds away (these humans are backup called by the humans already present), Castor and Pollux gazed after Blu and Sandalwood as the former carried the latter away from the enraged Carnassial, Augustus following the caracal once again.

"I hope that'll be the last time Sandalwood and Mr Blu will have to face that horrible caracal," whimpered Castor worriedly. Pollux didn't say anything but nodded in agreement while Capella, Achernar and Altair, who were in the cage with the twin blue-and-gold macaw chicks, just looked on and hoped the same thing for Blu and Sandalwood.

 **Meanwhile**

"Oh, Acerola, we're so sorry," whimpered Porthos as he, Bia, Tiago, Mimas, Charlotte, Kira, Lavender, Garrett, Porthos, Titan (with his scratched side), Enceladus, Trixie, Oberon, Blueberry, Aiden, Charon, Atreyu, Azul (with his dislocated wing), Eragon, Marella and Frodo returned to Dundee's community's home, Acerola still laying limply in Porthos's wings. As the group walked towards the large cluster of trees, burrows and a large leafy tent housing the variety of rare animals that formed Dundee's community, the sounds of pattering on sand as paws and bird feet pelted it filled the air as some animals and birds hurried over to Bia, Tiago and company, among them Neytiri, Stella, Soren and Luna. As the incomers continued to converge in on them, Porthos continued weeping over Acerola's limp body, worried on how Stella, Soren and Luna would react if they found her like this. However, before that could happen, Acerola's eyes fluttered open as she managed to struggle out of the blackness of unconsciousness caused by being whacked by one of the caracals and crashing into a shrub when she tried to rescue Bia.

"Go back to the Compartment of the Carnivores," murmured Acerola wearily but with determination.

"Oh, Acerola, I'm so GLAD you're okay," cried Porthos as relief ignited within him. The others, especially Bia and Tiago also breathed sighs of immense relief as Acerola jumped out of Porthos's wings. Despite being badly struck down by that caracal which nearly killed her, the foolhardy auburn flying fox pup's determination was still intact.

"WHY are we back in Dundee's land!" she growled, her blue eyes blazing with wrath and the said determination to sink her teeth and claws into caracal and serval pelt, "WE'VE gotta HELP WHOEVER'S still BACK IN THE COMPARTMENT!"

This was met with disapproving looks from the older birds, especially Bia and Tiago.

"Don't be so SILLY, Acerola!" cried Frodo.

"Yes, absolutely," put in Bia in agreement, "You're lucky to be alive and that you didn't suffer a fractured neck that would have been fatal."

"Fractured neck?" asked Acerola in confusion to the rather advanced human word.

"She means a broken neck," said Porthos with a frown, "and a broken neck would have meant that you wouldn't have survived that caracal's attack on you. You're gonna stay here with us and the other kids…"

"While Mom, Dad and the others see to rescuing the others out of that horrible compartment," added Tiago, a timid flash of a glance back in the direction of the Carnivore Compartment.

"Yes," added Eragon, his and Marella's agreeing glare on Acerola, "Seriously, young lady, we can't have you risking your life like that again."

At this Acerola glared back at the adult birds with a disgruntled glare and reluctantly complied. However, she was immediately swept up in three pairs of membranous wings.

"Oh, Acerola, you're alright," cried the owner of one pair of the wings, Stella.

"We thought something might have happened to you," said Soren, his wings on his niece's head. Luna, however, had a cross and scolding look on her face as she glared at Acerola.

"Don't you EVER do this to us again," she growled. Acerola, however, did not flinch and just allowed herself to be swept up into her aunt's wings again. While the four flying foxes continued their reunion hug, Neytiri turned her attention on Bia and the others as Titan and Azul were handed over to some medically trained proboscis monkeys who took them to take to the medical area to be looked after. However, before Neytiri could ask Bia any questions, not too far away, some small bundles of feathers were rushing towards the group. Petunia, Vega, Deneb and Polaris, together with Betelgeuse and Rigel, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka, Canopus, Procyon, Mira, Fomalhaut, Antares, Aldebaran, Gertie, Arcturus, Saiph, Regulus and Denebola, Sylvester, Alegria, Pitaya, Gladion and Lillie, all hurried over to Bia and the others, relief tearing through them as they approached the returners and cries of 'Mom, Dad, Aunts (Names), Uncles (Names)!' and so on escaping their beaks. Then as soon as the kids were near the adult birds, they all leaped into their relatives' wings.

Sylvester, Pitaya and Alegria jumped into Frodo's wings while Petunia, Vega, Deneb and Polaris leaped into the wings of Tiago, Bia, Kira, Garrett, Charlotte and Lavender and so on, with Atreyu joining in with the reunion. Cries of relief and joy erupted from the group as they relished the reunion. Then after the reunion was broken, Neytiri turned once again to Bia.

"Where are Blu, Jewel and the others?" she asked.

"Including Dundee, Reepicheep and the rest," said one of the platypuses and one of Reepicheep's friends nearby.

"They're still in the Compartment of the Carnivores," replied Bia, "Aunts Venus and Ceres, Uncle Mercury and the missing kids including Sandalwood are still in there…"

"Including Carla," said Eragon. At this, Neytiri exchanged worried glances with Luna, Stella and Soren who held Acerola. The other animals also exchanged worried glances.

"Do you know when Blu and the others will return?" asked Soren in desperation. Tiago was about to reply when suddenly, the sounds of shouting and protest erupted nearby, alongside some sounds of opening doors, interrupting the conversation.

"Now what!?" muttered Tiago and with that, he and the others traced the sounds of protesting and shouting to their source, which turned out to be emanating from the human area on the other side of the wall and its above barrier mesh. Furthermore, the shouters were close enough for complete words and sentences to be deciphered.

"Excuse me, sir, y-y-you can't just barge into here."

"Yes, you require permission to enter our conservation area."

"We don't CARE! We're HERE to retrieve the pair of golden fruithawks and whatever other birds have been BROUGHT HERE BY YOUR POACHERS!"

"Now WHERE ARE THEY!?"

At this, Bia and Tiago's beaks moved to the words spoken by the second person as they mouthed the final words in astonishment while Mimas, Charlotte, Enceladus, Oberon, Blueberry and Charon's heads tipped to one side. The final two voices sounded familiar. Nearby, one of the proboscis monkeys tipped her head to one side in confusion but over the tone of voice used by the answering speakers.

"Did you guys hear those two humans, they sounded so angry," she said to the other proboscis monkeys as they carefully carried Titan and Azul to the medical area, the latter being particularly handled with care due to his dislocated wing. At this, Titan and Azul, recognition of the two angry voices' owners also welling within them gazed at the monkeys seriously. They knew the reason for the anger in the voice tones of those speakers.

"Well, it's no surprise that those last two speakers are mad," growled Titan slowly. Then suddenly, more shouting and protesting erupted, making them and the other animals jump.

"Hey, GET BACK HERE!"

"DO YOU WANT US TO CALL SECURITY!?"

"You can't JUST ENTER OUR JUNGLE!"

The eyebrows of some of the animals twitched upward and Lavender, Kira, Garrett, Trixie, Aiden, Neytiri, Eragon, Frodo, Marella, Stella, Soren and Luna gazed at the birds who were familiar with whoever was trying to force their way into the artificial jungle, especially based on the sounds of the two doors of the compartmentalised entrance being forced open. Acerola, Betelgeuse, Rigel, Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka, Vega, Petunia, Deneb and Polaris and the other kids with them also exchanged glances.

"I believe those protesters are some of your human friends, are they not?" asked Stella as she and Soren held Acerola.

"We certainly have heard the voices of them somewhere before," put in Kira as she held Vega. At this, Charon darted in and stretched open his wings.

"You will have done," he said, "And those humans will need our help in finding Blu and the others and dealing with this mess."

"As well as confront those so-called 'conservationists' who run this collector's place over what they are doing to rare animals as well," put in Tiago as he opened his wings and took off, Charon following. Bia tried to follow but could not due to her scratched wing.

"Bia, don't try to fly," said Eragon and with that, he rushed in despite his shoulder still being in a cast and placed his other wing's claws onto Bia's shoulder, stopping her and allowing Tiago and Charon to continue to fly to the familiar humans.

 **Meanwhile**

Jewel, Mars and Pluto continued rocketing in the direction of where they had heard the screams of Venus, Ceres and Mercury with Dundee, Flax, Harakeke, Herbert and the other animals including Gylfie and Aurum the fruithawks following. However, the group didn't need to go far for Jupiter's group was flying in the opposite direction to them and the two groups were about to meet. As the three macaws flew ahead of the other animals, Mars saw some feathered forms melt into view with a few metallic glints below some of them. At this, he called, "Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, guys!" and accelerated towards them with Jewel and Pluto following. The feathered forms, which were indeed Jupiter and company, the glints flashing from the silvery cages holding Venus, Mercury, Ceres and also Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Adenine, Thymine, Guanine, Cytosine, Carmen, Capella, Achernar, Castor, Pollux, Altair, Carla and Spyro being carried by Athos, Io, Europa, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune, approached Jewel, Mars and Pluto and within moments, the two groups of macaws met. As soon as they did, the carriers placed the cages containing Venus and the others onto the floor and a brief reunion was shared between them and Jewel, Mars and Pluto who were relieved to see that Venus, Mercury, Ceres, Spyro, Carla and the other missing kids, were alright. Jewel shared a brief hug with Carla through the cage bars.

"Oh, I'm so glad you're alright," cried Jewel as she hugged her daughter despite the barrier of bars separating the two. Carla said nothing and simply returned the hug. Then Jewel turned and hugged Sirius, Bellatrix and Spica while Mars and Pluto hugged Venus, Mercury, Ceres, Spyro and also Adenine, Thymine, Guanine, Cytosine, Carmen, Capella, Achernar, Castor, Pollux and Altair. As they did that, Dundee came in and gazed at Jupiter who stood with Uranus, Neptune, Io, Europa, Byron, Athos, Miranda, Aramis, Titania, Umbriel, Indigo, Victor, Phoebe and Squaw'tagnan and asked, "Where are Olympia and the other animals that went with you?"

"And also Blu, Augustus and Sandalwood," put in Mars as he released Adenine, Cytosine, Thymine and Guanine from his hug. At this, Uranus came forward with Miranda, Aramis, Umbriel and Titania flanking him.

"They're battling some humans to buy us some time to escape while Sandalwood, Blu and Augustus are still facing the wrath of one of the caracals," explained Uranus. At this, horror tore through Jewel's group and Jewel was especially alarmed.

"Blu, Sandalwood and Augustus are by themselves dealing with savage CARACAL by THEMSELVES!?" blurted out Pluto.

"Caracal?" said Dundee, "You mean that one called Carnassial?"

"Carnassial?" replied Jupiter confused. Then Flax and Harakeke came in.

"He's that caracal who leads the gang of other caracals and servals who were friends with that chameleon Dalek and who fed on the parrots brought to them by that chameleon," explained Flax.

"And he can be a very vicious and dangerous one, especially when he is enraged," put in Harakeke. At this, the fire of alarm flared higher within Jewel, especially at the thought of Blu and also Augustus and Sandalwood getting caught in the fires of that lethal wildcat's fury. Immediately and without thinking, the teal-eyed Spix macaw's wings shot out and she lofted into flight to find those three before Carnassial could catch and harm them.

"Jewel!" cried Jupiter and with that, he spread his wings and took off after her.

"Mom!" cried Carla as she saw Jewel leave with Jupiter in tow. Then a scowl came upon Dundee's face. Turning to Uranus and the others with him, he said, "You guys get those caged birds back to the safety of 'my' land while I help those two macaws find those three endangered individuals before Carnassial does anything very serious to them," the emu then turned to Herbert, Wally and the other chimps and orangutans and added, "Herbert, apes, you're with me. I'm gonna need your strength lent in the rescue. Furthermore, Olympia and the others with her might need your help as well."

"Okay, Dundee," said Herbert obediently. Then Aurum and Gylfie stepped forward, scowls on their faces.

"And WE would like to give those humans a REAL GOOD beating as well!" growled Aurum with determination.

"After all, they treated us like mere objects and not living things," put in Gylfie. Then before anyone could stop the two golden fruithawks, the pair had opened their glittering golden wings and had lofted into flight, Pluto became cross.

"But Gylfie, Aurum," he called, "That is EXTREMELY UNWISE! Those humans could catch you!"

"Don't care," retorted Gylfie as she followed her male counterpart in Jupiter and Jewel's direction, "Those humans deserve a good clawing from the two of us."

And with that and before Pluto could protest any further, the two fruithawks were gone. Giving up, Pluto turned to Uranus, Mars, Neptune, Miranda, Aramis, Titania, Umbriel, Indigo, Victor, Phoebe, Squaw'tagnan, Io, Europa, Byron and Athos who held the still-caged Venus, Carla and the others and took off, these macaws following with the caged birds in tow. Flax, Harakeke and the other animals also followed but not before turning to Dundee and the apes as they followed Gylfie and Aurum.

"You look after the other animals back in my land while we see to helping Olympia and rescuing that macaw and those two bats from Carnassial," said Dundee firmly and with that, the emu dashed off with the orangutans and chimps in tow.

"Okay, and do make sure to be careful!" called Flax but Dundee was already out of earshot. Seeing that there was no point in shouting after the emu and the apes, Flax turned and led Harakeke and the other animals that had come with Dundee to escort Uranus and company back to the safety of Dundee's community.

 **Meanwhile**

Carnassial continued surging like a caracal possessed after Blu who flew ahead with Sandalwood held tightly in his talons, his mind completely warped by unspeakable rage and the sides of his head streaked with dried blood from his tattered ears inflicted on him by Sandalwood earlier. Blu beat his wings madly and weaved in and out of the various obstacles that came his way; tree trunks, bushes, rocks, even piles of bones threatened to slow the Spix macaw and his passenger down within range of the savage Carnassial who, each time he closed in after Blu, would launch a paw swipe at him and Sandalwood in an attempt to knock the pair out of the air only to miss, screeching loudly while at it, making Blu yelp and Sandalwood scream in terror and prompting Blu to fly faster. Behind Carnassial, Augustus continued his chase of the caracal, his blue eyes burning with immense wrath and the grandfatherly instinct to save his grandson and to protect Blu as well, controlling him, especially as Carnassial kept launching a paw swipe at Blu and Sandalwood with the frightening danger that Blu might end up within rage of the caracal's reach and would end up struck down with Sandalwood in his grasp, putting them both in serious danger of getting injured or even killed by the enraged caracal.

As he dodged another paw swipe from Carnassial that missed his tail and Sandalwood in his clutches by inches, Blu stole a glance at Carnassial and continued flying on, Sandalwood clinging for dear life in Blu's talons. Although he would normally freak out at being carried, Sandalwood was too consumed by terror to even care about his fear of heights and flying.

"That caracal's honestly like that savage poacher's cat we told you about back in the Amazon, Brazil!" cried Blu to Sandalwood as he swerved around a bush with Carnassial following, "He even seems to have a savage temper to match!"

Sandalwood said nothing and continued hanging in Blu's talons as Blu continued to carry him along as Carnassial, another enraged and volcanic screech erupting from his mouth, launched another paw swipe at him and Blu only to miss again. Undeterred, Carnassial continued his relentless chase. Behind Carnassial, Augustus tried to close in on his target but found it a challenge with all the obstacles in the way, especially as Blu kept weaving in and out of them and making Carnassial following him but he refused to give up and began to strain his membranous wings to beat harder to try and gain on Carnassial so that he could jump onto his back and yank the caracal from the chase. As the Spix macaw, the caracal and the flying fox continued weaving in and out of the various obstacles, the audience of animals continued to watch on in horror, too frightened, especially of Carnassial, to intervene. A group of vultures even ducked as Blu shot right over their heads before having to split apart to make way for Carnassial as he rushed through the parting they had made. The vultures then ducked again as Augustus came rushing by. Some carnivorous critters were also forced to scrabble out of the way while three cheetahs backed away to also escape getting run over by Carnassial as he came dashing their way. It was clear that the majority of the other animals living in the Compartment of the Carnivores were especially afraid of Carnassial due to his savage temper and it appeared that they had always had that fear of him, his savage temper and his gang gripping them even before Sandalwood and the other kids were brought to this fake conservation area, and had always avoided the gang of caracals and servals, especially when the group of dingoes, Carnassial and his gang's enemies, brawled with them.

As he shot past the cheetahs who looked on at the chase in utter astonishment, Augustus began to try and hone in on Carnassial as he found he was approaching his target. However, as he was about to leap onto Carnassial's back and viciously attack him, Augustus saw something approach Blu, Sandalwood and their chaser, sending alarm tearing through him.

"Blu, look OUT!" cried Augustus. At this, Blu looked up but before he could lay his eyes on what Augustus had seen, a pair of human hands appeared out of nowhere and clasped onto his body, stopping him right in his tracks for a human, a worker of the 'sanctuary' had appeared to catch him. Stunned, the Spix macaw released his grip on Sandalwood and began to struggle in his captor's hands, sending Sandalwood hurtling through space from the momentum of Blu's sudden capture. Terrified as he tumbled like a ball of paper through the air, Sandalwood let loose a scream and flailed his wings, his fear of flying threatening to erupt again.

"AAARRGGGHHH, HEEEEELLLP!" screamed the amber flying fox pup as he continued tumbling through the air. Close behind, Carnassial, his face glazed with triumphant as his target then began to fall towards the earth, prepared to catch Sandalwood and possibly kill him.

"Now, I've got you, you little RAT!" snarled the caracal but Augustus, who was right behind him, began to shout at Sandalwood.

"SANDALWOOD, open your wings and FLAP THEM!" cried the flying fox to his grandson, "OPEN YOUR WINGS AND FLAP THEM!"

His words flew through the air from his mouth and into Sandalwood's ears as he approached the floor within Carnassial's reach, Carnassial raising his paw and flaring its claws, ready to fatally slam Sandalwood into the ground. But before the wicked and savage caracal could do this, something ignited within Sandalwood, ignited by his grandfather's encouraging shouts and flared open his blue eyes. Then what happened next sent astonishment tearing through Carnassial and Augustus with Blu missing the moment for he was struggling in his captor's hands trying to free himself. Sandalwood's wings stretched open and before he could feel his body slam into the sand of the floor, the little flying fox pup felt air flow over the skin of his wings and before he knew it, he found the sand flow smoothly under him, accompanied by the instinct to flap his wings, making him unintentionally turn a corner and make Carnassial's paw crash into the sand and miss. Sandalwood was AIRBORNE!

"Sandalwood, you're FLYING!" cried Augustus jubilantly. Indeed Sandalwood was. His wings were beating the air and pushing him forward, much to his own astonishment. As he flew past Carnassial, the caracal glared daggers after the flying fox pup and let loose a vicious growl. However, Augustus's immense joy and Sandalwood's astonishment were short-lived. As Sandalwood continued flapping and flying along, the little flying fox pup then began to look down at the height below him but as he did, the fear threatened to volcanically erupt within him, much to Augustus's alarm.

"Sandalwood, don't look down!" cried the older flying fox, "Don't look down."

Sandalwood, however, continued gazing down at the floor below him but before he could freak out as his fear reached near breaking point, the sounds of Blu's screeching and struggles reached his ears and seized his attention. At this, the little flying fox pup's gaze darted from below to Blu as he continued writhing and flapping like mad in his captor's grasp. Augustus's gaze also landed on the struggling Spix macaw and the person as the latter tried to restrain the former and shout for help. Alarm tearing through them, both Sandalwood and Augustus launched themselves at the person and the thrashing Blu as he tried to bite and claw at his would-be captor's hands to free himself.

As he approached the human's face, Sandalwood let loose a vicious squeaky screech.

"You release Mr Blu THIS MINUTE, you UNGRATEFUL…" he bellowed and with that, the little amber flying fox pup leaped onto the human's face and began to apply his teeth and claws full force while Augustus went straight for one of the man's arms. The man's determination to restrain Blu immediately flashed to surprise and horror as a small amber flying fox pup jumped onto his face and began to bite him while another, bigger flying fox landed on his arm and began to sink his teeth into the skin near his hand to get him to release Blu, sending him into a backward stumble towards some on-looking vultures who backed away as the man stumbled their way but before either Sandalwood or Augustus could unleash fury on the person, an extremely loud caracal screech exploded nearby, startling the nearby on-looking animals into fleeing. Carnassial then suddenly appeared out of nowhere and jumped right onto the man's back, throwing him forward and collapsing him onto his front under his weight. This act made the man release Blu and send him flying towards s tree trunk while Augustus and Sandalwood were thrown clean off the man's face and arm respectively. The two bats and Spix macaw let loose terrified cries until they crashed-landed at the foot of the tree, Blu hitting his head on the bark while Sandalwood and Augustus landed face-down in the sand. As the two bats shook themselves to and coughed out sand from their mouths while Blu rubbed the area of his head with a wing where it made contact with the tree trunk, the three found themselves confronted by an apoplectic wildcat with sandy brown fur, dried blood painting streaks down the sides of his head from his tattered ears and his front foot's claws fully flared. Carnassial then glared daggers at the trio as they hastily huddled together, his teeth gritted with saliva dripping from them and a hiss filtering through them and his eyes fixed upon the two bats and Spix macaw as they backed against the tree trunk. Behind Carnassial, the man lay on his front, dazed from being knocked down by Carnassial while the surrounding animal onlookers continued watching the confrontation between Carnassial and his targets as it began to unfold, terror in their eyes and fear gluing them to the spot.

"Now I've got you, you three pesky little interferers," hissed the caracal triumphantly through his gritted, saliva-dripping teeth, sending chills coursing through the skins and spines of Blu, Sandalwood and Augustus. Augustus especially shuddered at the sight of the dried blood painting red lines down the sides of Carnassial's face, the reminders of part of his former colony's war paint involving red fruit paint and how they painted it in streaks below the eyes in such a way that it made them look like they were weeping blood, flashing in his mind. Carnassial then began to slowly pace towards the two flying foxes and the Spix macaw, his eyes travelling and landing on Sandalwood as he cowered in Augustus's wings.

"Especially you, you pesky little RAT!" continued the caracal, making Sandalwood flinch. Not too far away, two feathered comets, one cerulean and the other vermillion with teal and yellow wings, were zooming through the air. Jewel and Jupiter continued flying in the direction where Blu and Augustus had left to save Sandalwood from Carnassial while Dundee, Herbert, Wally and the other chimps and orangutans, as well as the Aurum and Gylfie the fruithawks, leaped into the fray with Olympia and her group as they continued struggling against their human opponents as they tried to catch and cage them, some of the animals living in the Compartment of the Carnivores coming to help having finally found the courage to assist. Carnassial continued to growl as his eyes continued to pierce Sandalwood like a snake's eyes, like the snake that had bitten Luna back in Rio immediately after his accident that led to him being so afraid to fly and of heights. Carnassial's eyes then began to burn with the rage he had accumulated against the little flying fox pup.

"YOU have interfered with OUR PLANS to have a RARE PARROT TREAT for the LAST TIME, you little WINGED RODENT!" barked Carnassial in a harsh voice, making Sandalwood flinch, but then a glare came upon his face. Augustus and Blu continued to shudder and back against the tree trunk as Carnassial's eyes travelled to Blu. At this, a devilish grin stretched the caracal's mouth across his face as he examined the Spix macaw.

"But at least you have still brought me a tasty parrot that I can still eat," crooned Carnassial wickedly, sending chills down Blu's spine and skin. Blu shuddered and whimpered. Then Carnassial's eyes returned to Sandalwood once again and turned serious, "But this time, I do NOT want any INTERFERENCE from you little WINGED RAT AGAIN… while I seize that parrot and consume him. If you do," Carnassial's tone of voice began to boil with a threat and one of his front paws rose from the ground and flared its claws, the tips of the fishhooks aiming for Augustus and Sandalwood, "I will NOT hesitate to KILL YOU… by SLITTIN' YA THROAT!"

Sandalwood and Augustus both flinched harshly as Carnassial then resumed his attention on Blu, who began to shudder. Sandalwood then saw what the caracal was going to do, especially as the wicked, parrot treat-obsessed wildcat raised a paw and swiped Blu across the face, knocking him down. Blu let loose a cry of horror and pain as he was knocked down onto his side. Then before he could get him, a paw appeared and landed hard on his neck, cutting off his breathing.

"BLU!" cried Augustus and Sandalwood together. Carnassial let loose a triumphant titter as Blu writhed under him, his frightened brown eyes gazing into his own evil cat's eyes.

"Now it's time to devour my long-waited TREAT!" cackled the caracal evilly. Sandalwood then felt the urge to save Blu boiling within him and began to writhe and struggle in Augustus's wings. Augustus, fearing for his grandson's safety, tried to restrain him but Sandalwood continued to savagely struggle.

"Don't you DARE even THINK of EATING MR BLU, you FLEA-BITTEN LYNX!" snarled the little flying fox pup furiously. At this, Carnassial's paw, the other one that was not pinning Blu down by the neck, darted out in his direction likle a bullet and the claws flared and aiming with laser-point accuracy at Sandalwood's eyes.

"You speak again, bat and I'll kill you," retorted Carnassial viciously, "Both you and your grownup FRIEND you have brought with you."

"His grandfather," snapped Augustus but Carnassial ignored him and refocussed his attention on Blu but before he could continue to taunt Blu before killing him, an extremely loud screech rang out, snapping Carnassial's attention away from his target and in the direction of the sound. Augustus and Sandalwood's gazes also darted in the same direction at the sound, as did Blu's gaze as he struggled beneath his caracal predator.

Jewel surged forward like she had done before, her eyes blazing teal infernos and her wings propelling her forward like rocket fuel. Behind her, Jupiter was following and around the two, various animals darted out of the way. Then as Jewel's blazing teal eyes landed on Carnassial and her mate under him, a massive screech exploded from her beak. Augustus and Sandalwood watched on as the cerulean comet that was Jewel charged in and jump right onto Carnassial's face, making the caracal screech and begin to writhe as Jewel began to savagely attack his face with her beak and claws, especially his eyes. As the caracal was thrown off Blu, Jupiter appeared and touched down near Augustus and Sandalwood.

"Augustus, Sandalwood," cried the scarlet macaw as he saw them, "You're alright."

Jupiter then turned to Blu and ran over to him as Augustus and Sandalwood stood up. in the background, Jewel continued savagely scoring her claws and beak all over Carnassial's face, screeching furiously. As Jupiter came up to him, Blu struggled to his feet.

"Oh, Jupiter, thank goodness," cried Blu with relief as Jupiter helped him up, "That caracal was trying to catch us…"

Jupiter was about to speak when suddenly, a cerulean blur appeared and slammed right into Augustus and Sandalwood, much to the immense horror of Jupiter and Blu.

"JEWEL!" cried Blu as Jewel, together with Sandalwood and Augustus, flew into a small bush. Then suddenly, Jupiter let loose an alarmed squawk, prompting Blu to turn round and before he realised it, he was knocked down by Carnassial as he leaped upon him, pinning him on the floor once again. Blu let loose a terrified cry as he gazed up at Carnassial, his face crisscrossed with freshly inflicted scratches and bite marks weeping fresh blood and one of his eyes clouded for Jewel had managed to blind him in one eye during her savage assault, as he gazed viciously down at him, his paw on his throat once again. Jupiter then glared at the caracal.

"DON'T YOU DARE HARM THAT SPIX MACAW, YOU ROTTEN…" bellowed the scarlet macaw and without a second thought or hesitation and with his brown eyes blazing with his namesake planet's storms, he forced his talons to launch the rest of his body into the air and jumped right onto Carnassial's shoulder but before he could take his turn in inflicting the caracal with claw and bite marks, Carnassial flashed him a volcanic glare.

"GET OFF ME!" barked the caracal and with that and to Blu's horror, he raised his other paw and with all his might, smashed it into Jupiter's torso. Jupiter, stunned was sent flying towards a large boulder where he slammed into it, hard. The scarlet macaw then crashed onto the floor but his impact against the boulder had triggered something on top of it, another, smaller rock, to wobble and then fall after Jupiter. As Jupiter landed on his front at the foot of the boulder, the other smaller rock slammed right onto his left wing. A piercing screech of agony erupted from Jupiter's beak as something cracked in his wing.

"JUPITER!" cried Blu. Jewel, Sandalwood and Augustus also shouted Jupiter's name. Jupiter then flashed Carnassial a severely pained look.

"M-m-my WIIING!" he screeched. At this, Carnassial let loose a sarcastic titter.

"Whoops," he crooned, "Looks like we have a flightless bat pup AAAND a flightless scarlet macaw."

And with that, the caracal erupted into a maniacal laughter, especially as Jupiter whimpered in pain at his injured wing, before he finally turned to Blu and pinned him harder onto the floor. That did it. Sandalwood glared at Jupiter as he struggled to free his wing from the small rock, some dholes who had been watching, helping him and snapped his glare at Carnassial, outrage flaring within him. Jewel and Augustus also felt outrage volcanically erupt within them as well but before either of these two could launch at Carnassial, Sandalwood immediately jumped onto a nearby tree trunk, scrabbled up it much to the astonishment of Jewel and Augustus and as soon as he was at an appropriate height, Sandalwood took off and glided right down at Carnassial.

"Sandalwood's no longer afraid of climbing up trees now," cried Jewel jubilantly. However, Augustus was too consumed by fear for his grandson's safety and darted off after Sandalwood as he landed on Carnassial's back and making the caracal's wrath erupt within him once again.

"Sandalwood, COME OFF THAT LYNX THIS MINUTE!" bellowed Augustus. Too late; Carnassial's paw had already risen and had seized Sandalwood, much to the especial alarm of Jewel and Augustus and also Jupiter who was too crippled with immense pain from his broken wing to intervene. Then Carnassial had Sandalwood pinned against the floor beside Blu.

"Haven't I issued you the warning that I'd kill you if you EVER INTERFERED, LITTLE RAT WITH WINGS!?" barked Carnassial as Sandalwood struggled under his paw next to Blu, his blue eyes blazing with wrath while Blu's brown eyes were flickering with terror. Sandalwood was about to retort when suddenly, a massive, and very angry, scream erupted from nearby, but it was not from a macaw or a flying fox. Or from a wildcat. At this, Augustus and Jewel and also Jupiter snapped their gazes in the direction of the screams and when their eyes landed on the owner of the screams, immense surprise tore through them. Blu also flinched with surprise for those screams sounded familiar while Carnassial was seized by stun. Then Sandalwood glared menacingly at the caracal, the first menacing glare he had ever put on in his life.

"Not cool, man, not cool!" squeaked the little flying fox pup mischievously. At this, Carnassial shot Sandalwood a 'What!?' look but before he could speak, a stick appeared and struck him square in the side, knocking him off of Blu and Sandalwood.

"GET OFF MY BIG BRAVE BOY, you SAVAGE BEAST!" bellowed the holder of the stick, a female human but she was not a member of the fake sanctuary's group of workers. Blu and Sandalwood immediately scrabbled to their feet the moment they were freed and hastily rushed over to Jewel, Jupiter and Augustus as the woman which had red hair and was wearing a pair of glasses, continued to fiercely drive Carnassial away with her stick.

Blu, Jewel and Jupiter immediately recognised the lady while Sandalwood and Augustus looked on in awe.

"I think I've seen that human lady somewhere before," whispered Augustus as recognition also welled within him.


	67. Chapter 66

**Chapter 66- busted!**

The firestorms of the combats between the Paradise Sanctuary humans and the animals and also the caracals and servals of Carnassial's gang and the dingoes were finally quelled and the injured animals were immediately rushed into the treatment area. When Tulio and his team, among them Linda, Fernando, Susan, Lucy and Bernardo, had arrived in Peru on their plane, they had hurried over to the Paradise Sanctuary building and forced their way into said building, despite protests from the workers of the place and their attempts to restrain them. Tulio and company, outrage at the whole so-called 'Paradise Sanctuary' project and what these workers had been doing consuming them like flames, however, just struggled out of the workers' attempts to restrain them and stormed to the artificial jungle floor after demanding where the fruithawks and several other animals were. Then as soon as they had arrived on the floor, they went straight into the artificial jungle despite protests from the workers and their threats of calling in security.

As they entered the jungle, Susan and Lucy and some of the other humans on Tulio's team took to collecting Carla, Bia, Tiago, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Uranus, Neptune, Ceres, Pluto and the rest of Blu's group including the missing kids, among them Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix, Adenine, Thymine, Guanine and Cytosine, Betelgeuse, Rigel, Acerola and Eragon and Altair in cages brought with them after sharing a joyful reunion with them, while Tulio, Linda and Fernando and the rest of the gang, some of them armed with net guns, hurried into the Compartment of the Carnivores especially after discovering the absence of Blu, Jewel, Jupiter and the pair of golden fruithawks among the animals in Dundee's compartment. Then as soon as the group had spotted Gylfie and Aurum as they relentlessly clawed and bit some of the workers of the Paradise Sanctuary, Tulio commanded the net gun owners to shoot them down, which they did with the nets while Linda hurried off to find Blu, Jewel and Jupiter where she discovered that the former Spix macaw and a flying fox pup were pinned under Carnassial. Seized by rage, Linda had snatched a nearby stick and went at Carnassial like an enraged mother bear and had swiped the caracal off of Blu and Sandalwood. After this, Linda began to launch several more strikes at the caracal to drive him further away from Blu, at one point catching Carnassial's bloodied and clawed face and making him screech as the impact of the stick on his wounds made them shoot agony explosively through his injured areas. Then after one final strike to the face by Linda, Carnassial finally admitted surrender and retreated, his painful wounds and damaged eye, inflicted on him by Jewel, telling him to stop, Linda, a smug look on her face in rescuing her beloved macaw companion and the flying fox pup, lacing her face, though she did feel a flash of regret at viciously attacking Carnassial for hurting animals was never in her nature but if they were a threat to any of her animal friends, least of all Blu or his family, then she would resort to driving the threat away.

After she had driven Carnassial away, she then turned her attention to Blu, Jewel, Jupiter, Augustus and Sandalwood and when she saw Jupiter's broken wing, horror tore through her and she had called to Tulio.

"Tulio, Jupiter's got an injured WING!" called she as Jewel and Augustus supported Jupiter whose left wing, its bony part kinked due to the fracture, hanging limply to the side and the scarlet macaw's face twisted in extreme pain from the injury, while Sandalwood and Blu looked on.

 **Some time later**

Outside the 'Paradise Sanctuary' building, Blu and company stood in their cages in which Tulio and company had placed them and left them in the care of some of the group members of their team, among them Linda, Susan, Lucy and Fernando, while Tulio and the others confronted the 'Paradise Sanctuary' workers and their boss over their illegal work which has now been brought out of the darkness of the conservation façade and into the light. Blu's group were placed carefully into cages, arranged by family. Blu, Jewel, Venus, Carla, Bia and Tiago were in one cage Sirius (Bia's son), Spica (the daughter of Carla) and Bellatrix (Tiago's daughter) while Kira, Charlotte, Lavender and Garrett were in another cage with Petunia (Charlotte's daughter), Vega (Kira's daughter), Deneb and Polaris (the daughters of Lavender and Garrett). The Spix macaws were under the care of Linda who sat by and checked on them.

Next to the Spix macaws, in some more cages were Mercury with his daughter Phoebe and her mate Squaw'tagnan and their daughter Arcturus in one cage; Ceres and her granddaughter Carmen and Pluto, his daughter Blueberry and her mate Aiden and their son Saiph, and Blueberry's brother Charon and his mate Neytiri and their chicks Regulus and Denebola in another cage; Augustus with his daughters Stella and Luna, Stella's mate Soren and his and Stella's son Sandalwood and Stella and Luna's niece Acerola in a third cage; and Frodo with his biological son Sylvester and adopted daughters Alegria and Pitaya with Eragon with his daughter-in-law Marella and grandson Altair and Gladion and Lillie the toucan chicks and Diantha and Tom's missing son and daughter in a fourth cage. Lucy was looking after these animals and she checked on them as well.

Nearby, in a third set of cages were Adenine, Thymine, Guanine and Cytosine and their blue-and-gold macaw mother Mimas in one cage; Betelgeuse and Rigel and their scarlet mother Io and Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka and their parents Europa and Byron in another cage; Canopus with his father Athos, Procyon with his father Porthos, and Castor and Pollux and their father Titan whose belly scratch he had received from Carnassial was bandaged and will be checked properly when the group returns to Rio, were in a third cage with Mars as he stood by Titan as he grasped his bandaged side and comforted him. These birds were under the care of Susan and one of the men from Tulio's team.

Finally, in a fourth group of cages stood Uranus with Miranda and Aramis and their chicks Capella and Achernar, Titania and her son Antares and Umbriel and her half great green macaw son Aldebaran in one cage; Enceladus, Trixie and their blue-and-gold/hyacinth hybrid daughter Mira in another cage; Neptune, Oberon and the latter's son Fomalhaut in a third cage and Indigo and Victor with their daughter Gertie in a fourth cage, under the care of Fernando and two other young helpers of Tulio's team. Jupiter and Azul, however, were absent for they had been taken to a nearby animal hospital by one of Tulio's assistants for emergency surgery on Jupiter's broken wing and to place Azul's wing back into its joint, and Tulio's group will not leave until those two birds were out of surgery and were back with Blu's group. And though some of the members of Blu's group, such as Augustus, Soren, Stella and Luna hate cages, they are glad to be in the safe hands of the trusted humans, and the flying foxes and Eragon, Altair and Marella have developed trust in Tulio's group thanks to the intro of them given to them and Andromeda, Melissa, Sebastian, Anabelle and Ferdinand back in Rio by Blu and company.

As Blu's group sat in their cages with the pair of the golden fruithawks in their own cage nearby, the complete families, such as Victor, Gertie and Indigo, finally reunited and the divided families like Carla, Bia and Tiago and their respective chicks Spica, Sirius and Bellatrix looking forward to reuniting with their other family members waiting for them in Rio, and also Acerola looking forward to seeing her parents Sebastian and Anabelle and her brother Ferdinand and Gladion and Lillie looking forward to seeing their parents Diantha and Tom and their younger sister Aurora as well, some of the chicks, among them Betelgeuse and Rigel and also Sandalwood and Acerola, glared at the gathering of humans a short distance away. The gathering was two groups, one made from Tulio and the rest of his members and the other, the workers of the Paradise Sanctuary and their boss. Betelgeuse squinted at Tulio's face to get a better view of the firestorm of outrage on his face as he yelled at the boss of the Paradise Sanctuary about the theft of the golden fruithawks and some other important things, among them what these people had been doing. As Io and Sheldon's older daughter continued to glaze at Tulio with her sister, Io came in with Europa, Byron, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka, a look of smugness lacing her face.

"Those so-called 'conservationists' are now finally getting their comeuppance for stealing those golden fruithawks among other things," said Betelgeuse and Rigel's mother with absolutely no surprise at all at Tulio's fury as he continued to bellow at the Paradise Sanctuary group.

"That group of humans certainly are in trouble now, aren't they, Mom?" said Rigel with a frown. At this, Europa put a firm wing on Rigel's shoulder, making her flinch slightly.

"No, Rigel my niece," said she firmly, "Those humans are in BIG trouble."

"Yes, absolutely," put in Athos in agreement. Betelgeuse, Rigel, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka just exchanged glances and resumed watching Tulio as he continued to yell at the Paradise Sanctuary group with Io, Europa and Athos.

Among the Spix macaws, Venus sat in one corner of the cage, worry lacing her face. She was especially concerned for Jupiter and Azul who had been rushed to the hospital to have their injuries fixed.

"I sure hope Jupiter and Azul are okay," murmured the pigtailed Spix macaw. At this, Blu gazed at her.

"That caracal has done him some damage to his wing, you know," he said. Venus looked up at him as Jewel joined Blu to explain more on Jupiter's situation.

"That savage wildcat threw him against a rock stack and one of the smaller rocks fell from the large one and crushed his wing," she explained. At this, Carla, Bia, Tiago, Spica, Bellatrix and Sirius all jolted from the pain Jupiter must have faced in that predicament.

"It must have been extremely painful," said Bia through a clenched beak.

"It sounds reminiscent of Grandma Jewel's situation when that horrible Nigel crushed her wing with a cage," said Sirius and with that, he gazed at Jewel who had to agree on this. Jupiter's situation was eerily similar to what she had been through on that plane during the final face-off against the wicked Nigel. Both Nigel and Carnassial had Blu pinned to the floor and both tried to jump at the villains to get them to release Blu only for them to fling them away leading to the two getting their wings crushed (Jewel's wing by a cage, Jupiter's wing by a rock). Carla then breathed a sigh.

"Uncle Jupiter's gonna be grounded for a few months then until his wing heals enough for him to be able to fly again," she murmured.

"So will several other injured birds like Gladion over there," put in Tiago as he gazed at the toucan chick as he stood with Frodo, Sylvester, Alegria, Pitaya, Eragon, Lillie, Altair and Marella, his gaze on his bandaged wing, a souvenir he had received from the savage Dalek the chameleon when he tried to rescue some of the macaw chicks from his clutches the other day. While Gladion continued to gaze at his wing, the flying foxes in one of the cages adjacent to Eragon and company were discussing a number of plans when they get back to Rio. Augustus, Stella, Luna and Soren were talking about teaching Sandalwood to fly again while Sandalwood and Acerola looked forward to returning to their home of Brazil where they belonged.

"You nervous about going on a plane, Sandy?" asked Acerola. Sandalwood just gazed at her.

"I'm just glad to be out of that miserable place of a false 'sanctuary' and back with our relatives and eventually our other relatives back in Rio," he replied, his glare on the building, the Paradise Sanctuary building, in the background behind Tulio and his team and the workers. Sandalwood then breathed a sigh and sent his mind into a recollection of the events that had happened over the past few days including his bravery in the rescue of Carla, Bia, Tiago, Mimas and Azul from Carnassial and his gang and the confrontations with Dalek and his disappearance. According to Kiara, Herbert and the other animals that had chased that chameleon to the window, the chameleon was last seen on that window's ledge and all the chimps found of him was his namesake alien top-like hat, implying that the chameleon might have met his demise. But amongst the relief that the chameleon was gone, Sandalwood felt sympathy for Dundee and his community and all the other animals, the Compartment of the Carnivore animals included, that they had been part of a rare animal collection under the guise of conservation. With a sigh escaping his mouth, Sandalwood wrapped his wings around his legs and gazed at the cage floor. As he did so, Augustus came in with Stella, Luna and Soren.

"Don't worry, grandson; we'll be heading back to Rio once our true human friends have dealt with those so-called human environment carers," said Augustus, his gaze on the Paradise Sanctuary workers as they flinched and gazed timidly at the furious Tulio as he continued to bombard them with furious words. Then another thought came into Sandalwood's head, but it made him flinch.

"Grandpa," said the little amber bat pup.

"Yes, Sandalwood," said Augustus.

"Will I HAVE to learn to fly when we return to Rio?" asked Sandalwood nervously. At this, Stella, Luna, Soren and Acerola gazed at Augustus who flashed them a glance and returned to gaze to Sandalwood.

"Well, you've made a start in learning to fly again by scaling elevated climbs like on a tree trunk," said he with a smile, "and you've also taken your first few flaps in the air," Sandalwood managed a small smile at this achievement, but that faded as Stella stepped in.

"But you've got one last obstacle to overcome," she said to her son.

"And what's that?" asked Sandalwood nervously. However, what Soren said made worry well within him again.

"Taking off from an overhang and into the air," said his father. At this, Sandalwood shot his dad an alarmed look.

"We're sorry, my nephew," said Luna in agreement, "But we bats cannot lift ourselves into the air from the ground like how most birds can. We must leap off a drop in order to catch air under our wings."

This sent shivers down Sandalwood's spine, especially the thought of standing on the edge of a branch or a manmade rooftop before a large drop. Then flashes of his ordeal at the clutches of Isabella and her siblings and friends began to boil within his mind again and the little flying fox began to emit terrified whimpers and murmurs and cover his head with his wings and began to shiver, especially as the world around him ascended in his mind and he felt his wings bound to his sides, tied there by strong vines. As he did that, Augustus, Stella, Soren, Luna and Acerola exchanged worried gazes while Frodo looked on from an adjacent cage, Sylvester, Pitaya and Alegria in his wings.

"That fear of heights and flying is still present within him," murmured Sylvester worriedly.

"I thought he would have overcome his fear of those things during our time in that so-called sanctuary by now," said Pitaya.

"Maybe he's yet to face the REAL challenge?" asked Alegria, "Actually LEARNING to drop from an overhang to open his wings to fly as all flying foxes have to do?"

"We'll have to deal with that when we return to Rio," said Frodo in a low voice to his three kids. Sylvester, Pitaya and Alegria just flashed the adult Cuban macaw a worried look and then gazed back at Sandalwood as he continued to cower on the cage floor and shiver, the comforting wings of Augustus, Stella, Luna and Soren on his back and Acerola hugging him and whispering assuring words to him to calm his shaking nerves down.

Just then, Eragon, Altair and Marella noticed some animals walk in.

"Hey look, it's some of the strange animals from the false sanctuary place," said Marella. At this, Frodo and his three kids, Lillie, Gladion and the flying foxes all looked up through their cage bars and saw a small group of a variety of some of the animals from Dundee's group approach them. Among them were Reepicheep the platypus, Kiara the echidna; Sparky, Cody and Lilo the cockatiels, Harakeke and Flax the kiwis; Shade and Sadie the grey-headed flying foxes and their daughter Connie, Sugilite the unusually purple-coloured galah, and Steven and the remainder of his family: his mother Sardonyx, father Greg and brother Kevin, and also Atreyu the emperor penguin chick and Finnick the macaroni penguin chick, Lusamine the Madagascan Livingston's flying fox and one of her spider monkey friends, Guzma. As these almost twenty animals approached Sandalwood and the others in the two cages, Sandalwood snapped out of his nervous state and rose to his feet.

"Connie, Steven," he said with surprise, "Lusamine, Guzma, Atreyu, the rest of you, what are you guys doing here?"

As he said this, Kiara the echidna who led the group brought the newcomers to a stop once they were close to the two cages.

"We've come to say our final goodbyes, both from ourselves and on the behalf of Dundee and the other animals, before you depart to um… Real was it?" said the echidna.

"It's Rio," said Augustus.

"That's it," said Kiara.

"We hope you have a safe trip," said Reepicheep before his gaze turned to Sandalwood, Acerola and then to Altair, Gladion, Lillie, Sylvester, Pitaya and Alegria, gratefulness entering his gaze, "And we'd like to thank you kids and the rest of your friends for helping us to deal with Dalek and also uncover our so-called human carers' true intentions in collecting us animals as well…" the strange mammal's glare and duck beak-like bill then snapped back at the Paradise Sanctuary workers, a look of outrage flaring with his gaze, "And I sure hope those pathetic excuses for carers will learn something as well. What they've been doing has been an absolute disgrace…"

"Um, actually, Reepicheep," said Guzma, promting the platypus to direct his gaze at him, "I saw the facial looks of some of the workers and they looked ashamed…"

"Maybe they were aware what their group was doing was wrong all along?" asked Sardonyx. Guzma didn't answer but replied with a timid nod.

"Well if that is the case," squeaked Lillie as she stood with Gladion, "I wouldn't be surprised."

The animals then all flashed another glance at Tulio as he continued yelling at the Paradise Sanctuary animals, obviously smashing through EVERY possible excuse the boss of the Paradise Sanctuary group could concoct, and shook their heads. After this, Lusamine stepped over to Sandalwood and Acerola. As she approached the two cousins, Acerola took up a defensive stance but Lusamine kept her calm facial look.

"I hope you're not gonna mock us again, are you?" growled Acerola suspiciously. At this, Stella, Luna, Augustus and Soren exchanged glances and shrugged. Sandalwood also glared at Lusamine with a fierce look.

"No, I wasn't," said the Livingstone's flying fox calmly, "I have come to say thank you and sorry for being so mean to you during your first few days here."

At this, Acerola and Sandalwood's fierce looks gave way to surprise and they gazed at each other. In the other cage, Lillie, Gladion, Altair, Pitaya, Alegria and Sylvester also shot Lusamine a surprised look. Then Lusamine went up to Sandalwood and held out her wing.

"Furthermore, Sandalwood," said she, "I don't think you're an utter coward."

"Certainly not after dealing with that horrible Dalek and his caracal and serval friends," put in Guzma. Beside him, Connie, Sugilite, Atreyu, Sparky, Finnick, Cody and Lilo also looked on with surprise. Sandalwood gazed at Lusamine's outstretched wing and slowly raised his wing and interlocked it with hers. The two bats then did a quick wing-shake and shared a smile each before Lusamine finally separated her wing from Sandalwood's, did a wing-shake with Acerola and then left to do the same to Gladion and the other chicks. Connie looked on.

"Well, that was unexpected," she said.

"Yes," said Atreyu in agreement, "It seems that Lusamine and her group have finally had a change of heart."

He then gazed at Sandalwood, Gladion, the others with them in the two cages and then at the rest of Blu's group in the other cages as well and sighed. When he saw the emperor penguin chick do this, Greg stepped forwards to Kiara. An idea had entered his head based on the emperor penguin's desire to leave the Paradise Sanctuary.

"Kiara," said the scarlet macaw.

"Yes," said Kiara. Greg's face fell as Sardonyx, Steven and Kevin walked up to him, the same looks appearing on their faces. Finnick, Atreyu, Sugilite and Connie did the same, much to Sadie and Shade's surprise.

"I would like to go with those Rio animals," said Greg, his gaze on Sandalwood and the others, "Me and my family."

"So do I," said Atreyu. Finnick nodded in agreement, as did Connie and Sugilite. At this, surprised looks came upon the faces of Reepicheep, Kiara, Sparky, Cody, Lilo, Harakeke, Flax, Shade, Sadie, Guzma and also Lusamine as she returned from saying her goodbyes to Sirius and the other kids of Blu's group.

"But Greg," said Flax.

"You don't know Brazil for one and you belong with us for another," said Harakeke.

"Yes, you've been living with us for many years," added Cody. Sparky and Lilo nodded in agreement. However, sombre looks came upon the faces of Greg and his mate and two sons. From their cages, Eragon, Marella, Frodo, Augustus, Stella, Luna and Soren looked on.

"That is true," said Greg, "But after learning of the intentions of those human 'carers' which we now know to be rare animal collectors, we feel that we don't belong here anymore."

"Furthermore," said Steven, his gaze on Sandalwood and company, "We have made friends with those Rio animals, especially the red macaws," his nod was directed to Betelgeuse, Rigel, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka in their cage with Io, Athos and Europa.

"And Connie with Sandalwood and Acerola," put in Kevin as he gazed at Connie as she looked at Sandalwood longingly. Sadie and Shade also saw this longing gaze in their daughter's eyes as they remained locked on the young Brazilian flying fox pup. Sardonyx then stepped in.

"In addition," she said, "The Paradise Sanctuary, or should I call it, the Paradise of Animal Collectors, has become laced with bad memories, especially after what happened to Lars, our oldest son."

A pang of pity flashed through Frodo, Eragon, Marella, Augustus, Stella, Luna and Soren when they heard Sardonyx say this.

"Those two scarlet macaws have lost a chick?" whispered Soren.

"Yes, Dad," said Sandalwood, "That same caracal ate him while he was chasing me and Sirius and allowed just to get away."

Stella shot her son a horrified gaze but said nothing. Then Atreyu made a frown toward the kiwis, the cockatiels, Kiara and Reepicheep.

"And I have my own personal reasons as well," he said, "Such as feeling out of place in that building, and how I feel so lost and faded without my real biological family…"

"And as for us two, we feel like we don't belong here either," put in Finnick. Sugilite nodded in agreement. As the macaroni penguin spoke, from the Spix macaws' group, Petunia, Vega, Deneb and Polaris watched through the bars of their cage while Kira, Charlotte, Lavender and Garrett were talking with Blu and the others with him in their cage.

After hearing Greg and the other seven animals' request to leave with Blu's group and their desire for this lacing their voices, Kiara began to enter thought. After thinking, she said, "I'll discuss this with Dundee. I don't think he might agree with that since that means that you eight will be entering the world of the unknown."

Greg, Sardonyx, Steven, Connie, Kevin, Finnick, Atreyu and Sugilite gazed at the echidna hopefully as she turned to the three cockatiels and told them to alert Dundee of the eight animals' request to leave with Blu's group. Cody, Sparky and Lilo nodded and lofted into flight to look for Dundee. Lusamine looked on with surprise as Guzma came in.

"Well, a lot of nasty things has happened, my flying fox friend," said the rare spider monkey before his gaze landed on Connie as she discussed her desire to go with Sandalwood with Shade and Sadie, her parents, as well as Atreyu as he talked with Greg and Sardonyx, "And after all, that emperor penguin misses his Antarctic land, colony and family anyway."

"I deeply regret making fun of his ordeal in almost getting drowned in that fishing net leading to his bringing to here as well, Guzma," said Lusamine. Guzma breathed a sigh and nodded in agreement, regret also welling within him.

While Blu and company continued to wait for Tulio and his team with some of the latter's team members, among them Linda, watching over them, to finish their confrontation with the Paradise Sanctuary workers and also for Jupiter and Azul's return after surgery, Tulio continued to unleash his furious lambasts and searing comments at the Paradise Sanctuary's workers and boss about the subject of conservation and how the latter group of humans had been using it as an excuse to collect animals. Flanking Tulio, some of his team members, among them Francisco, also wore thunderous looks as their eyes bore into the collectors-disguised-as-conservationists. Not too far away, Dundee and a number of other animals watched on.

"I cannot BELIEVE that you lot would use the façade of conservation to cover up your REAL intentions of collecting rare animals for your own personal gain," these words practically flew from Tulio's mouth like an ash plume from an erupting volcano, "What kind of AUDACITY do you lot have to do such a thing!?"

"Especially with the theft of the world's only two golden fruithawks from our aviary back in Rio against our wishes," put in Francisco furiously. At this, the Paradise Sanctuary boss tried to hide his fright with an innocent smile but his fear at Tulio and his team's fury at him and his group was enough to splinter his sentences.

"W-w-we were o-o-only c-c-collecting a v-v-variety of… of-of en-endangered… an-an-animals f-f-f-for…" however, under his attempts to conceal his guilt, he knew full well that he had no excuse. He and his team's intentions have been uncovered and brought to the light. Tulio's thunderous look remained on his face.

"For what!?" shouted he, "For your OWN personal collection and to SHOW OF TO THE PUBLIC!?"

The boss and his group flinched harshly as Tulio practically screeched these words at them. The boss tried to make another futile excuse to cover up this aim but Tulio swept on.

"Animals are NOT mere things to collect," shouted the head of the Rio Animal and Bird Conservation team, "They are NOT things to be treated like non-living things like very rare rocks or collectibles. They are LIVING and BREATHING CREATURES that should be TREATED WITH RESPECT, ALONG WITH THEIR NATURAL HABITATS!"

Tulio's workers nodded in agreement. In the background, Dundee and company watched on.

"Those humans are for it now," whispered Olympia the cassowary to Dundee and Nick, referring to the Paradise Sanctuary group, "Especially now that their real intentions have been unveiled…"

Dundee, Nick and the other animals didn't reply and continued watching the confrontation. Then Francisco came forward from Tulio's group.

"And to top it all off, calling the collecting of rare animals for your own personal gain CONSERVATION, especially through the hiring of poachers to nab them from their natural habitat, is borderline DIABOLICAL, CRIMINAL and INSIDIOUS!" he snarled.

"Not to mention the fact that you called your collector's den a 'PARADISE SANCTUARY'!" added another of Tulio's workers, a woman named Amy. The Paradise Sanctuary boss shuddered at this revelation and tried to make another futile excuse to cover this up.

"B-b-b-but we were o-o-o-only w-w-w-working to preserve th-th-these animals…" he said but Tulio shook his head.

"No, conservation is about PROTECTING rare animals and their ENVIRONMENT and HABITATS," he snapped, "NOT poaching them as though they are mere collectible items."

"And besides that, TRUE conservationists would NEVER EVER hire poachers to steal animals from their natural habitat like how YOU lot did," put in one of Tulio's female workers.

"B-b-b-but what about those Spix, glaucous and Lear's macaws that you found years and years ago?" asked the boss of the Paradise Sanctuary, "Wasn't that catching them from the environment? If so, wouldn't that be a bit…" the man's face formed a small smirk, "hypocritical?"

"That was different," snapped Tulio, "At the time, those Spix and glaucous macaws were the last KNOWN individuals of their species and we wanted to make sure that they could breed to preserve their species."

As he said this, Blu gazed at Jewel and Venus.

"I remember Tulio and company's aim to breed us to help save our species, but of course we weren't ready back then," said he. Jewel just put on an agreeing frown.

"Quite right," she said, "It was only a matter of patience Tulio and company had to have until we're ready to have chicks."

Venus just shrugged while Sirius, Spica and Bellatrix in Carla, Bia and Tiago's wings looked on curiously.

"Where did our Grandpas and Grandmas meet?" asked Sirius. At this, Bia hushed at him.

"We'll show you when we return to Rio, son," she said. Sirius, Bellatrix and Spica just exchanged glances and shrugged and resumed watching the confrontation between Tulio and his team and the Paradise Sanctuary group.

"As for the Lear's macaws, since that female that we found near Rio was the only one of her species we knew at the time in that part of Brazil along with a male that we found in the care of some humans from across the Atlantic Ocean," continued Tulio, obviously referring to Sapphire and then to Mercury who had been under the care of Susan, Lucy and their triplet cousins Blake, Drake and Jake for well over ten years since he and Venus had been smuggled out of Brazil and to Europe, "We wanted to help establish a population of breeding Lear's macaws on the Blu Bird Sanctuary to assist in the conservation of that critically endangered species as well."

As he said this, Mercury just shrugged as Arcturus who stood with his parents Phoebe and Squaw'tagnan looked on, curiosity welling within her.

"Across the Atlantic Ocean?" squeaked Arcturus.

"Your grandpa used to live in a city called London in the European country called the UK," said Phoebe. Arcturus's beak widened into a smile in fascination as Mercury gazed at her.

"I'll tell you more of our lives in that country when we get back to Rio," said he. Arcturus felt excitement bubble within her as she looked forward to learning more about her grandfather's time as Susan and Lucy's pet in England.

"We NEVER had collecting those rare macaws as though they are collector's items to show off in mind," continued Tulio, "We only had conserving their species in mind when we captured some of those macaws from the wild when we found them."

"But as for YOU lot," continued Francisco, making the Paradise Sanctuary boss and his team flinch, "YOU were only merely collecting those animals for your own gain and for flaunting without a sliver of CARE about their wellbeing."

This statement made guilt well within some of the Paradise Sanctuary workers and their faces fell. Then one of them shot the boss a disgusted look.

"You told us that you were conserving those animals," growled she.

"You never said anything, at ALL, about those animals being a personal collection OR about poaching them from their natural habitats around the world for that collection," added another. The boss's face, especially his cheeks, flushed to a deep red colour, as red as the feathers of Mars and the other red macaws, the shame and guilt forcing blood into those areas. Then one of the workers flashed a guilt-laced glance at the two fruithawks among the caged birds to be taken back to Rio a short distance away and drooped his eyebrows and mouth.

"We should have phoned the Rio conservationists about those golden fruithawks had we known about how they were brought here in the first place," whispered the man to some of his fellow workers who nodded in agreement, the same guilt-laced look mirroring that of the speaker's face. Tulio then continued.

"So that brings us to one big conclusion," he said to the Paradise Sanctuary group, "You lot have been lying to everyone about your so-called conservation work. You have lied to the public by saying to them that you have rescued those animals from poachers when in fact you have hired those poachers to catch them; you have lied to the scientific community about your collection and to top it all off, you have stained the name of animal conservation…"

The boss had nothing to say as his leg muscles began to feel like jelly and struggle to support his weight and his face turned an ever deeper red. Hot flushes surged through his body and he began to feel weak. Some of his workers also began to feel sickened; some of their faces turning pale as the blood drained from their facial skins and one of them even swayed and then fainted as the overwhelming shock overtook her. She had to be caught some of her workmates and gently lowered to the floor.

From their cages, Blu and company watched on, unsurprised looks on their faces.

"We rest our case," growled Adenine as he glared at the Paradise Sanctuary group. Guanine, Adenine, Thymine and Mimas looked on disgustedly and said nothing. Around Ganymede's family, the other macaws and animals also glared on with agreeing faces but the Paradise Sanctuary group's confrontation was not over yet. Tulio then hardened his thunderous glare.

"I have sent one of my employees to phone the authorities to place you lot under arrest for…" he said when suddenly, a voice came in.

"Tulio, sir," said Susan, pulling Tulio's attention to her as she walked in with a mobile phone (also called a cellphone), "It's Thomas and his team in the Sanctuary de Amazon headquarters and they have something to say about those poachers that have intruded into that nature reserve and the one in Rio."

At this, Tulio took the phone and began to speak to Thomas who was making the call.

"Ola, Thomas," said he as Susan backed away, a frown on her face. As he began to speak to his employee and his team in Brazil, the Paradise Sanctuary boss and his team began to listen in. From Blu's group in their cages, Aramis who was in Uranus's cage with Miranda, Capella, Achernar, Titania, Antares, Umbriel and Aldebaran, undid the slide lock, opened the door and flew out in the direction of Tulio and some of his team members as the former began to speak on the phone, much to the others' alarm.

"Aramis!" cried Uranus but his son-in-law but then Miranda saw what Aramis wanted to do.

"I believe he knows who is making the call, Dad," said she. At this, Uranus gazed at his eldest daughter and abandoned going after Aramis. As Aramis hovered close to Tulio, making sure that none of the humans saw him, Capella, Achernar, Antares and Aldebaran looked on.

"What's he doing, Mom?" asked Aldebaran to Umbriel.

"He's listening on the conversation between Tulio and the caller on that cellphone, son," said Umbriel.

"Yes, one of his colleagues back in Brazil," said Titania for she had also deduced who was making the call. At this, Aldebaran gazed at his great green aunt and turned to watch Aramis as he continued to listen in on Tulio and Thomas's phone call. As he did that, Capella gazed at the two fruithawks in their own cage and in the hands of one of Tulio's workers who had opted to look after the birds and flying foxes and saw that Gylfie and Aurum were talking to each other.

"Hey, guys," she said, "It seems that those two fruit-eating birds of prey have warmed up to each other."

At this, Uranus, Titania, Miranda and Umbriel gazed at the two golden fruithawks as well.

"Well, that's a good sign," said Uranus at the positivity of the two fruithawks' interaction, "They're showing no signs of hostility to each other at all."

"Are they the very last known pair of their species in the ENTIRE world?" asked Capella.

"Apparently so," said Miranda.

"Yes they are," said Enceladus in one of the adjacent cages as he stood with hyacinth mate Trixie and their hybrid daughter Mira, one that was large enough and tall enough to accommodate Trixie's height, "and it seems that those fraudulent 'conservationists' wanted those two fruithawks to be part of their collection."

"Alongside a breeding pair of Spix, glaucous, Cuban red and Lear's macaws, archaeobirds and some other rare species from Brazil," put in Mira with a disgusted glare. Just then the sounds of wing-flaps alerted the group.

"Well, well, that concludes it," said Aramis as he touched down, entered Uranus's cage and shut the door and locked it, smugness saturating his voice and facial glare, "Those poachers, along with their pet dogs and crows, caught on both the Sanctuary de Amazon in the Amazon Rainforest AND the Blu Bird Sanctuary are workers of those Paradise Sanctuary conservation fraudsters," his glare then hardened, "And you should have seen the reaction of that group of humans as well."

At this, Uranus, Miranda, Capella, Achernar, Titania, Antares, Umbriel, Aldebaran, Enceladus, Mira and Trixie glared at the Paradise Sanctuary group and saw that all of them, including the boss were now all trembling like jelly figures, clearly flooded with stress at finally being busted. Their breathing had accelerated and some of them were shooting timid glances in various directions as though they wanted to run for it. Thomas's call from Brazil about the poachers that had intruded into the Blu Bird and Amazon sanctuaries and the information Thomas and his team, and the team in Rio, had gathered from the poachers through interrogation was the final nail in the coffin for the Paradise Sanctuary's work. Tulio then began to tell the group that the authorities will be alerted and that their fraudulent 'conservation' work, and the group itself, will be placed under arrest for a variety of crimes, such as hiring poachers to steal animals from the environment and protected reserves, lying to the public and scientific community and for fraud.

 **Later**

The authorities have been alerted of the Paradise Sanctuary's crimes and police and other authority groups have come to the place and have closed off the building. As for the workers, they had been placed under arrest. The animals that had spent so long living in this fake sanctuary were seized by conservationists (REAL conservationists that is), and will be sent back to the countries from which they came. Jupiter and Azul's surgery on their wing and shoulder had been finally complete and the two macaws had been returned to Tulio from the animal hospital to be returned to Brazil and looked after in Tulio's Aviary until they recovered.

As Tulio and company, their job done in uncovering the Paradise Sanctuary's dark work, packed Blu and company and the two fruithawks into the cargo bay of the plane to prepare to return to Rio, amongst the cages still to be packed, Sandalwood clung onto the bars of his cage and gazed at the animals that had lived on the Paradise Sanctuary as they were sorted into their country destination by the real Peruvian conservationists in preps for conservationists from those countries to come and collect them, and picked out Dundee, Nick, Olympia, Mina and her Tasmanian devil group, Flax, Harakeke and the other kiwis, the kakapos, Reepicheep and his platypus relatives and Kiara and her echidna relatives who were destined to be returned to Australia and New Zealand where they belonged. Sandalwood's gaze was laced with sadness for this departure was likely to be the last time he and the other kids including Sirius, Spica and Bellatrix will ever see Dundee and the others before they are taken away.

As he continued gazing at Dundee and company, Augustus came in.

"Still saddened at departing from your new friends, eh, Sandy?" asked his grandpa. Sandalwood pulled his gaze from Dundee and company and moved it to Augustus.

"Yeah," he said, "I'm gonna miss them."

Augustus's mouth widened into a comforting smile and his wing went to cloak Sandalwood's back.

"Well, it's for the better for those animals, grandson," he said; "Their place is in the countries from which they came. However, there are a few of them that have decided to come with us to Rio…"

And with that, Augustus nodded to three of the cages nearby. Sandalwood followed his grandfather's gaze and saw that the cage contained some animals that were from the Paradise Sanctuary place. Among them were, to the surprise of Sandalwood, Connie, Sugilite, Atreyu, Finnick and some of the other penguins, and some of the macaws that were native to Brazil, among them Sardonyx, Greg, Steven and Kevin who had Connie and Sugilite in their wings. The latter four had sneaked Connie and Sugilite into their cage so that Tulio and his team would not notice that a grey-headed flying fox and a galah had hitched a ride to go with Sandalwood and company back to Brazil. Sandalwood flashed a small smile as he saw Connie look up at him from under Sardonyx's wings and waved to him before retreating back under Greg's mate's wing to hide as Susan came round to check on the additional animals.

Shade and Sadie had been reluctant to allow Connie to go with Blu's group but after much persuasion from their daughter, especially her desire to go with Sandalwood back to Brazil and at Dundee's urging they ultimately relented. Connie went with Greg and his family while Sade and Sadie were packed into a cage with the other grey-headed bats but not before sharing an emotional goodbye to their daughter as this will be the last time they see each other. As Sandalwood gazed at Susan as she examined Greg and his family and some of the other macaws with him, he slid down from the cage bars and onto the cage floor, gladness welling within him that he was finally going back to Brazil. However, he was still nervous about the thought of learning to fly properly, especially at the thought of having to drop into the air as flying foxes had to do to get airborne. As these thoughts preyed on his mind and as he turned with Augustus to return to Stella, Luna, Soren and Acerola's side, Sandalwood thought he saw a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye through the bars of the cage adjacent to the one he had been peering out at Connie and the others. At this, the flying fox pup's eyes darted to the direction of the movement but as his eyes landed on where he thought he saw the movement, he saw nothing except one of the spider monkeys being guided by two conservationists into a large cage with two other monkeys.

"Sandalwood?" asked Augustus's voice. At this, Sandalwood snapped out of his gaze and eyed Augustus.

"Oh, nothing, Grandpa," said he, "Just getting one last glimpse of those strange animals before we leave."

Augustus smiled and told his grandson to return to the other four bats, especially as one of Tulio's workers, Tulio's own wife Linda, came along to pick up the cage they were in. However, Sandalwood flashed one last glance at the area where he saw the movement as the cage was lifted off the ground and carried to the plane's cargo bay. Uncertainty gnawed at him.

'Surely it was that spider monkey that made that movement?' he thought. Pushing aside this thought, Sandalwood turned to talk to Stella and Soren as Linda carried them away.

As Linda disappeared into the cargo bay with Sandalwood and the other flying foxes with him, Fernando following with the cage containing Blu, Jewel, Venus, Carla, Bia, Tiago, Sirius, Spica and Bellatrix, something peered out from behind a crate and glared at Tulio and his team, especially at Blu and company and the other parrots. As soon as Fernado had disappeared into the cargo bay of the plane to pack Blu and the others with the already-packed caged animals and the backs of the other humans and animals were turned, the something moved from behind the crate, quickly rushed through the clearing towards one of the boxes being packed by Tulio's team, heading straight towards the one that was still open. Then as soon as it was near the box, the something latched onto the side, quickly clambered up to the rim of the box and dived inside it, moments before Lucy appeared and placed the lid of the box over its opening, unaware that something had climbed into it. then as soon as she had placed the box's lid over its opening, Lucy picked up the box and left with it for the cargo bay.


	68. Chapter 67

**Chapter 67- a massive reunion back in Rio at last!**

 **Later**

Nightfall had consumed South America in its shadow of darkness and stars and Tulio and company were on their flight back to Rio, Brazil. Some of the humans on the plane were asleep except for the pilots who were in the cockpit controlling the plane, set to autopilot but not without human supervision. Linda, Tulio, Fernando and the other humans were asleep in the seating section while in the cargo bay, Blu and company were also asleep; some of them outside their cages and in the soft blankets packed in the cargo bay by their human friends alongside their cages and the boxes.

Blu, Jewel, Venus, Carla, Bia and Tiago were all snuggled together with Bellatrix, Spica and Sirius under the latter three's wings just outside their cage in a bedding of one blanket set up by Blu before the Spix macaws turned in for the night with Kira, Charlotte, Lavender and Garrett slept nearby with Petunia, Vega, Deneb and Polaris snuggled up in the wings of their parents. Nearby, Phoebe, Squaw'tagnan, Mercury and Arcturus were still in their cage also snuggled together with Arcturus sleeping comfortably in her mother Phoebe's wings with Ceres, Azul (his previously dislocated shoulder in a cast), Carmen, Pluto, Blueberry, Aiden, Saiph, Charon, Neytiri, Regulus and Denebola asleep in another blanket outside their cage. Augustus, Stella, Luna, Soren, Acerola and Sandalwood were also outside their cage and were hanging upside down from one of the rims of the crates with Sandalwood snuggled against Stella's breast and wings for the crate was a low height which was to his liking, for now and Frodo, Sylvester, Pitaya, Alegria, Eragon, Marella, Altair, Gladion and Lillie were near the glaucous macaws also asleep, Eragon and Gladion's wings, as well as Neytiri's, in their casts. These wings will be checked on by the humans as soon as they touched down in Rio in nearly ten hours from now.

On the other side of the cargo bay, Adenine, Thymine, Guanine and Cytosine were asleep with their blue-and-gold mother Mimas, all snuggled together, again outside their cage while Betelgeuse, Rigel, Io, Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka, Europa, Byron, Canopus and Athos slept near Jupiter whose fixed broken left wing was in a cast. Jupiter, along with Azul, had been returned from the hospital as soon as their operation on their wing and shoulder had been completed though the two of them had still been under the effects of the anaesthetic used on them to put them to sleep for the surgery when they were discharged from the animal hospital and returned to Tulio and company. Near the red macaws and Mimas and her Catalina chicks, Procyon, Porthos, Castor, Pollux, Titan and Mars were in their cage, also asleep with Procyon, Castor and Pollux snuggled against their fathers.

Nearby, Uranus, Miranda, Aramis, Capella, Achernar, Titania, Antares, Umbriel and Aldebaran were asleep in a shallow box that was large enough to hold all of them and Enceladus, Trixie, Mira, Neptune, Oberon, Fomalhaut, Mira, Indigo, Victor and Mira were asleep in another shallow box, all snuggled together and Gylfie and Aurum the golden fruithawks slept in their cage close to the Spix macaws. Finally, the new additions to the group consisting of mostly parrots and penguins, among them Greg, Sardonyx and their two remaining sons Steven and Kevin, as well as Atreyu the emperor penguin chick, Finnick the macaroni penguin chick, Sugilite the galah, and Connie the grey-headed flying fox, were all sleep also in their cages.

Blu and company and the newcomers were all, or nearly all, sound asleep. The former group looked forward to reuniting with their other family members and friends back in Rio, such as Carla and Spica with Justin, Sonia and Melody; Bia and Sirius with Virgil, Einstein and Miles; Tiago and Bellatrix with Matilda and Bartholomew and so on. A few of the kids, however, were only sleeping shallowly. Sandalwood, who was in his mother Stella's wings, was one of them. He was just dozing and not in a deep sleep unlike his mother, father, grandfather, aunt or his cousin Acerola who slept soundly next to Luna.

Sandalwood continued snuggling against the fur of his mother's breast and relishing the warmth of her embrace, something he had been longing for since the incident at the clutches of Isabella and her comrades jabbed the fear of heights and flying into him some days ago now. Sandalwood was slowly overcoming his fear of heights and flight and had managed to ascend vertical walls, such as a tree trunk and even flew and glided by himself several times while at the fake 'Paradise Sanctuary' place, and also had been carried by other flyers such as Blu and Sirius. Sandalwood had also overcome his fear of hanging upside down but only from small heights and not yet large ones but he still had one massive obstacle to overcome: standing on a large overhang and dropping into the air to get airborne, something Sandalwood still dreaded facing. However, that was to be tackled when the group arrived back in Rio, and Sandalwood was not looking forward to it at all. Sandalwood continued to doze, whispering in his shallow sleep. The plane's engines continued to roar in the background and the sounds of bird snores also filled the air, the roar of the plane's engines obviously not bothering them due to the barrier of the their sleep blocking it out, but Sandalwood was somewhat restless. He continued dozing for a few more seconds until he let loose a small sneeze which jolted him awake. At this, Sandalwood let loose a small and startled gasp and snapped open his eyes. His eyes then began to scan the upside down surroundings of the plane's dark cargo bay, save for a few streams of silvery moonlight shining through the holes in the walls, and dart from one group of sleeping forms to the next. Then Sandalwood's gaze turned to the floor which was only a few centimetres from the tips of Augustus's ears, the box's rim from which the flying foxes hung not being very high, but high enough for the flying foxes to hang from for it was the only suitable perch for the bats to sleep.

Sandalwood released a small yawn and quietly slipped out of Stella's wings until he was free and he dropped onto the floor. The little amber flying fox pup then began to creep around, his eyes moving slowly from one sleeping form of the others to the next, some in their cages and some not. Sandalwood was feeling unsettled and uneasy. He had been since seeing that flash of movement back in Peru before he and the other flying foxes were taken by Linda and placed into the cargo bay but the flying fox pup kept assuring himself that it was just that spider monkey being guided by those two true conservationists to a cage, ready for sending off to another sanctuary or to be released into the wild in its rightful place. But another part of Sandalwood argued that the flash of movement was something else, something far more sinister. Sandalwood shook his head at the feeling. 'Sinister?' he thought to himself, 'What do you mean 'sinister'? There's nothing to worry about. We're out of Peru now.'

As Sandalwood continued to debate in his mind, he was suddenly made alert by a sound: _pop!_ This sound sent a jolt down the flying fox pup's spine and made him stiffen and bristle his amber fur. Then Sandalwood's green eyes began to scan the dark, partially moonlit surroundings. That popping sound was unfamiliar to Sandalwood but it came from something hard, presumably from something manmade but Sandalwood could not place a wing thumb on it for he was still not very familiar with human things, but it still sent discomfort coursing through his body and turning his nerves and blood to a mild frost. Sandalwood continued examining the dark environment and the sleeping forms of the others including Blu, Venus and Jewel and the other Spix macaws with them who were not too far away, all snuggled in a blanket and against each other. Sandalwood's eyes then moved from the Spix macaws to the Lear's macaws in their cage before moving from them to the other animals as he scanned them again, his body stiffened with unease. Then suddenly, a small 'whoosh' sound and a flash of movement came by, startling the little flying fox pup into darting his gaze in the movement's direction but to his trepidation, he saw nothing.

"Um… A-A-Acerola?" murmured the little bat timidly, "W-w-was that you?"

Sandalwood then snapped his gaze to the upside-down forms of Augustus, Stella, Luna and Soren and saw that Acerola was still by Luna's side, still asleep. This ruled out Acerola being the cause of the sound but then a third sound, this time a grunt, snapped Sandalwood's attention from his cousin to a new direction, his head whipping around as though it had been stung by a bee. Sandalwood soon found himself gazing at Blu, Jewel, Venus, Carla, Bia, Tiago, Sirius, Spica and Bellatrix in their blanket once again, Kira, Charlotte, Lavender, Garrett, Petunia, Vega, Deneb and Polaris sleeping near them. Sandalwood then timidly and cautiously began to slink towards the Spix macaws to investigate, his body shaking like a leaf. As he crept closer to Blu and the other Spix macaws, he slowly sneaked past Frodo's group and the glaucous macaws who continued to blow Z's into the air. However, as Sandalwood crept past the glaucous macaws, the eyes of one of the glaucous macaw chicks, Saiph who was under Blueberry's wing as she slept under Aiden's wing, flicked open. As Saiph's eyes landed on the creeping form of Sandalwood as he crept past the glaucous macaws, the glaucous macaw chick and the only son of Aiden and Blueberry quietly slid out from under his mother's wing and rose to his feet.

Sandalwood continued gazing at Blu and the other Spix macaws as they continued to sleep. Blu was asleep with his wing wrapped around Jewel while Carla, Bia, Tiago, Sirius, Bellatrix and Spica were asleep around Venus separate from the first two. Sandalwood then thought he heard a hissing sound which made his skin crawl and the uneasy feeling grow like a flame but then he noticed that the hissing noise was escaping through a sleeping Venus's beak as she exhaled, or so he thought but still it made the unease within the flying fox pup boil all the more. As Sandalwood continued gazing at the Spix macaws, an azure macaw chick with a grey head, a double set of head feathers (a Mohawk-like crest like his father Aiden but smaller and another sheet of feathers like that of Bia's behind the Mohawk), yellow facial skin areas (eye rings and lappet by his lower beak), and dark blue eyes slowly crept up behind the flying fox pup and also gazed at Blu and the other Spix macaws. Then Sandalwood's eyes happened to travel in the glaucous macaw chick's direction but the moment they landed on Saiph, Sandalwood flinched harshly, bristled his fur and stifled the urge to shriek. Saiph did the same but when the two kids managed to register each other's identity, their feathers and fur lowered.

"Oh, Saiph, you've frightened me to death," gasped Sandalwood, his membranous wing clasping his chest as his heart beat rapidly from the shock. Saiph also held his chest as his heart had also accelerated. Then after taking a few seconds to calm down, the glaucous macaw chick and flying fox pup began to talk.

"What are you doing away from your mom Mrs Stella and the other flying foxes?" asked Saiph, "You should be asleep. We're not back in Rio yet."

Sandalwood breathed a sigh. "I couldn't sleep," he said. Saiph also breathed a sigh.

"Neither could I," he said but then a saddened and rather uneasy look came upon his face.

"What is it?" asked Sandalwood in a low voice, jolting as Pluto stirred in his sleep.

"I've just been having a funny dream," whispered Saiph, "We were flying through a forest… and then…" the little glaucous chick then began to shudder.

"Then what?" asked Sandalwood. Saiph gazed at then flying fox pup.

"Have you ever felt the feeling that something might be following us?" he asked, "I certainly do."

Sandalwood gazed at the glaucous macaw chick with surprise that he would ask this question so abruptly. However, before the bat could reply, the glaucous macaw chick's dark blue eyes caught some movement out of their corner. At this, the glaucous macaw chick's gaze darted in Blu and company's direction and as they landed on the Spix macaws, especially Blu and Jewel, the little chick froze and his eyes widened. Sandalwood followed Saiph's gaze, wondering what had made him freeze, but the moment his green eyes landed on what Saiph saw, the little flying fox managed to stifle a startled gasp.

Near Blu and Jewel, part of the blanket on which they and the other Spix macaws slept appeared to lift itself into the air. That part of the blanket then hovered like a sheet over Blu and Jewel's heads like a ghost sheet as the couple continued to sleep in each other's wings. Frightened by the sinister sight, Saiph and Sandalwood began to creep towards it. Their fur and feathers bristled and their bodies began to shudder.

"L-l-looks like a g-g-g-ghost i-i-i-is a-a-afoot," stammered Saiph at the sight of the moving blanket piece as though it had a mind of its own, two parts of it hovering above the rest as though some invisible being was holding it in two places. Sandalwood also shuddered violently but the immense fear has blocked his choice of words, the sight of the moving blanket piece striking immense fright into him, but he and Saiph continued to approach the moving blanket but what happened next plunged their blood and hearts into pure ice. The hovering blanket piece, the two corners hovering the highest above the rest of the sheet, then leaped over Blu and Jewel's heads and upper bodies and enveloped them completely; resulting in an ensuing struggle as the Spix macaw couple began to struggle for breath under the blanket piece, their access to the air suddenly cut off. This time Saiph and Sandalwood really did scream as they watched the pair of Spix macaws writhe under the blanket like two fish caught in a net. A pair of high-pitched screeches, one from a glaucous macaw chick and the other from a flying fox pup, tore the cargo bay air apart and carried to all the walls of the room, jolting everyone else awake.

The first to be startled awake were those nearest to Sandalwood and Saiph. Ceres, Azul, Carmen, Pluto, Blueberry, Aiden, Charon, Neytiri, Regulus and Denebola all jumped awake with screeches erupting from their beaks as though the blanket they were sleeping in suddenly turned extremely hot and Carmen, Denebola and Regulus were actually knocked out of the blanket and onto the floor; Phoebe, Squaw'tagnan, Mercury and Arcturus all jumped awake in their cage and flapped madly within it, wondering what had hit them; Venus, Carla, Bia, Tiago, Bellatrix, Spica, Sirius, Kira, Charlotte, Lavender, Garrett, Petunia, Vega, Deneb and Polaris all also jumped awake and Bellatrix and Sirius were accidentally thrown into Gylfie and Aurum's cage; Augustus, Stella, Luna, Soren and Acerola's claws clutching them to their crate perch gave out and the five flying foxes collapsed like fruit onto the floor with Acerola screaming in shock; and Frodo, Sylvester, Pitaya, Alegria, Eragon, Marella, Altair, Gladion and Lillie were also jolted awake, Eragon accidentally landing his still-healing shoulder, making him let loose a short screech of pain for that shoulder was still sensitive.

Throughout the rest of the cargo bay, Adenine, Betelgeuse, Rigel and the rest of the group including the other animals were also startled awake. Sardonyx, Greg, Steven and Kevin rocketed upward in their cage so hard that all four of them banged their heads on the cage top and Connie, Atreyu, Finnick and some of the other parrots including Sugilite the galah were also startled awake. As everyone jolted awake thanks to their screams, Sandalwood and Saiph continued screaming until a familiar voice rang out, accompanied by a stream of yellow light as it shone onto them.

"SANDALWOOD, SAIPH, WHAT IS IT!?" cried the owner of the voice and the holder of the stream of light which was a device called a flashlight or torch. Sandalwood and Saiph, extreme fright still consuming them, gazed at the holder of the torch, which was only Mars but the sight of the green-winged macaw's sudden appearance only sent the fires of terror within them burning higher. The flying fox pup and the glaucous macaw chick let loose another piercing scream and darted off towards Blu and Jewel who were still squirming under the blanket, their heads and upper bodies enveloped by the sheet. The flying fox pup and glaucous macaw chick collided with the parents of Carla, Bia and Tiago and the four bowled over towards Sirius, Bellatrix, Aurum and Gylfie much to the immense shock of Venus and the other Spix macaws. The chaos whipped up by Saiph and Sandalwood continued to occur until finally, things began to calm down, especially as Venus, Carla, Bia, Tiago and Kira, having noticed Blu and Jewel wrapped up in the blanket, then began to help the couple out of their entanglement. As soon as the two macaws' heads were free, their beaks began to suck in the much-needed air in a series of rapid gasps. Following this, Blu and Jewel began to shoot confused glances this way and that while Bia and Tiago retrieved Bellatrix and Sirius and apologised to them for throwing them during the startled awakening.

"Wow, what happened?" asked Blu in a startled voice.

"AN INVISIBLE FORCE WAS TRYING TO SUFFOCATE YOU with that SHEET THING!" cried Sandalwood, the immense fear still burning within him and causing tears of terror to spill down his cheeks and his body to shake violently as though he were in an earthquake. Saiph also trembled violently and wept terrified tears. At this, Blu and Jewel shot the pair a confused look and gazed at the blanket while more confused looks were exchanged amongst the rest of the group.

"An invisible force?" repeated Bia with curiosity. Carla, Tiago, Venus, Kira, Garrett, Lavender and Charlotte, however, only shot Bia a tired and irritated look and soon, Sandalwood and Saiph found themselves on the receiving end of dozens of annoyed and outraged looks.

"Sandalwood, Saiph, STOP FOOLING AROUND!" barked Blueberry angrily with Aiden, Neytiri, Pluto, Ceres, Azul, Carmen, Neytiri, Charon, Denebola and Regulus looking on with furious and agreeing looks. Stella, Soren, Augustus, Acerola and Luna also glared at the flying fox pup and glaucous macaw chick with the others with outraged and tired looks.

"B-b-but…" began Sandalwood but Augustus hardened his glare.

"SANDALWOOD, listen to YOUR ELDERS!" he rebuked in a very loud voice that carried throughout the cargo bay, making Sandalwood and Saiph flinch harshly. Then Stella stepped forward.

"Into my wings son, NOW!" commanded she. Sandalwood flinched again and obediently jumped into his mother's wings and was carried back to the flying foxes' chosen sleeping spot with Acerola, Luna, Augustus and Soren in tow. Saiph was also commanded by Aiden and Blueberry to return to the makeshift nest to which he obeyed without hesitation. As soon as Sandalwood and Saiph were removed, Mars, who had the torch in his talons and the shock of Sandalwood and Saiph screaming into his face repressed, went over to Blu and Jewel with Pluto and Ceres.

"Are you alright, you two?" asked the green-winged macaw as the pair continued to sort themselves out. Venus looked on with the other Spix macaws including Sirius, Bellatrix and Spica. Blu gazed at the blanket piece, the part that had enveloped him and Jewel, as he held it in his wings.

"We're fine, thanks Mars," said the brown-eyed bird friend of Linda, "We seemed to have wrapped ourselves up in this blanket too much."

"We were breathing normally for one minute and then the next," put in a rather shaken Jewel, "we suddenly found ourselves struggling for breath."

Venus then gazed at the blanket and frowned.

"Well if this is a suffocation hazard then we might want to return to our cages," she said. At this, Jewel shot the pigtailed macaw a glare.

"Oh, no, not for me," she growled, "I don't like sleeping in cages."

"Neither do some of the rest of us," put in Lavender and with that she glared at the open cage belonging to Blu and company.

"Maybe you could sleep perched on those cube things?" asked Aurum from his and Gylfie's cage, a pointed talon to a row of boxes. At this, Jewel gazed at the boxes and smiled.

"That's a good idea, Aurum," she said, "I think we'll sleep on those."

And with that, she called together the macaws who were against returning to their cages for the rest of the trip while Blu returned to his group's cage.

"Don't forget, we should be back in our cages by the time we land in Rio," he issued the reminder to Jewel and the others and as soon as he was on the cage, he closed the door but didn't lock it while everyone else returned to their spots to get back to sleep, Mars switching off the torch and putting it away in the process.

Sandalwood hung upside down held in Stella's wings against her white breast fur, an ashamed and frightened look scanning the environment as the other animals returned to sleep. He didn't mean to startle the others awake with Saiph but the uncertainty feeling had returned with a vengeance, especially after seeing that part of the blanket rise up by itself and then envelop Blu and Jewel's heads ass though trying to smother them. Frightened, the little flying fox pup snuggled against his mother's breast and tried to doze off.

It was apparent that something had sneaked aboard the plane with Blu and company when their human friends were packing them into the cargo bay before their departure from Peru. Could that thing possibly be behind the smothering of Blu and Jewel? Sandalwood daren't find out.

 **Around seven more hours later**

In the eastern horizon of the Atlantic Ocean east of Rio and its signature beach of Copacabana, light from the sun flared into the night sky and had begun to eat away at the very dark blue colour; the sun not far from peering out from the horizon though it was still under it with only its light shining through. Opposite the impending sunrise, the night still dominated the western part of the sky with the stars dotting the dark blue to black canvas but that part of the night sky will soon by smothered by the sun's overwhelmingly bright light and the Atlantic Ocean's rippling surface mirrored the imminent sunrise, the sun's ivory light reflected in the water. As the sun prepared to rise into the sky, along with many of the citizens of Rio and the animals living in the jungle next to it, a certain plane was approaching Rio's runway. Tulio and his group with Blu and the others on-board were not far from touching down in Rio now, after a long flight from Peru.

In the cargo bay, the animals had woken up and were awaiting breakfast being prepared for them by the humans in the human seating area for the cargo bay was connected to the seating area via a corridor so that the humans could access the bay to check on the animals. One of the humans, Linda, had come down from the seating area last night to check on Blu and company. Apparently she had been awakened by the chaos inadvertently caused by Sandalwood and Saiph and had decided to go down to the bay area to check on the animals, appearing shortly after the animals had returned to their cages or had found new places to sleep, away from the blankets after Blu and Jewel apparently almost suffocated themselves in one of them, which Linda decided to pack away for she did not want them to be a risk to any of the other animals before going to sleep herself near Blu and Jewel and some of the other animals in a makeshift bed. However, now that it was morning and the plane was due to land in Rio shortly, Linda was awake with the animals and was ready to pass the breakfast from Tulio and company to the birds and other animals.

As the animals waited for their breakfast, Mars who sat near Linda, stretched his wings and released a yawn before gazing at one of the small windows. A small amount of sunrise light streamed in through the holes and lit up the cargo bay. As Linda began to check over the animals starting with the Spix macaws including Blu and Jewel, Mars lofted into flight and fluttered over to the window and peered out of it. The size of the window restricted his range of view but to Mars's joy, the managed to catch a glimpse of some of Rio's landmarks, among them the lump of green, brown and white rising up from the murky, dull grey and brown sea of human buildings: the Sugarloaf Mountain just visible on the edge of Mars's range of view. As Mars continued to gaze at the familiar cityscape of Rio, Uranus and Neptune came in.

"We're not far from touchdown in our home now," said Uranus with excitement.

"And reuniting with our relatives and friends waiting for us," added Neptune. He looked forward to seeing Triton, Violet, Ultramarine and Iris again and them reuniting with Indigo, Victor and Gertie as well. The same was true for the other birds and the flying foxes as they looked forward to seeing the kids that had been captured by the poachers and taken to the fraudulent conservation area, among them Sandalwood, reunite with their friends and relatives who had opted not to go to Peru and retrieve them. Carla, Bia and Tiago looked forward to reuniting with Justin, Virgil and Matilda waiting back in Rio with Sonia, Melody, Einstein, Miles and Bartholomew with Sirius, Bellatrix and Spica in tow, the rescue mission a success and the families being back together once again; Io looked forward to reuniting with Sheldon with Betelgeuse and Rigel by her side as well as fixing their damaged relationship once they met, and so on. However, sadness and guilt was mixed in with the imminent joy and excitement of some of the kids.

Sandalwood clutched to his mother Stella's breast fur, a sad look on his face as Stella talked with Luna, Augustus, Soren and also Eragon and Marella who had left their cage to have a wander around and stretch their wings and legs, as well as having a meeting with Greg and Sardonyx who were thrilled to meet new animals and the relatives of Sandalwood and company. Though Sandalwood looked forward to meeting and reuniting with Melissa, Ferdinand, Anabelle and Sebastian back in Rio again, the guilt of inadvertently causing the others a seriously chaotic disturbance last night with Saiph still boiled in his mind. However, fear and worry also plagued his thoughts, the flash of movement he had seen in Peru before being packed into the cargo bay with his family and the other members of Blu's group and animals and the unease brought with it having returned with a vengeance. Not to mention the movement of the blanket and its ascent above Blu and Jewel's heads while they slept and enveloping their heads and upper bodies, cutting off their breathing which led to Sandalwood and Saiph screaming their heads off in sheer terror and waking up everyone else adding to his fears. However, no-one else believed Sandalwood and Saiph's story of the blanket enveloping itself over Blu and Jewel's heads and Blu kept insisting that he and Jewel must have turned over and got the blanket wrapped around their heads and were grateful that Sandalwood and Saiph had woken them up before anything worse happened. But Sandalwood and Saiph still believed that something had attempted to smother Blu and Jewel with that blanket and had been grateful that no other incident had happened for the rest of the flight.

As Sandalwood continued to sulk on his mother's breast, Connie had flown over to the window where Mars was to get a glimpse of Rio de Janeiro for the first time. As she got a glimpse of the approaching city, she asked, "So THAT'S the Brazil city of Rio?"

"It sure is," said Mars with a smile.

"We'll be landing in that city shortly," said Uranus. Connie gazed at the great green macaw and Neptune as they stood on the top of the box, "What is it like?"

"Ah, you'll have to see, little bat," replied Uranus.

"But to give you the gist of what Rio is like, it's a colourful spot and very musical," said Neptune. Connie's eyes glinted with excitement as she looked forward to seeing and hearing such. However, inside, Mars, Neptune and Uranus felt a flash of uncertainty: how were the stayers and Tulio's team members who had stayed behind doing with those countless and now-beyond-mischievous toucans plaguing the Blu Bird Sanctuary? The three macaws had hoped that many of them will have been caught and sent to other sanctuaries, TRUE sanctuaries that is, by now. As this worry and concern plagued the three macaws' mind, Connie gazed at Sandalwood, a look of annoyance on her face.

"And as for him over there and one of the glaucous macaws," she muttered, "I hope they feel ashamed for causing that chaos for the rest of us last night."

However, under this annoyance, Connie felt a flash of uncertainty. Mars, Uranus and Neptune also gazed at Sandalwood as he continued to clutch Stella's breast and frowned.

"We're gonna give him and Saiph some discipline when we get to Rio," growled Mars in a stern voice.

"For waking the rest of us up and making up a story about some silly 'ghost' trying to strangle Blu and Jewel as well," put in Uranus.

"I think those two must have turned over and got the blanket wrapped around their heads," said Neptune, "Like and those two Spix macaws, have said before."

At this, Connie's face flashed from annoyance to surprise as she directed it at the great green macaw.

"Those two Spix macaws got that blanket wrapped around their heads by themselves?" she said but then a look of suspicion came upon her face, "According to what Sandalwood and Saiph's description of what they apparently saw, that doesn't sound like those two Spix macaws have got themselves entangled in that blanket sheet thing…"

"Well, Sandalwood and Saiph…" began Mars as he touched down with Uranus and Neptune, a stern and disbelieving look lacing his face, but before he could continue, Linda's voice rang out.

"Breakfast time, animals," called Blu's human companion as she brought in some fruit and fish with Fernando and Lucy accompanying her. As the cargo bay air became flooded with the sounds of excited bird squawks, flying fox squeaks, foot patters on the floor and wing flaps, Mars gazed at Connie and said, "Look, we'll discuss this after breakfast. Let's just go and get something to eat."

Connie nodded and ran off to join Steven and his family as they and the other birds and bats surrounded Linda, Fernando and Lucy as they began to distribute the food amongst the animals, the latter lining up to receive the fruit from Linda. However, as Jupiter took some fruit from Linda with Io, Europa, Byron, Mimas and Athos and the chicks Betelgeuse, Rigel, Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka, Adenine, Thymine, Guanine, Cytosine and Canopus surrounding them, Betelgeuse thought she saw something out of the corner of her eye as she stood the furthest from the group.

"Good boy, Jupiter," said Linda as Jupiter took a mango and handed it to Io, Lucy handing some fish to the penguins nearby. Betelgeuse then turned to the something's direction but the moment her eyes landed on the spot, there was nothing.

"Come on, Betelgeuse," called Io as she and Rigel left with the mango. Betelgeuse obediently followed but the flash of movement had made her skin prickle and her pineapple stalk-like crest spike out somewhat. Betelgeuse shuddered. It was the same feeling she had felt when she, Rigel and some of the other kids of Sandalwood's group were investigating the Paradise Sanctuary's human area.

"Something wrong, Betelgeuse?" came a voice. At this, Betelgeuse snapped her gaze to the speaker which was Steven as he stood with Sardonyx, Greg and Kevin in the queue behind Mars.

"Um… nothing," said Betelgeuse in reply, "I've gotta go. Mom's calling me," and with that, the colourful red macaw deserted off after her scarlet mother, leaving Steven and Kevin to gaze at each other and shrug. As Betelgeuse touched down with Io and Rigel to prepare to eat the mango, unease began to well within the little three-quarter scarlet chick and she stole a gaze at the spot where she thought she had seen the something again. Unnerved and shuddering slightly, Betelgeuse sat down with Rigel as Io began to bite into and slice the mango into portions. Nearby, Gylfie and Aurum the golden fruithawks were sharing some berries, a pineapple and some guavas together, much to the joy of Io, Betelgeuse (despite her unease) and Rigel and some of the others of Blu's group as they began to eat their breakfast.

 **A few minutes later**

The plane carrying Tulio and the others finally touched down on the runway of Rio's airport. It then began to slow down and eventually stop as the pilot pulled up the air vehicle. On the edge of the airport from a safe distance, a gathering of humans, some of Tulio's team members who had chosen to stay behind, stood. Amongst these humans were some animals, the stayers of Blu's group. Justin stood with Sonia and Melody; Virgil stood with Einstein and Miles as did Matilda with Bartholomew, Músculo with Jason and Roberto and Brisa with Turquesa, Felix, Diego, Jojo, Winona, Lilac and Austin and Zephyr as well. Near the Spix macaws stood the red macaws: Ruby, Chiquitita, Ganymede, Sheldon, Callisto, Katniss, Alexandre, Estelle, Xander, Kayley, Phobos and Deimos. Near the red macaws stood Sebastian and Anabelle with Melissa and Ferdinand the flying foxes and the blue-and-gold macaws. Saturn stood with his mate Orquidea, daughter-in-law Brooke and grand-chicks Poppy and Peter, great green son-in-law Oberon and his half great-green daughter Cressida and unpaired first-brood offspring Rhea and Iapetus. Near Oberon and Cressida stood green macaws Esmeralda, Ariel, Ash and Basil, and Benjamin the scarlet macaw and his half-scarlet chicks Perdita and Cecil and also the hyacinth macaws Ultramarine, Violet, Triton and Iris. Next to the hyacinth macaws stood Lear's macaws Sapphire, Jasmine and Annette, the latter two having flown from the Sanctuary de Amazon to visit Rio to see how Blu's group was doing where they had received a full explanation of what had been happening in the past few days; Lapis Lazuli stood with Quincy and Flor who had also come from the Sanctuary de Amazon with Jasmine and Annette and also Wilbur and Aurelio the blue-throated macaws. Wilbur and Aurelio stood with Cobalto, Fernanda and Oceano and also Ellie the Cuban red macaw and her biological daughter Olivia and adopted Dominican green-and-yellow macaw son Achilles, Andromeda the archaeobird and Bambi and the bat-birds including Spyro's mount Garnet; and Diantha, Tom and Aurora the toucans as they stood with Rafael, Eva, Nico, Pedro, Sparkle and Rose.

Also present were Travis and Sunset the cockatoos with their offspring, in-laws and grand-chicks consisting of Eustace, Serena and their chicks Yolanda, Vincent and Oscar; Rose, Clemont and their chicks Peach and Bruno, and Milo who was unpaired. Cometa, Lightning, Velocity and Zelda were also present; Orion and Hermione were absent for they had gone to have another clutch of eggs to replace their deceased son Hunter while Broccoli, Collette and Daisy the cats, and Dash, Ginger, James, Ebony, Avellana and Rusty and their pups Cleo and Fido were busy.

The gathering of humans and the animals, the latter anticipating the sight of Blu and the others as they were unloaded from the cargo bay, watched as the plane was taxied to a specific spot and stopped there. Then as soon as the plane had stopped, Tulio and company began to disembark. The humans departed from the plane with some going to the cargo bay door to open it. While those humans did that, Tulio ran over to his waiting team-members to greet them. While he did that, Linda and some of the other humans set to unloading Blu and the others from the cargo bay, the animals having returned to their cages to be released. Blu, Jewel, Venus, Carla, Bia, Tiago, Sirius, Spica and Bellatrix were the first to be unloaded and released, done so by Fernando and as soon as he had opened the cage door, all nine Spix macaws escaped in an explosion of blue flapping wings fuelled by excitement and began to charge towards the waiting animals. The moment Justin, Matilda, Virgil and Zephyr's eyes landed on Carla, Tiago, Bia and Venus and the missing chicks with them, they, together with Einstein, Miles, Bartholomew, Sonia and Melody, who released screams with excitement at their missing brother and sisters/cousins, charged from the crowd of waiting animals to meet Venus's group.

Virgil charged ahead of the group with Einstein and Miles in tow, making a beeline for Bia and Sirius. Bia frantically rocketed towards Virgil and as soon as the two collided, they locked each other in a huge embrace, Virgil showering Bia with a series of passionate kisses. Then the couple swept up Sirius, Miles and Einstein and entered a family hug, all five crying and laughing jubilantly as they relished the long-awaited reunion. Carla, Justin, Sonia, Spica and Melody did the same as did Matilda, Tiago, Bartholomew and Bellatrix. Zephyr also swept Venus in a huge hug and delivered a series of passionate kisses while Blu and Jewel were met by Roberto and Brisa who also swept them in a hug. Nearby, Charlotte, Músculo, Winona and Petunia were also in a family hug as were Kira, Jojo, Vega and Winona; Felix, Turquesa, Austin, Diego, Lavender, Garrett, Deneb, Lilac and Polaris who were joined by Roberto and Brisa; Ganymede, who had ran over towards Mimas and his half-scarlet chicks due to his broken wing still healing, shared a group hug with his mate and Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine and Guanine the moment he met them, and the same was repeated for the other families the moment the other birds and flying foxes were set free from their cages.

Callisto, Athos, Katniss and Canopus were glad to be back together after so long as were Augustus, Melissa, Stella, Luna, Sandalwood, Acerola, Sebastian, Ferdinand and Anabelle. Phobos, Deimos, Chiquitita, Alexandre, Estelle, Xander and Kayley also shared a group hug with Mars and some of the red macaws while Dione, Porthos, Procyon and Peter; Titan, Brooke, Castor, Pollux and Poppy; Tethys, Oberon, Cressida and Fomalhaut; Titania, Ash, Basil and Antares; Umbriel, Benjamin, Perdita, Aldebaran and Cecil; Azul (whose wing was still in a cast), Fernanda, Oceano and Carmen; Frodo, Ellie, Olivia, Sylvester, Pitaya, Achilles and Alegria; Indigo, Victor, Gertie and Triton, Iris and Violet; Spyro, Marella, Eragon, Andromeda, Altair and Bambi and also Diantha, Tom and Aurora with Lillie, Gladion were also locked in familial hugs as well.

While the split families were relishing their reunion moments with the cockatoos and Cometa and company joining, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter (who was last to appear due to his injured wing), Uranus, Neptune, Ceres and Pluto were met by Sapphire, Chiquitita, Ruby, Esmeralda, Ultramarine and Lapis Lazuli who showered them with kisses and a hug, Ruby being careful with Jupiter due to his broken wing which she had been utterly horrified when she saw that her mate had suffered the injury during the quest to the fraudulent Paradise Sanctuary. Saturn and Orquidea also greeted the returners with hugs and wing-shakes.

While the reunion of Blu's group continued, Atreyu looked on with Sugilite the galah, Finnick the macaroni penguin, Connie the grey-headed flying fox, and Steven and Kevin and the other newcomer birds and penguins, Atreyu gazing at the group with a mixture of jealously and joy.

"I sure hope to meet my Mom and Dad and Uncle Mumble and the rest of my family and colony," murmured the emperor penguin chick sadly.

"You will when we are returned to our homes," said Sardonyx nearby, Greg by her side, before her gaze travelled to Linda and the others as they sorted through the other crates, some of the team-members who had stayed behind helping, "I overheard one of the humans talk about sending you penguins back to your rightful habitats."

At this, a small bubble of joy appeared within Atreyu as he looked forward to uniting with his emperor penguin colony in the Antarctic. Then Finnick flopped down onto his backside and fanned a wing-flipper to his head since it was quite hot.

"It sure is toasty here," he said.

"It's because we're in a tropical area," said Greg, "In these regions it tends to be warmer."

"And rainier," added Sardonyx. Finnick just gazed at the parents of Steven and Kevin and shrugged. He had obviously never been in a tropical zone before except Peru perhaps but he pushed that thought aside and was glad to be out of that animal collector's place disguised as a sanctuary and looked forward to seeing the habitat where his species, the macaroni penguin belonged.

Soon, it was time to leave the plane. After Blu's group had finished their reunion, they prepared to depart for the city of Rio, Tulio and the others taking the newcomer animals to his Aviary for sorting and returning to their rightful habitats, as well as the still-injured animals so that they could recover. As Blu and company and the other animals prepared to leave with Tulio and his team, Gladion and Lillie stared at the plane one last time when Diantha, Tom and Aurora came in with Rafael and Eva.

"Come on, you two," said Diantha firmly, especially to Gladion whose wing was in a cast, "It's time to leave."

"We've gotta get Gladion to Tulio's Aviary to check his wing," added Tom.

"Absolutely," put in Rafael as he glared at his grandson's injured wing. At this, Gladion and Lillie flashed their gazes from the plane to their parents and maternal grandparents.

"S-sorry, Mom, Dad, Grandpa," said Gladion, "We were only giving that plane one last look."

"We're just glad to be back with our family and friends," said Lillie with a joyful smile. Diantha, Tom, Aurora, Rafael and Eva just smiled and commanded the two chicks to come along.

"I think we'll have a family outing once Gladion's wing has healed and as soon as the number of those mischievous toucans have been reduced enough in the Blu Bird Sanctuary," said Rafael, "I can perhaps take you three to the places where I met your grandmother if you'd like?"

At this, excitement flashed within Aurora, Gladion and Lillie who were eager to learn more of Rafael and Eva's backstory. However, they only knew that Rafael and Eva had met during Carnival and not much more.

"We would love to," cried Lillie excitedly.

"We would love to see Carnival though," put in Gladion.

"That's how you two met isn't it?" asked Aurora. Rafael a smile on his big orange and black beak and with a wing around his beloved Eva, whose scratchers she had received from the crows during the skirmish leading to Sandalwood and the others' capture by the poachers in the beginning now healing, nodded. Just then the seven toucans heard Uranus call them.

"It's time we moved out," said Rafael and with that, he commanded Gladion to climb onto his back since he could not fly with an injured wing and took off with Eva, Tom, Diantha and Aurora on tow. Lillie was about to follow but before she could leave, she thought she saw a flash of movement out of the corner of her eye. At this, the little toucan stopped and turned round in the direction of the flash and the plane but saw nothing. However, it spooked her and made her skin crawl with unease.

"Come on, Lillie," called Diantha. At this, Lillie snapped her gaze from the plane and fluttered after her family, the unease slowly fading within her.

As the toucans followed the other animals and Tulio and company as they left the airport, something hid under the fuselage of another plane parked in the airport. A glare saturated with extremely strong acid pierced Lillie and the other toucans as they receded into the distance but its attention was largely on another type of bird, the type that formed most of Blu and company's group. Then as soon as Blu and the others had travelled enough distance, the something darted out from under the plane's fuselage and began to follow. Its presence sent unease and fear coursing through a small group of seagulls visiting from the ocean and the seabirds shuddered as the thing darted past and knocked over a discarded can or tin. It was though the something had carried a fear-inducing cloak wherever it went.


	69. Chapter 68

**Chapter 68- a badly interrupted romantic moment and a horrible feeling while at the Vista Chinesa**

The day passed quite quickly since Tulio and company had touched down in Rio airport from their ten-or-so hour flight from Peru with the rescued animals, among them Blu, Jewel, the two fruithawks and Sandalwood and the missing kids, in tow, as well as the reunion of Blu and company's entire group, the families all back together at last, but quite a lot has happened. Those that still had some healing to do, such as Jupiter, Azul, Eragon, Neytiri and now Gladion, the son of Diantha and Tom, as well, had been taken back to Tulio's Aviary while everyone else had settled back in Rio after the massive ordeal beginning with Sandalwood and the others' capture by poachers and their pets, now revealed to be workers of the false conservation group the Paradise Sanctuary people, who had now been arrested and will be facing the consequences for collaborating with their fraudulent clients in poaching animals for mere collection and staining the name of true animal conservation, and their pets who had assisted in their deeds in catching the animals, the crows and the dogs, had been sent to animal homes.

Atreyu had reunited with Mumble, Balthazar and Ginny at Tulio's Aviary, Gylfie and Aurum the fruithawks had had their first dance at Nico and Pedro's 'Welcome to Paradise' bird club, Io and Sheldon had made up after some difficulty and everyone was back together again. Furthermore, Orion and Hermione had laid a clutch of two eggs at Cometa and Lightning's home, a nest in one of the tall buildings where the former and his sister and also their younger brother Spike, had hatched, and Velocity had started dating Merlin's younger brother named Riker though she and her new boyfriend still grieved for the loss of Merlin who had died at Tulio's Aviary trying to protect the two golden fruithawks. And Tulio, Linda, Fernando and Tommy's house windows which were smashed by the group of savage toucans the other night and the birdhouses of Blu and company especially that of Eustace and company which had been set alight by the same toucans, were being replaced. However, Eustace, Milo, Rosa, Clemont, Serena, Yolanda, Oscar, Peach and Bruno, the trauma of almost getting burned alive still lingering in them, had opted to live in more natural hollows of the trees on the Blu Bird Sanctuary. Things certainly were beginning to look up for everyone in Rio, especially for Blu and company, but there were still some several problems left to deal with: the enormous number of beyond-mischievous toucans still ravaging the Rio sanctuary, and several other things.

 **Evening**

The sun was slowly descending towards its setting point in the western horizon and the darkness of the night slowly corroding away at its light, allowing stars to come out as the day was nearing its end. The moon also hovered like a silver human fingernail in the sky for it was still in its crescent phase. Tulio's Aviary was alive with the sounds of Tulio's team working and birds chirping as the usual activities continued in the building, the atmosphere having pretty much returned to normal. Not too far away, a certain pair of scarlet macaws, one with his left wing in a cast, sat at the foot of one of the trees that grew along the sides of the road leading to the conservation centre (a TRUE conservation centre that is!). Jupiter and Ruby smiled as they watched Betelgeuse and Rigel play together with Io sand Sheldon looking on and talking, as well as Atreyu learning to dance under the tutoring of his uncle Mumble while his parents Ginny and Balthazar taught him how to sing. Jupiter, along with Blu, Jewel, Venus, Mercury, Mars, Uranus, Neptune, Ceres and Pluto, when they first saw the emperor penguins were surprised to see Mumble and his apparent immature feature-retaining features (called 'neotenous' by Blu and some of the other scientific minded birds like Ganymede and Bia), such as his blue eyes, grey downy feathers, and solid black and white facial features characteristic of an emperor penguin chick. However, Mumble had an AWFUL singing voice and every time he tried to sing, he would always emit an AWFUL screechy noise that was loud enough to assault anyone's ears and shatter glass, yet he was an excellent tap-dancer, a talent as described by Atreyu as being compensatory for his lack of a 'heart-song', an emperor penguin thing used in courtship back in Emperor-Land, the Antarctic.

"Well, it won't be long until those penguins are taken back to their rightful habitats, eh, my red rose, such as those emperor penguins to Antarctica," said Jupiter as he watched Atreyu perform an elaborate dance trick in imitation to Mumble's moves.

"I'm still astonished as to how those three penguins have managed to travel ALL the way from Antarctica to here," said Ruby as she watched the penguins as well, "I mean, the South Pole is well over 8000 kilometres away according to Blu and yet those three have developed the rock-heard nerves to travel this far north."

"That chick was torn from the rest of his group during a fishing trip by a fishing boat incident according to that half downy feathered penguin actually," said Jupiter with a nod to Mumble as he released a light-hearted laugh as Atreyu nearly stumbled only to be caught by Balthazar. Then Jupiter's attention travelled to Io, Sheldon, Betelgeuse and Rigel as they talked with Ganymede (his wing still in a cast), Mimas and their Catalina chicks Adenine, Cytosine, Thymine and Guanine; Europa, Byron and their triplet chicks Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka, and Callisto, Athos, and their two chicks Canopus and Katniss as they chatted and played together.

"I'm so glad that Sheldon and Io have made up," said Jupiter with relief, "I actually thought they were gonna break up for good but after some stern talking to from us and of course Rafael and Eva, as well as apologise made between the two of them and Io's explanation that she had gone with us to retrieve Betelgeuse, Rigel and the other missing kids, the two had made up."

"I hope their relationship will be repaired to its former glory," said Ruby. With that, she leaned lovingly onto Jupiter's right shoulder for she sat to his right and did not want to hurt his damaged wing. Jupiter in return leaned onto her crown and draped her with his right wing. Then the couple saw Sardonyx and Greg with Steven and Kevin emerge from the window and join Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto and their mates and chicks and greeted them. Steven and Kevin had become friends with Katniss, the only grand-chick of Jupiter and Ruby they hadn't met at the 'Paradise Sanctuary' place where they first met Adenine, Cytosine, Thymine and Guanine; Betelgeuse and Rigel; Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka, and Canopus, and Atreyu, Sugilite the galah and Finnick the macaroni penguin, as well as Connie the grey-headed flying fox, were also getting to know the chicks and pups they had not met at the place and Jupiter and Ruby smiled as Atreyu began to playfully chase Katniss and Canopus around with Mumble Balthazar, Ginny, Callisto and Athos proudly looking on. However Jupiter knew that the playtime Atreyu had with Sandalwood and company and their families will not last long for he and his parents and uncle must be returned to the Antarctic and their colony where they belonged.

As they continued watching their first-brood son and three daughters and their mates watch on as their offspring continued to play with some of the other chicks, among them Sirius, Einstein and Miles, the three sons of Bia and Virgil who were finally reunited, along with Sonia, Spica and Melody and Bellatrix and Bartholomew, the chicks of Carla, Justin, Tiago and Matilda, joining in, Ruby began to move on to another subject.

"You know, while you were away with Blu and the others to bring back the missing kids from that fraudulent Paradise Sanctuary place, I was just going over our past together before we had Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto and shortly afterward including where we lived before moving to the Amazon," cooed Ruby romantically.

"Yeah?" said Jupiter.

"And I thought we'd spend some personal time together going over those events as soon as you got back," added Ruby as she nuzzled against Jupiter's shoulder and head. Jupiter put on a small smile.

"Well, I remember one romantic time we had together and that was when I showed you the bird's eye view of all of Rio from a high branch at night," said he. At this, Ruby stole a glance at her mate's loving look.

"Oh, I remember that too, it was so-o-o-o-o romantic indeed," cooed Ruby as the memory of that night came into her head. She then gazed up at her mate's face and then found herself gazing into Jupiter's deep brown eyes and he into her liquid amber eyes.

"But having said that, it sure is awesome to have a big… strong… brave… loving macaw for a mate who has made an awesome father to his chicks," cooed Ruby lovingly as she started into Jupiter's eyes and her wings around his shoulders. Jupiter returned the hug with his right wing.

"Sorry I can't fully return the hug my red gemstone rose, but my other wing's still healing," said Jupiter romantically. However, Ruby didn't mind.

"But I'd never thought I'd be a good father when we discussed about having chicks," cooed Jupiter in a low, love-laced voice.

"Well, you proved yourself wrong, my handsome love-hawk," replied Ruby in a slightly cheeky voice. Jupiter, at this, flashed his mate a stunned look but before he could reply, Ruby's wings hooked onto his head sides and he was pulled into a passionate kiss, his beak connecting with Ruby's. Instinctively, Jupiter returned the kiss and his right wing snaked around Ruby's back. Then after breaking the kiss, the couple stared once again into each other's eyes lovingly, the romantic air hanging over them and as a couple of smaller birds darted by, flirting with each other, and as a gust of wind brushed through the scarlet macaws' feathers, ruffling them like deep red and vermillion leaves. However, Jupiter and Ruby's romantic moment was suddenly and unexpectedly shattered as a stone flew in and struck Jupiter's casted wing. Jupiter jumped upward, accidentally pushing Ruby away from him and sending her head knocking into the bark of the tree they were sitting under, and let loose a short screech as pain tore through his broken wing where the stone struck.

"Jupiter!" cried Ruby as she clutched the impact point of her head where it struck the tree while Jupiter clutched his broken wing with his other wing, his face twisted in pain. Then before either scarlet macaw could figure where the stone came from, the most scornful voice saturated with pure disgust and rancour, emanated from nearby.

"Dis-GUSTING!" it said. At this, Jupiter and Ruby snapped angry glares at the speaker, the latter still clutching his casted wing.

"What's the big idea of interrupting our romantic…" demanded Jupiter but the moment his brown eyes landed on who spoke, the muscular scarlet macaw stiffened. Ruby also stiffened, especially as they glared at the pair of familiar brown eyes piercingly glaring back at her and Jupiter but unlike Jupiter's sweet, love-filled eyes, those eyes were saturated with the most acidic rancour and hatred just like its voice, but those eyes did not belong to any bird. Those eyes were owned by another parrot that had ragged grey-white feathers, a tatty pale yellow crest and red bags under his eyes. The beak of the parrot which was a cockatoo, then hurled a glob of saliva at the floor at Jupiter and Ruby to further show his detestation of the pair.

"Pretty birds kissin' and cuddlin' romantically like what YOU two red rats with teal and yellow wings makes me wanna BE SICK!" shouted the cockatoo hostilely, his brown eyes bulging and his tattered crest flared. One of his talons then shot out, seized another stone and prepared to throw it at the scarlet macaw couple. It was then that both Jupiter and Ruby felt recognition of the cockatoo flare within them but it made Ruby absolutely furious and Jupiter saturated with fright and agitation.

"NIGEL!?" barked Ruby in utter outrage and astonishment. Jupiter said nothing as Nigel then launched the stone out of his talon and hurled it at the scarlet macaw couple. Jupiter and Ruby ducked as the lump of hard rock shot their way, missed them and struck the tree trunk, clattering to rest at its foot. Jupiter and Ruby then slowly stood back up and glared at Nigel as he began to examine the couple.

While the confrontation between Nigel and Jupiter and Ruby took place, near Tulio's Aviary's entrance, Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto were made aware of the sounds. At this, the four siblings and their respective mates, Sheldon, Byron, Mimas and Athos shot worried gazes in Jupiter and Ruby's direction along with Carla, Bia, Tiago, Matilda, Virgil and Justin and also Quincy and Flor. Betelgeuse, Rigel, Sirius and the other chicks present also gazed in Jupiter and Ruby's direction.

"Uh-oh, I sense trouble afoot," said Athos to the others and with that he, Sheldon, Mimas, Byron, Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto left to investigate but not before leaving Betelgeuse and the others under the care of Quincy, Flor and the Spix macaws present.

"Do you want us to fetch Blu, Jewel and some of the other adults?" asked Quincy.

"Yes, please do," said Sheldon fiercely, "I've a feeling you-know-who's out to cause us trouble again."

At Carla, Bia and Tiago flashed worried gazes and took off to find Blu and Jewel, Quincy following. These four had already deduced who was causing Ruby and Jupiter bother and wanted to deal with it before it escalated into consequences that could spell serious injury for Jupiter and his mate, especially for the former's broken wing. As Io and the other seven left in Jupiter and Ruby's direction, Sirius attempted to follow.

"Can I come Auntie Io," called he.

"No, Sirius, you stay with your father, brothers and the others," said Io sternly.

"And besides that, we can't risk you kids putting yourselves into danger again," put in Athos. Then Virgil's wings appeared and hooked onto Sirius as he sulkily glared after the seven red macaws and the splash of aqua blue and yellow of Mimas as they left in Jupiter and Ruby's direction.

"Let us grown-up birds deal with this, son," said Virgil firmly as he placed Sirius back with Einstein and Miles. Then Adenine gazed worriedly after Mimas, Ganymede and the other six as they left. He, along with Cytosine, Guanine, Thymine, Betelgeuse, Rigel, Canopus, Katniss, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka and also Sirius, Einstein, Miles, Sonia, Melody, Spica, Bellatrix and Bartholomew had never seen a certain bird in the flesh before but they had a feeling of who was potentially threatening Jupiter and Ruby, especially as Matilda said, "I hope that's not who I think it is…"

The eighteen chicks just gazed at Tiago's mate and the mother of two of them and said nothing.

Jupiter and Ruby dodged another stone thrown at them by Nigel and glared at the cockatoo once again. Nigel returned the glare, especially at Jupiter.

"I thought YOU muscle-bird had DIED in that stream all those years ago when I plunged into that stream with you," growled the cockatoo bitterly, his bulging eyes and flared crest striking immense fear and anxiety into Jupiter and sending him into a panicked state. Those two traits were bringing back a torrent of bad memories of that incident and it sent Jupiter's breathing and heartrate skyrocketing.

"Jupiter," said Ruby as she watched her mate begin to enter a hysterical state, "Jupiter, GET YOURSELF TOGETHER!"

Nigel's beak then creased into a devilish smile and his eyes became saturated with pure scorn and mockery, especially as Jupiter began to feel light-headed, lose control of his breathing and his legs began to feel jelly-like.

"Wassup, pretty bird?" crooned the wicked cockatoo sadistically, "Don't ya remember when I tried to drown you?"

Jupiter flashed his attempted murderer a frightened look and stumbled to his left but before he could fall onto his injured wing, Ruby caught him.

"Jupiter, PLEASE!" begged his mate as she helped him regain his balance, "Don't LISTEN TO THAT FOUL VULTURE."

Ruby then shot Nigel a volcanic look, "Look, just do us a FAVOUR AND BUTT OUT OF OUR BUSINESS WILL YOU! YOU'RE BRINGING my mate BACK BAD MEMORIES!"

However, the smug and mocking look on Nigel's face remained steadfast.

"Good," crooned the cockatoo cruelly, "And I sure hope he gets nightmares about it for a LONG TIME TO COME!"

He then let loose a maniacal and demonic cackle as Jupiter's legs gave out and he stumbled, the stress of Nigel's presence and the bad memories brought with him overwhelming him. Ruby caught him and tried to beg him.

"Come on, Jupiter!" she cried desperately, "You're a lot STRONGER THAN THIS!"

Jupiter's brain struggled to hear his mate's voice and he flopped over Ruby's wings. Ruby continued begging him to snap out of it and pull himself together but then suddenly, a set of toes appeared and seized her by the neck, gripping her throat so hard that Ruby's breathing was almost cut off. Then Ruby was yanked from Jupiter and over to Nigel's face, her amber eyes staring right into the cockatoo's brown ones, and unlike Jupiter's brown eyes which made her feel settled and relaxed, Nigel's brown eyes struck stark fear into her mind. This was compounded by Nigel's smelly breath and feathers and it made the poor mate of Jupiter begin to shudder as her turn to become afraid took hold.

"There's no point in tryin' to pick ya beloved man back up onto his feet, my dear," crooned Nigel sadistically, "He's USELESS… FEEBLE…" he practically spat these words, along with some small drops of saliva, right into Ruby's face, "AND ABSOLUTELY NO GOOD TO BE YOUR MATE!"

And with that, he tightened the grip of his foot around Ruby's neck and totally cut off her breathing. As this happened, Jupiter managed to rise to his feet and glare at Nigel, his stress caused by Nigel's presence having been partly subdued but he still felt weak. However, as he watched Nigel begin to strangle his precious and beloved mate and say, "JUST LIKE YOU, YOU'RE USELESS, WORTHLESS AND DESERVE TO DIE!" before finishing with a massive cackle as the cockatoo then lifted Ruby into the air and threw her down as hard as he could onto the pavement. Then Nigel inflicted Ruby with a slash across her face with a talon, making her cry in pain and send a few blood drops spattering onto the pavement nearby, cackling as he did so. That did it. Despite the overwhelming fear and stress boiling dangerously within Jupiter, something volcanically erupted inside him and his brown eyes flashed from a look of stress to pure outrage, his instinctive urge to protect his mate and the rage at the constant appearance of the cockatoo and his attempts to cause the group trouble having taken control.

With a fierce hiss filtering through his beak along with some salivary drips emerging from it, his eyes blazing brown superstorms like those on his namesake planet, his feathers puffed out like a furious cat's fur and his body trembling violently from the volcanic rage so violently that it overruled his stress and fear of Nigel, Jupiter stood up and began to storm towards the cockatoo without a second's hesitation, especially as Nigel picked up Ruby and slammed her head against the tree trunk, laughing maniacally. Nigel continued tormenting Ruby as she continued whimpering in fear and trembling, much to Nigel's sickening delight but that delight consumed the cockatoo so much that he was unaware of the danger about to leap upon him. The cockatoo then glared at the terrified Ruby in the eye and said, "I should have done this to YOU, rather than HIM, a LONG time ago, pretty bird. That way he'll have suffered THE BROKEN HEART I INTENDED FOR HIM AND NOT YOU! Maybe NOW IS MY OPPORTUNITY AND I AM GONNA BREAK YA NECK…"

A frightened whimper emitted through Ruby's beak as Nigel cackled one more time and prepared to slam Ruby into the tree trunk with all his might and break her neck but before he could deliver the deathblow, a blood-curdling screech erupted from behind Nigel, followed by the appearance of a talon that slashed right over Nigel's cheek, sending drops of blood flying from his face. Nigel let loose a surprised screech as he was thrown back by the force, releasing Ruby in the process, and was sent crashing on his back on the floor. Ruby then recovered and looked up just in time to see the volcanic vermillion form of Jupiter storm over to Nigel and before Nigel could get up, one of Jupiter's talons slammed hard onto his throat and the toes tightened around his neck. Nigel then looked up and saw the extremely VOLCANIC glare blazing in the eyes of a FURIOUS vermillion scarlet macaw but instead of throwing on a smirking, mocking glare, Nigel felt immense fear, genuine fear, flare within him, especially as Jupiter's talon tightened around his neck to the point of cutting off his breathing.

For perhaps the first time in his life, Nigel felt extreme terror tear through him and he began to struggle in the conflagration-fuelled Jupiter's grasp, struggling to take a breath but Jupiter's iron grip refused to slacken. While this happened, Athos, Sheldon, Mimas, Byron, Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto appeared but when they saw what was going on, horror and consternation tore through them while Ruby looked on in astonishment. Nigel's brown eyes gazed pleadingly into Jupiter's extremely volcanic glare but Jupiter was so blinded by extreme rage that he failed to see the desperation building within the cockatoo's gaze and his talon grip on Nigel's neck remained extremely tight, the pressure making Nigel's eyes bulge out of their sockets. Then Nigel's movements began to slow, his lungs screaming at him for air, something Nigel was unable to give, but still Jupiter failed to see Nigel's desperate struggle. When Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto saw this, they were at first stunned at their father's extreme fury but then they began to beg him to release Nigel.

"Dad, DROP THAT COCKATOO!" called Io.

"This is GOING TOO FAR!" put in Europa.

"YOU'RE KILLING HIM!" added Ganymede.

"SNAP OUT OF IT!" cried Callisto. Mimas, Byron, Sheldon and Athos also all begged the same thing while Ruby just looked on, her facial scratch inflicted on her by Nigel weeping a bit of blood, speechless. Jupiter continued to volcanically erupt in fury and strangling Nigel until his movements became so slow, indicative that his consciousness was slipping away. If this continued any longer, it is likely that he would never wake up. However, as the cries of his three daughters, son, three sons-in-law and daughter-in-law penetrated the blood-red cloud in his eyes as well as what was happening to Nigel, Jupiter felt his volcanic fury subside and slackened his grip on the cockatoo's neck. Then the scarlet macaw threw the cockatoo aside and backed away, especially as Nigel began to suck in huge gasps of air of much-needed oxygen, stunned at what he had almost done. However, he was still outraged at the cockatoo. Then as soon as Nigel had recovered and shot Jupiter a terrified look, Jupiter angrily approached him.

"Get out, and don't you DARE BOTHER US AGAIN, or Blu and Jewel WILL KILL you!" snarled the scarlet macaw, sending timidity coursing through Nigel and he whimpered. Then as another squawk rang out, indicating the appearance of other birds, Nigel got up and bolted like a terrified cat. After Nigel had fled, Carla, Bia and Tiago appeared and made a beeline for Ruby as she continued shaking in terror from the ordeal Nigel had put her through, while Blu and Jewel appeared with some other macaws, among them Venus, Mercury, Zephyr, Saturn and Sapphire.

"What happened?" demanded Zephyr. Jupiter gazed at Venus's mate.

"Nigel attempted to kill my mate," he said simply. At this, fury and rancour tore through Blu and Jewel.

"Tell us where he had gone!" demanded Jewel savagely.

"We're gonna GIVE HIM A PIECE OF OUR MINDS!" put in Blu, the urge to slash his claws into Nigel's plumage flaring within him. Jupiter reluctantly pointed a talon in Nigel's direction. Then without hesitation, Blu and Jewel rocketed off in Nigel's direction.

"You're not gonna kill him, are you?" asked Io as the Spix macaw couple left.

"No, but we're gonna teach him the most EXCRUTIATING LESSON we are gonna MUSTER UPON HIM!" retorted Blu as he and Jewel left in Nigel's direction, leaving a stunned Io to look on.

"You take Ruby to Tulio's Aviary while we deal with that cockatoo (bleep)," said Jewel to the others. Carla, Bia and Tiago flinched at the foul word that had left Jewel's beak but Zephyr took in the order without question.

"Okay, we will," he called and with that he, Carla, Venus, Saturn, Mercury, Sapphire, Tiago and Bia, along with Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, Athos, Byron, Sheldon and Mimas; Virgil, Justin, Matilda, Quincy and Flor and also Jupiter helped a visibly shaken Ruby to her feet and escorted her to Tulio's Aviary.

 **Meanwhile**

At the Vista Chinesa, some of Tulio's workers were examining the wellbeing of the birds in the jungle. Some were armed with net guns while a few had clipboards on hand. These humans were talking amongst themselves about the progress of dealing with the toucan overpopulation and surveying their efforts. Three of them had gone out into the jungle to carry out the survey. With the group of humans were Uranus, Esmeralda, Miranda and her mate Aramis and their chicks Capella and Achernar; Ariel, Umbriel and her scarlet mate Benjamin and their hybrid chicks Perdita, Aldebaran and Cecil; Titania, her military mate Ash and their chicks Basil and Antares, and Oberon and his blue-and-gold mate Tethys and their hybrid chicks Cressida and Fomalhaut. Uranus was taking his family and grand-chicks on a trip to the Vista Chinesa for a small tour on how it came to be the holder of the Blu Bird Sanctuary's plaque and birdwatching tower while at the same time Uranus and Esmeralda wanted to keep Blu and company informed of the updates of the toucan overpopulation and Tulio's team's progress in reducing it.

"That picture," said Uranus with a point to the circular plaque on the wall of the Vista Chinesa and its picture, "is your Spix great-uncle Blu. Tulio, Linda and Fernando have named this sanctuary after him when they had set it up."

Capella, Achernar, Aldebaran, Perdita, Basil, Antares, Cressida and Fomalhaut gazed in awe at the image of Blu's face in the centre of the circular plaque. Cecil, however, was paying little attention and was peering into the bags of the humans set on the wooden bench bordering the edge of the birdwatching tower.

"So Mr Blu has had this jungle named after him when he was the last known macaw of his species at the time?" asked Capella.

"He looks awesome in that pic," said Achernar with an admiring smile. Then Perdita's head tipped to one side.

"How come you guys didn't have your pics included in that plaque?" she asked. Uranus, at this gazed at Esmeralda, Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania and Oberon and shrugged while Aramis, Tethys, Ash and Benjamin said nothing. Then Esmeralda came forward.

"I believe it was because Tulio and our other human friends have set up this sanctuary before we were discovered," she said.

"Blu and Jewel were the last known Spix macaws at the time, I guess," said Uranus, "but anyway, all you need to know is that this sanctuary is named after Blu."

"The primary purpose was to protect him, Jewel and their offspring, as well as the rest of the animals living in this part of the jungle, from poachers," said Miranda. At this, the beaks of all the chicks but Cecil widened into a smile. Not too far away, Cecil had removed something from one of the bags and had begun to examine it, curiosity welling within him. It was a small box of sticks. Cecil then peered into the box and saw a pack of the sticks, one end of each of them a small red knob. The side of the box itself had a rough strip and when Cecil brushed the azure blue flight feathers of one of his tiny wings along it and discovered that it had a sharp, prickly feel. His eyes widened in fascination as he took in the weird feeling of the strip but then a voice exploded at him, snapping the younger brother of Perdita and Aldebaran of his curiosity.

"Cecil, PUT THAT DOWN!" barked the voice, Umbriel's. At this, Cecil flinched and dropped the box of red-tipped sticks as a pair of scarlet macaw wings then shot in and scooped him away from the box and the bag.

"I-I-I was only…" he began to protest but Benjamin shot him a rebuking glare with Umbriel, Uranus, Esmeralda and the other adults joining in,

"Those things are NOT FOR CHICKS TO PLAY WITH!" shouted Umbriel, making Cecil flinch. As these words exploded from Umbriel's beak in rebuke to her youngest son, Aldebaran's eyes happened to pick up some movement out of their corner. At this, Cecil's brother turned to the movement's direction but he found nothing.

"Yes, they are extremely dangerous and could be destructive if misused," put in Uranus sternly. He was trembling violently, knowing what those sticks Cecil was examining could do if they WERE in the wrong or careless hands. Cecil bowed his head in shame while Capella, Achernar, Perdita, Basil, Antares, Cressida and Fomalhaut looked on in utter disapproval, but Aldebaran was feeling uneasy. Nearby, the man had packed away the box of the sticks Cecil had been examining, alarm in his eyes. While Uranus and the others continued scolding Cecil, the man then asked his colleagues about the toucan population as three of them climbed the Vistas Chinesa ladder after a survey out in the jungle. As the three surveyors stood before the man and the others with him, Aldebaran pulled away from Uranus and the others and cocked an ear to listen.

"There are still quite a lot of those toucans in the forest, Bill," said one of the surveyors, a woman, "I don't know how many there are but… it seems that the toucan population reduction is gonna take longer than we thought…"

"We've seen one of the toucan families flying through the trees and believe me, that family must have at least thirty chicks," said another surveyor, a man. Aldebaran breathed in a short sharp gasp just as Ariel came in, a frown on her face.

"That doesn't sound good at all," murmured she. Aldebaran gazed at his maternal great green aunt.

"How many of those rabbit-breeding toucans have they caught, Aunt?" he asked. He, along with Sandalwood and the other rescued kids had been told by Blu and the others about the toucan overpopulation just before they touched down in Rio. Ariel gazed at her half great green nephew and said nothing. Then Uranus came in, a frown on his face.

"We need to report this to Blu and Jewel now," he said. As Uranus spoke, Aldebaran thought he saw another flash of movement out the corner of his eye, this time a bigger one. At this, the Verde (half-scarlet, half-great green) macaw chick snapped his gaze in the movement's direction but again he saw nothing. However he did see a bird from the jungle fly by and assumed it to be the movement. 'Perhaps it's my mind playing tricks on me?' asked Aldebaran to himself in his head. Just then, Ariel's voice pulled him out of his worried gaze.

"Aldebaran, it's time to go," said she. At this, Aldebaran gazed at his aunt and then at the other macaws and saw that they were prepared for departure. A sigh leaving his beak, he complied and joined Cecil and Perdita by Benjamin and Umbriel's sides. But as Uranus and his family were about to take off, they were stopped by the shout of one of the humans. At this, the blended-species family turned round and saw the man, Bill look in his bag.

"Hey, folks, have you seen my box of matches?" he asked.

"No, we haven't, Bill," replied one of the other humans. The others also denied seeing those things. Bill then shot his colleagues a glare.

"I'm having a barbeque tonight at my son-in-law's house to celebrate his and my daughter's third wedding anniversary," he growled as he fumbled through his bag, "so I packed my box of matches before setting off so that I didn't have to return home to fetch them after my shift and then rush straight to my son-in-law's house. The matches were right in here and now they've gone."

At this, Uranus and Esmeralda shot suspicious glares at Miranda and the others but they shook their heads to indicate that they hadn't taken anything. Even Cecil denied taking something.

"I was only examining them…" he said.

"J-j-just learn your lesson and do NOT go anywhere near those things again," snapped Esmeralda, making Cecil flinch.

"The last time I saw that box of matches was when I found them lying on this wooden bench," continued the man named Bill before his gaze returned to the pocket where he had packed the box, "and I'm sure I've returned them in here…"

The other humans gathered round and gazed into the pocket on Bill's bag, curious looks on their faces and shrugged their shoulders. Aramis also gazed at Bill's bag in curiosity.

"He did pack that box of matches back into his bag after we removed Cecil from them," he said, "I saw it without a doubt."

"Then how could that box go missing?" asked Esmeralda.

"I don't know, but I don't like this one bit," muttered Uranus uneasily. Mysterious happenings often frightened him and made his skin crawl and it was one of the things he hated most. However, this skin-crawling feeling was more intense in Aldebaran and he shuddered as he felt a strange feeling well within him. It was like the feeling of being watched… or followed. Unnerved by this feeling, Aldebaran heard his name get called.

"It's time to go," said Uranus, especially as he saw Bill and his team pack up to leave for Tulio's Aviary. Then as soon as Bill's team had packed up, they climbed down the ladder of the Vista Chinesa and prepared to leave, while Uranus and his family had lofted into flight to return to the same destination. As the blended family of macaws flew along, Aldebaran flashed on last glance at the Vista Chinesa, the unnerving feeling still bubbling within him. He felt the urge to tell Uranus, Esmeralda, Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, Oberon, Aramis, Tethys, Ash and Benjamin about this but then another thought came to him. 'They might not believe me,' he murmured in his head, 'they might think I'm just being silly.'

Despair and frustration at being tugged one way or the other hanging over him, Aldebaran followed his grandparents, brother Cecil, sister Perdita, mother Umbriel, father Benjamin and his cousins, aunts and uncles in the direction of Tulio's Aviary.


	70. Chapter 69

**Chapter 69- the troubling feelings continue**

In the jungle, the diurnal (daytime active) animals were preparing to turn in for the night with the nocturnal animals preparing to come out for their day was their night. However, there were only a few diurnal bird species present, the most common being the toucans mostly of the toco/keel-billed mix, many of which were Rafael and Eva's offspring, their mates and their numerous chicks; the majority of the birds of the other species had moved to the area just outside the Blu Bird Sanctuary's boundaries to escape the trouble constantly whipped up by the majority of the numerous toucans. Some of the toucan couples had put their chicks to bed but the others had decided to let their kids loose to go out and play at their kids' insistence despite it getting late. However, those seriously ignorant and carefree couples simply believed that those kids were simply going to go out and play and were too carefree to even check their chicks' motives and those motives were laced with pure mischief, like always. That mischief saturating them, those toucan kids left their hollows and disappeared into the darkening jungle to seek out where to channel that mood in the form of troublesome antics, or worse.

 **Back at Tulio's Aviary**

Ruby sat on the table as Bernardo, Susan's husband, checked her facial scratches and the bruise on the back of her head under her feathers where Nigel had slammed her against the tree trunk, and cleaned the scratches on the scarlet macaw's face of the drops of blood with some sterile wipes. A shaken look was plastered all over her face at almost getting killed by a former bother who never seemed to learn his lesson despite how many consequences or how much wrath from Blu and Jewel or the others he faced. Not too far away across the worktop, Jupiter was talking with Zephyr, Carla, Bia, Tiago, Mercury, Sapphire, Venus and Saturn while Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, Mimas, Athos, Byron, Sheldon, Justin, Matilda, Virgil, Quincy and Flor watched over the chicks, among them Sirius, Einstein, Miles, Spica, Melody, Sonia, Bartholomew and Bellatrix. all around the group, more animals, among them Augustus, Melissa, Stella, Luna, Sebastian, Soren, Anabelle and Acerola, Ferdinand, Sandalwood and Connie the flying foxes, were chirping, squeaking and playing away but the flying foxes had become concerned for what had happened to Jupiter and Ruby and had joined Carla and company to check on the scarlet macaws' wellbeing.

"H-h-he just came out of nowhere wh-while we were having a r-r-romantic moment," murmured Jupiter shakily. Like Ruby, he was also badly shaken after Nigel's unexpected and uninvited appearance, but his stricken casted wing, the one where one of Nigel's stones had struck, was fine. "Th-that cockatoo just happened to have the audacity to drop by and interfere with our romantic time despite all he had been through time and time again each time he crossed paths with us…"

"Well, you don't need to worry, Uncle Jupiter," said Carla with an assuring frown.

"Mom and Dad have got it covered," said Bia.

"Hopefully they'll teach him, that crested ferret-face, the most PAINFUL possible lesson that he would NEVER FORGET," snarled Tiago as bitter hatred and malice he also harboured against Nigel flared within him.

"He can never leave us alone or forget about us, can he?" said Mercury with despair, anger and fear, the memories of how Nigel had almost killed Sapphire by strangling her flashing in his mind and made him shudder, alongside the cockatoo's endless taunts towards him and Venus about their missing families from who they were torn from when they were chicks.

"He's still bent on revenge against us, that's what," said Sapphire maliciously and angrily.

"Why can't he just forget about us and move on?" put in Venus in disbelief. Saturn just said nothing as Zephyr then put on an assuring frown.

"Well, as Carla, Bia and Tiago have said, we hope that Blu and Jewel will teach that cockatoo slime ball an EXTREMELY AGONISING LESSON for attempting to kill Ruby," he snarled. As he said this, Augustus and his family put on disbelieving frowns.

"That horrible crested parrot sure seems to be like a mosquito towards you that does not want to leave you alone, doesn't he?" said Augustus. At this, Zephyr shot the flying fox a glare.

"Three times he has attempted to attack us since we arrived here," he snapped, "First it was Triton, Iris and Sheldon for no reason whatsoever shortly after those three had found Mumble and the other two penguins over there," he nodded to the said penguins as they, along with Atreyu, chatted with the other penguins brought back from the fraudulent Paradise Sanctuary place, including Finnick the macaroni penguin who had his enamouring voice and appearance much like Roberto. Zephyr then returned his gaze to the others with him, "Then it was a trap before we had to foil him and now he tries to kill Ruby," his wings went to the back of his head and he sighed, "But his attempted murder of Ruby is the final leaf. I just wish he would just… go away and face complete and miserable solitude for the rest of his life," Zephyr then folded his wings, "and I sure hope that Blu and Jewel will inflict an extremely traumatising ordeal on him to ensure that. See how HE like being inflicted with a very deep scar…" he sniggered spitefully as he said this.

"I cannot believe I almost strangled him to death," said Jupiter rather guiltily, but he had forgotten how volatile and volcanic the instinct to protect one's beloved mate could be. He could not bear to see Ruby in extreme pain or in serious torture and he had almost lost control of it several times before, such as when one of Cicatriz's heavily deranged bat minions, Voldemort, tossed the tortured Ruby into a stream, forcing Jupiter to risk his life to save her despite his fear of rushing waters. However, Zephyr was unsurprised.

"I'm not surprised," he said flatly, "But you tend to go absolutely CRAZY when someone's trying to kill the macaw closest to you, or even your chicks, siblings, close friends and so on, but your own mate and chicks, most especially," Zephyr shook his head and put on an angry look, "Had that had been me and Venus with Nigel trying to, for example, slit Venus's throat to kill her, I would have leaped onto that cockatoo and…" and with that he said the most gruesome things he would do to Nigel much to the revulsion of Jupiter and some of the others. After saying those extremely gruesome things, Zephyr finished with, "and I would perhaps even kill him without a second thought. I cannot BEAR to see my mate tortured and abused."

Jupiter said nothing and shrugged.

"And come to think of it, you actually struck FEAR into Nigel, haven't you noticed," said Carla to him.

"When we turned up," said Bia "that cockatoo just bolted like a capybara when it had sensed a jaguar nearby."

"Just wait until he faces Mom and Dad's wrath," said Tiago smugly, "I think it will be ten times worse that what you put him through."

"By my calculations, I believe that is possible," said Ganymede from across the worktop as he watched over Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine and Guanine with Mimas, "Based on what Dad had put that foul cockatoo through initially, I reckon Blu and Jewel's wrath will be amplified by a massive factor."

The others nodded in agreement.

"And THAT will be severely traumatising for that cockatoo," said Soren as he stood with Stella, Luna, Sebastian and Anabelle. The others nodded in agreement and Zephyr's face morphed into a very menacing look. He had hoped that Nigel will face such serious trauma to pay him back for all the trauma he had inflicted on his victims throughout his bird-detesting life since his TV show career was shattered by the parakeet. However, that was up to Blu and Jewel on how they will do that.

Nearby, Sandalwood, Acerola, Connie and Ferdinand played with some of the chicks with Melissa looking on. Then Stella gazed at Sandalwood and sighed, especially as he kept his distance from the worktop's edge and the drop below it.

"Well, now that we're back in Rio," she said, "It is time to get Sandalwood to fly properly again."

"He doesn't seem to mind being on an elevated platform now," said Bia with a smile, "It seems that he has overcome most of his fear of heights and flight."

"And we're gonna take some of our kids out to stargaze," added Carla, before her gaze turned to one of the windows, the same one that was smashed by that gas can before the kidnap. It had now been fixed, its shattered glass replaced by a new pane. "I can see it's getting dark."

"It's been predicted to be a clear, near-cloudless night," said Saturn, "So that will make way for an excellent opportunity to take our kids out stargazing."

As he said this, Sirius, Einstein and Miles flashed an enthusiastic glance at the blue-and-gold macaw, excitement welling within them. Stella had also opted to take the four young bats including Sandalwood out to stargaze as well, even though Sandalwood had been naughty on the plane, or so she thought, but had saved Blu and Jewel from suffocating themselves, or so she thought on that as well, in that blanket. Then Carla, Bia and Tiago turned.

"Well, we'll round up the kids and get ready for the trip," said Carla.

"While I get that night sky map book I had brought from Linda's bookstore," put in Bia, and with that, the trio of Spix macaws took off to call the kids together while Bia went to fetch the said book. As the three first-brood offspring of Blu and Jewel left, Anabelle turned to Jupiter and Ruby, the latter who was still being treated for her facial scratches.

"Would you two like to come?" she asked. At this, Sebastian shot her a glare.

"Jupiter cannot fly with that wing, don't forget," he muttered. Jupiter nodded in agreement.

"That, I'm afraid, is true," said he, a sad gaze on his casted wing, "and because of that, I'm gonna stay here and perhaps spend the night in the artificial habitat chamber," and with that he gazed in the direction to the said chamber's entrance. Ruby also gazed at Jupiter and said, "I'm gonna stay with you as well."

As she said this, Soren and Stella remembered something.

"Jupiter, Ruby, guys," said Stella, "Do you think that the golden fruithawk couple will be alright with all those toucans still running amok in the sanctuary?"

"If Aurum and Gylfie set to having a clutch of eggs," put in Mercury, "They might face problems."

An agreeing and uncertain look also appeared on each of the faces of Augustus, Melissa, Luna, Ruby, Jupiter, Zephyr, Sapphire and Venus but Saturn wore an assuring look.

"Oh, don't worry about them, Stella and Mercury, guys," said he, "Rafael and Eva have decided to escort them, keep an eye on them and be with them and on the lookout in case those wretched toucans do decide to cause that couple trouble."

"Well, I hope they keep their big beaks on the task," said Jupiter firmly, "Since those two fruithawks are truly the last known pair of their species, if anything happens to either of them or their eggs, if they successfully have any, then their species is doomed."

"We kept insisting that Gylfie and Aurum make their home in the artificial habitat chamber," said Venus, "but it seems that they were highly insistent on raising their family in a natural hollow rather than a manmade one."

"Gylfie and Aurum hate artificial places," said Zephyr, "That's the problem," his wings were then folded and his face creased into a frown, "Just like how some of us, particularly us wild-born birds and flying foxes, aren't so keen on living in a manmade hollow either."

As he said this, Carla called to those who were going stargazing as soon as she and Tiago had rounded up the kids, among them Sandalwood and Connie, and Bia returned with a human thing called a torch or flashlight and a book on the night sky. With them were Athos, Callisto, Io, Sheldon, Europa and Byron while Ganymede and Mimas were on the worktop near Ruby and Jupiter with Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine and Guanine by their sides, obviously overprotective of them after losing all four of them to the poachers some time ago. However, they planned on stargazing within the vicinity of Tulio's Aviary with Mumble and the other penguins.

"Guys, we're ready," called Carla.

"Alright, we're coming," replied Zephyr. He then turned back to Ruby and Jupiter as Venus, Sapphire, Saturn, Mercury, Augustus, Melissa, Stella, Luna, Sebastian and Soren took or dropped off from the table.

"Well, I hope you two will have a good night's sleep and hopefully," Zephyr's look hardened, "you'll not have nightmares about that rotten oversized pigeon in white-grey feathers bothering your dreams."

"It's gonna be quite difficult getting to sleep after that encounter, I can tell you," murmured Jupiter, the shock of Nigel's appearance, along with the bad memories of what the cockatoo had almost done to him in the stream and what he had almost done to Ruby, still gripping him. Ruby breathed a sigh as Bernardo and another bird doctor who had come to help to treat her then stood back and smiled, satisfied that Ruby wasn't too badly hurt.

"Well, I'm glad that your injuries aren't too serious, my red macaw friend," said Bernardo, "but those scratches on your face should heal within a few days or more."

His assistant nodded in agreement and Ruby put on a small smile as Jupiter came forward and gave her a one-winged hug of relief. Naturally and relief bubbling within her as well, Ruby returned it.

 **Soon**

Outside Tulio's Aviary in the carpark, the stargazing group was preparing. Bia has her book on the night sky on wing while Virgil did a headcount of the kids present with Venus and Zephyr. His and Bia's own sons Sirius, Einstein and Miles stood with Carla and Justin with their daughters Sonia, Spica and Melody and also Tiago and Matilda and their two chicks Bellatrix and Bartholomew and also Charlotte and Músculo and their two chicks Petunia and Jason, the Spix macaw chicks eagerly waiting for the trip to a spot where light pollution from the artificial light sources such as from Tulio's Aviary, the car headlights and street lights drowned out the light of the stars in the sky. Near Carla, Bia and Tiago and company were Jojo and Kira and their daughters Vega and Winona; Felix and Turquesa and their sons Austin and Diego; and Lavender and Garrett and their three daughters Deneb, Lilac and Polaris who stood with Roberto and Brisa.

Near the Spix macaws, Jupiter and Ruby's first-brood offspring and their mates and chicks were gathered. Ganymede, his blue-and-gold mate, Mimas and their Catalina chicks Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine and Thymine stood with Io, Sheldon and their daughters Betelgeuse and Rigel; Europa and Byron and their chicks Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka; and Callisto and Athos and their two chicks Canopus and Katniss. Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto and their respective mates were slightly disappointed that Jupiter and Ruby had opted against going with the group to stargaze but Jupiter had told them that he wanted to spend some quiet time with his mate after that horrific ordeal with Nigel, which he, and Io and company as well, had hoped was the cockatoo's last time in getting involved with the group.

Nearby Mars, Chiquitita, Phobos, Deimos, Saturn and Orquidea stood with Enceladus, his hyacinth mate Trixie and their hybrid daughter Mira; Alexandre, Estelle and their chicks Xander and Kayley; Dione, Porthos and their sons Procyon and Peter; Titan, Brooke and their chicks Castor, Pollux and Poppy; and Rhea and Iapetus. Mars and Chiquitita were on the lookout for Uranus and his family who were still at the Vista Chinesa with Bill and his team. While Mars and Chiquitita kept an eye out for Uranus and company, Neptune and Ultramarine did a headcount of some of the other birds present. Triton and Iris stood with Indigo and Victor and their daughter Gertie and also Violet the younger sister of Triton and Indigo and Ultramarine and Neptune's youngest daughter and Mercury and Sapphire stood with Phoebe, Jasmine and Annette, Phoebe accompanied by her mate Squaw'tagnan and their daughter Arcturus.

Pluto and Lapis Lazuli stood nearby with Quincy, Flor and Blueberry, Aiden and their son Saiph and Charon and Neytiri and their two chicks Regulus and Denebola and also Ceres, Cobalto and all three of their first-brood sons Aurelio, Azul and Wilbur, Azul accompanied by his mate Fernanda and their two chicks Oceano and Carmen. Frodo and Ellie the Cuban red macaws were also present with their five chicks Olivia, Sylvester, Achilles, Alegria and Pitaya, as were Diantha, Tom, Aurora, Gladion and Lillie for these three toucan chicks also loved to stargaze. Standing nearby Frodo and his family were Augustus, Melissa, Stella, Luna and Sebastian who were accompanied by Anabelle, Acerola and Ferdinand who stood with Sebastian and Soren and Sandalwood who stood with Stella. The group of animals continued to stand in their subgroups waiting for Uranus and his family to turn up while Zephyr, Venus, Virgil, Neptune and Ultramarine continued their headcount, and some of the other macaws, such as Ganymede, prepared some human magnifier things called binoculars by the human-familiar birds.

As the stargazing group continued to prepare, Travis and Sunset stood nearby with Milo, Eustace, Serena, Rosa and Clemont and Vincent, Yolanda, Bruno, Peach and Oscar, the cockatoos having opted against going stargazing to help with looking after the birds at Tulio's Aviary including Jupiter and Ruby and also Mumble, Balthazar, Atreyu and Ginny and the other penguins. Milo stood from the group gazing down the road bordered by a row of trees on each side.

"I'm wondering if Blu, Jewel, Andromeda and her family are gonna come," he said.

"Well, Spyro and Marella did say they are gonna do just that with their chicks Bambi and Altair," said Travis, "But Andromeda and Eragon would like to remain behind at the Aviary so that Eragon could recover and that the two could spend some time together to recover from the shock of Eragon getting kidnapped by those poachers and also to look after the bat-birds while Spyro and his family stargaze with Bia and company."

Travis then nodded to the other birds and the flying foxes as they continued to wait for the headcount to finish and also for Uranus and his family to turn up.

The group had chosen the area not too far away from Tulio's Aviary to stargaze because it was the only spot away from the artificial human lights emanating from the building and the cars and also because some of the group members, such as Betelgeuse with her tattered wing still growing its flight feathers, the result of Dalek's sadistic ripping of her wing flight feathers to disable her from flying away to escape the chameleon's caracal and serval friends and also Azul, Gladion, Ganymede and Neytiri with their injured wings still healing, were still unable to fly, as well as Sandalwood who was yet to learn how to fly properly. Another reason was also because it was safer than going out into the clutter of the dark trees where the kids were likely to get lost more easily. As Travis and the other cockatoos continued gazing at the group of soon-to-be stargazers, the sounds of wing flaps entered their ears. At this, they turned and saw four more scarlet macaws and a grey-headed bat approach them.

"We're gonna come too," said the larger male scarlet macaw, Greg at the front.

"Yes, our two sons and Connie here could do with an introduction to the night sky as well," added his mate Sardonyx. Beside the two adult scarlet macaws, Steven, Kevin and Connie were present. As the five touched down and walked over to join the Spix macaws, they were greeted by Carla and the others while the cockatoos looked on and exchange glances.

"Looks like Sirius and company have managed to find some new friends," said Travis to the others with a smile. Rosa then gazed at Connie as she joined the flying foxes.

"And it seems that the grey-headed flying fox has taken a liking to Sandalwood and his family as well," she said. Then Clemont tipped his head to one side.

"But her species, _Pteropus poliocephalus,_ is native to Australia like our species, the Major Mitchell's, the citron-crested and the sulfur-crested cockatoos, is it not?" he said, "I would have thought she would have gone with the other grey-headed flying foxes back to that country where she belonged…"

"Connie chose to come with us instead," said Sardonyx when she heard Clemont say this, "She has bonded strongly with my sons Steven and Kevin as close friends and also those Brazilian flying foxes."

Clemont and Rosa then gazed at Connie as she talked with Stella, Luna and Sebastian while Anabelle and Soren looked after Ferdinand, Acerola and Sandalwood, the former whom she had also befriended upon first meeting him. Then Clemont and Rosa's two chicks, Peach and Bruno walked in.

"Didn't you have a third son?" asked Peach. At this, a saddened look came upon Sardonyx's face, leading to Clemont to seize his daughter and scold her. However, Sardonyx gave Clemont an assuring look.

"It's alright," she said, "Yes, we did. His name was Lars, but we unfortunately lost him at that place we now know to be a fraud of a conservation centre."

"What happened to him?" asked Yolanda who came in with Vincent and Oscar, her brothers and all three of who were the chicks of Eustace and Serena. Then their said parents came in.

"You're too young to know," said Eustace to his daughter and three sons.

"Yes, it's too complicated for one and not really an appropriate subject to talk about with those new scarlet macaws for another," put in Serena. Sardonyx then formed a small smile on her beak.

"It's okay," she said, "I'll tell them when they're a little older, okay?"

As she said this, Sirius came in with Spica and Bellatrix.

"Sugilite's not coming?" asked Sirius. Sardonyx turned to him.

"Um… no," she said, "Sugilite wants to get some rest after the chaos we had to go through with the revelation of that Paradise Sanctuary's business as a group of animal collectors under the guise of a conservation group."

At this, the three Spix chicks all lowered their heads in slight disappointment but then Sardonyx issued them an assuring comment.

"Maybe next time," she said, perking up the three chicks. Sirius, Spica and Bellatrix all smiled but then they heard their names get called by Carla, Bia and Tiago. At this, the trio flashed their parents a glance and darted off to return to their respective families. Then Sardonyx turned to the cockatoos.

"You coming?" she asked.

"No, not tonight," said Travis as he scooped up Peach and Yolanda, "We're gonna stay here and help look after the birds in that medical building."

"Maybe next time, perhaps," added Sunset. The other cockatoos nodded in agreement. Sardonyx smiled and prepared to return to the group when suddenly, the scarlet macaw and the cockatoos heard the sounds of footsteps reach their ears.

"Oh, here come Andromeda, Eragon, Spyro, Marella, Bambi, Altair, the bat-birds and three of our cat friends," said Milo. At this, Sardonyx looked up and saw a group of bizarre feathered creatures with long, prehensile tails ending in a frond of flight feathers, feathered legs and clawed fore-wings walk in with beaked lizards with wings and three small felid creatures, sort of like a caracal but smaller and with either a white pelt with black, ginger and orange blotches mixed with stripes scattered all over their body or brown and black striped fur. At this, Sardonyx backed away as Andromeda and her family, the bat-birds and the three cats, which were Broccoli and his two sisters Daisy and Collette, as they walked up to the cockatoos.

"Oh, there you are, Spyro, Marella, Altair, Bambi," said Travis.

"Bia and the others are just getting ready," said Sunset, a nod to the other animals. Spyro and has family gazed at them as well.

"Right, we'd better prepare too," he said.

"Sorry we're late," said Marella and with that she commanded Altair and Bambi to come along with her and Spyro and with that the four archaeobirds rushed off to join Bia's group. Eragon, Andromeda, Broccoli, Collette and Daisy looked on with the bat-birds with small smiles on their faces. However, under the smiles, the look of surprise and consternation was also present on each of their faces. When Eustace saw this, he asked, "Something wrong, folks?"

"You look stricken with worry," said Serena.

"Let me guess," added Milo slightly disgruntled, "Bad news to bring?"

Travis, Sunset, Clemont, Rosa, Vincent, Yolanda, Peach, Bruno and Oscar just exchanged glances and shrugged. At this, Broccoli came forward and shook his head.

"No, not at all," he said.

"We were just simply taking a walk with these strange city cats," said Andromeda, and then a look of astonishment came upon her face, "But after we had passed through an array of these things you call stands with those humans offering a very of fruit and other of their things we have never seen or heard of, to other people," she paused dramatically and put on an awed look, like when one was disturbed after witnessing something horrible, "we heard the MOST… AWFUL… screech down one of those um… reads or whatever those things those human four-wheeled things run on…"

"Roads," said Collette.

"That's it," said Andromeda. As she said this, Spyro came in after Marella, Bambi and Altair had joined Bia's group.

"It was obviously a bird screech but it sounded in extreme distress or agony," he said equally awed, "like that bird was being brutally tortured."

"To be exact, a cockatoo," said Broccoli. At this, Travis and the other cockatoos exchanged worried glances.

"It can't have been one of us," said Travis.

"Yes, we've been here all this time," said Sunset. Then a frown came upon Broccoli's face.

"You can't have been," he said in a low voice, "That screech actually sounded like Nigel's."

This sent astonishment tearing through Travis and his family and Spyro shuddered. He remembered seeing that foul and infamous sulfur-crested cockatoo with Enceladus, Trixie and some of the others when he was having a mud bath in the forest before Stella and Soren pinched his tattered vest.

"Nigel's being tortured?" asked Eustace surprised.

"That's the last thing any of us, especially the exotic birds and his still-living victims, would expect that infamous vulture to be," said Clemont. Then Andromeda, a dark look on her face, approached the cockatoos and said, "Well, I've been to take a look on Rouge, my bat-bird, but we eventually changed our minds and returned to Eragon and the others for it was frightening my bat-bird too much."

Then Serena came in.

"I reckon that's the work of Blu and Jewel," she said.

"Blu and Jewel?" repeated Broccoli in shock.

"Why would they put Nigel through such excruciating torture?" asked Collette. A frown then came upon Travis's face.

"He attempted to torture and abuse Jupiter and Ruby and almost killed the latter," he said flatly. At this, confusion was whipped up in the archaeobirds while the three cats flinched as disbelief stung them.

"No," said Broccoli, Daisy and Collette together. But before any of the cats could ask any more questions, Carla turned up.

"Ah, Broccoli, Daisy, Collette," she said, "Glad you've turned up. Would you like to come stargazing with us?" she gestured to the other animals as Saturn went over the safety rules.

"Did Nigel attempt to attack Ruby and Jupiter?" questioned Broccoli. As he asked this, Bia came in, a furious look on his face.

"To answer that question shortly, Broc," she growled, "yes, but now Mom and Dad are dealing with it. Now let's forget that cockatoo slime-ball and let's focus on stargazing!"

As Bia unintentionally shouted the last word, Broccoli flinched again, especially as Bia and her sister left to re-join the group.

"Okay, okay," hissed the tabby cat and Catina and Veggie's son disgruntledly at Bia's snap, "Little Miss _Bossy_!"

And with that, Broccoli left with Collette and Daisy and joined the other animals, Spyro not too far behind them. Travis looked on with Andromeda and Eragon and the other cockatoos.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised at Bia's rather snappy reply," said Travis.

"That Nigel has been a bother to us for so many years," said Sunset, "And it's come to a point where we're just about sick of him and his constant bothering of us."

"I did catch a glimpse of that cockatoo trying to strike revulsion into some small brightly coloured birds by eating from a pigeon he had apparently killed in the most disgusting way," muttered Andromeda repulsively, "while I was on a flight out with Cometa and Lightning."

Travis, Sunset, Eustace, Milo, Rosa, Clemont, Serena and Eragon shot Andromeda a disgusted look each, some with tongues hanging out of their beaks. Andromeda's gaze then hardened, "It was absolutely REVOLTING, honestly. Even carrion eaters like vultures, according to Cometa, had better manners than that disgusting hog in feathers…" Andromeda's face then creased into a look of disgust as she said this. Travis's face, however, put on an unsurprising look.

"It's no surprise that you should find him repulsive," he said.

"He's been gorging himself on the most unpleasant of foods since we first met him," said Sunset. Andromeda then breathed a sigh and put her wing claws on her forehead. "I never wanna come across a disgusting creature like that crested parrot again. In fact, just thinking of him and the way he was eating that pigeon makes my stomach wanna tremble…" her wing claws then went to her belly as the feeling of nausea welled there, the others looking on sympathetically, "I'm glad that Cometa and Lightning had taken me and Rouge away from that crested parrot quickly as otherwise I would have been…"

"Even the falcons find Nigel repulsive," said Eustace with a frown. Andromeda gazed at the oldest son of Travis and Sunset as he stood with Serena, Vincent, Yolanda and Oscar who said nothing. Then Clemont noticed a group of familiar macaws, most of them green with red foreheads, yellow wing undersides and azure blue wing flight feathers arrive and touch down before Neptune and Ultramarine.

"Oh, there are Uranus and company," he said. At this, Travis and the others including Andromeda and Eragon turned and saw the newcomers, which were indeed Uranus and his family, as they joined the rest of Bia's group.

As Uranus, Esmeralda, Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania and Oberon, together with Aramis, Benjamin, Ash, Tethys and the chicks Capella, Achernar, Basil, Antares, Perdita, Aldebaran and Cecil, walked over to join the others going stargazing, Neptune saw the rather troubled look on their faces.

"Something wrong, Uranus?" asked the hyacinth macaw.

"You look like you have something on your mind," said Triton as he stood with Iris, Violet, Indigo, Victor and Gertie. At this, Uranus shook his head and gazed at the hyacinth macaws.

"Oh, we're fine," he said, "Just a bit… shaken by some strange happening at the Vista Chinesa…"

"Really?" asked Ultramarine.

"What happened?" asked Iris. Then a frown came upon Indigo and Victor's faces.

"Toucan trouble, I presume," muttered the former. At this, Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, Oberon, Tethys, Athos, Ash and Aramis shook their heads.

"One of the humans in the team of surveyors has mysteriously lost a box of matches from his bag," said Aramis.

"He packed them before coming to the shift so that he could go straight to his daughter's house for he was having a bar-bee-kew to celebrate her wedding annie-verse-sarry or whatever it is," said Ash as he struggled with the human terms 'barbeque' and 'anniversary'.

"Anniversary," said Titania.

"That's it," said Ash. Then curiosity took hold of the chicks accompanying Uranus and the others.

"What's one of them, Mom?" asked Capella to Miranda.

"It's an event humans have to celebrate a big event in their lives, like a wedding for example," said her mother. At this, Capella and Achernar's beaks widened in fascination. Nearby, Aldebaran as he stood with Umbriel, Benjamin, Perdita and Cecil, still had unease gripping him. While the great green/scarlet hybrid chick continued to feel the feeling chew at his insides, Travis came in with his family, Andromeda, Eragon and the bat-birds, a raised eyebrow above his left eye.

"A human has mysteriously lost his box of matches?" asked the sulfur-crested cockatoo.

"Apparently so," said Uranus.

"How they disappeared is anyone's guess," said Esmeralda.

"First, the box was outside that human's bag on the wooden bar of the wooden tower as Cecil had taken them out," said Aramis, before shooting a glare at Cecil who flinched, "and that man had packed that box back into his bag, which I've seen but then…"

"That box has disappeared," Miranda said. Travis, Sunset, Eustace, Milo, Rosa, Clemont and Serena exchanged concerned looks while Vincent tipped his head to one side.

"What would that human want with a box of matches, anyway?" asked he.

"To light the fire of the barbeque grill at his daughter's house, obviously," said Ariel. As she said this, some human sounds reached the group's ears, pulling their attention to the source. When Neptune, Travis and the others with them saw a certain human talk with several other humans near the wall of Tulio's Aviary, Uranus recognised the man as Bill.

"That's Bill," he said, "He's the one who had lost those matches."

Then Mars came in, a frown on his face as he also gazed at Bill.

"Well, whatever it is, it's none of our concern, anyway," he said, "Let's prepare to stargaze."

"Yes, let's leave our human friends to deal with it," said Esmeralda and with that she, Uranus and the others turned to face the kids while Andromeda and Eragon, Travis, Sunset and the other cockatoos and the bat-birds looked on.

"Alright, you be careful out there," said Andromeda firmly, before her gaze turned to Spyro, Marella, Bambi and Altair, "Especially you four."

"We're only going to the spot where there is less of that man's light, Mom," said Spyro as he held Altair.

"Do you want us to let Blu and Jewel know where you've gone when they come back?" asked Sunset.

"Yes, please do," said Neptune firmly. Then Zephyr came in with Brisa and Roberto.

"We don't want them flustered," he said firmly, before his gaze turned to Carla, Bia, Tiago and their mates and chicks, "Especially for those three over there and their families. We've been through enough nightmarish ordeals with most of our chicks going missing and getting caught by poachers as it is."

"I know right," said Broccoli nearby as he helped Charlotte check on the number of the Spix macaw chicks while Collette and Daisy prepared the binoculars.

"We're gonna stay together and not stray into the jungle, anyway," said Roberto, much to the satisfied smiles of Travis, Andromeda and the others with him.

"Good," said Eragon, "And this time, make sure that none of the kids wander off."

"Yes, especially since it is dark," said Sunset. Roberto, Zephyr, Neptune and Uranus all nodded and turned to help the other adults prepare the kids for stargazing.

"Come along, Capella, Achernar, the rest of you," commanded Esmeralda as Uranus's family joined the others. Capella, Achernar, Basil, Antares, Perdita, Aldebaran and Cecil obediently followed but not before shooting a gaze at Travis, Sunset, Andromeda, Eragon and Eustace, Milo, Rosa, Clemont, Serena, the young cockatoos and the bat-birds who smiled. As the seven chicks walked along, Aldebaran felt that now was the time to tell one of the adult birds of his uneasy feelings he had been having for a while since before Bill's matches had gone missing. However, another part of him was telling him that the adults would not believe his feelings but the colourful chick decided to fight past his reluctance to ask one of the adults anyway. Going over to Esmeralda, Aldebaran said, "Grandmother."

"Yes, Aldebaran," said Esmeralda. Aldebaran then paused. How was he going to explain to his great green grandmother of his feelings based on something that she might not believe?

"Have you… um… ever felt like… you're being…" Aldebaran timidly asked, "Watched… or followed?"

"What do you mean, sweetie?" asked Esmeralda. At this, Umbriel and Benjamin, his parents came in.

"You mean as in being stalked?" asked Benjamin. Aldebaran, an unsure look on his face, nodded. Esmeralda, Benjamin and Umbriel exchanged looks.

"Why are you asking about that, son?" asked Benjamin. Aldebaran then bit the lip of his lower beak and shut his eyes. "I… I've been having this feeling just before we left that… Vista Chinesa tower…"

He then lifted his head and gazed at the three adults, "Just before those… matches went missing, I had a feeling that… someone was following us… or watching us…"

At this, Esmeralda, Benjamin and Umbriel exchanged glances again and then gazed back at the hybrid chick.

"Look, there is nothing to be concerned or worried about, son," said Umbriel.

"Yes," added Benjamin, "There's no-one following us."

"Furthermore," continued Aldebaran, interrupting his parents' attempts to assure him that there was nothing to worry about, "I thought I saw some movement out the corner of my eye, about the time those matches have gone missing, but when I turned, there was nothing there…"

At this, Esmeralda came forward, a slight frown on her face. Putting a gentle wing on Aldebaran's shoulder, she said, "Look, that matches and matchbox incident is none of our concern. Let's just forget about what happened at the Chinesa Vista and let's focus on stargazing, okay? Now let's join the others."

Aldebaran sighed and was forced to go along. Maybe stargazing and a tour of the night sky will help him to forget his uneasy feelings. Reluctantly, he obeyed his parents and grandmother's orders to join the others and did so with the three adults following. However, the uneasy feeling still remained, but then Umbriel began to feel that same feeling well. Now having heard her son talk about seeing things out the corner of one's eye, and then turning in the movement's direction only to see nothing, the great green mate of Benjamin began to feel worry well within her. Does Aldebaran's description sound eerily familiar to the flashes of movement she thought she saw during Blu and company's journey through that fraudulent Paradise Sanctuary's corridors on their way to rescuing Sandalwood and the others, moments before Carla, Bia, Tiago, Azul, Spyro and Mimas were kidnapped? However, Umbriel brushed these worries aside and resumed her focus on preparing to stargaze with the others.


	71. Chapter 70

**Chapter 70- from a peaceful stargazing trip to a serious nightmare**

Shortly after the stargazing group had left, Travis, Sunset, Eustace, Milo, Rosa, Clemont, Serena, Vincent, Yolanda, Oscar, Peach and Bruno returned to Tulio's Aviary with Andromeda, Eragon and the bat-birds. As the group neared the entrance to the building, they heard the flapping sounds of two pairs of wings in their ears. At this, Eustace looked up.

"Oh, look, Blu and Jewel have returned," he said. At this, the others also looked up in time to see a pair of Spix macaws fly in and touch down before them. As Blu and Jewel touched down and walked over to Travis and company, the latter group put on astonished faces.

"Good grief, you two," cried Andromeda in utter shock, "How violently did you have to deal with that hideous crested parrot!?"

As she said this, Travis, Sunset, Eragon and the other cockatoos and the bat-birds took the time to examine Blu and Jewel up and down. Both Spix macaws' plumages were strewn with red streaks and their beaks and claws bore more of the same red liquid. In their claws quite a few white-grey ragged feathers were caught and Blu was holding a pale yellow one, which Travis knew had come from Nigel's crest, in his mouth. Even more astonishingly, the faces of both Spix macaws especially that of Jewel were saturated with an extremely acidic concoction of scorn, smugness and amusement, and Travis and Sunset could see a hint of utter sadism thrown into the mix as well.

"You looked as though you've slaughtered Nigel outright and rather gruesomely," added Clemont as he commented on the state of the Spix macaw couple. At this, Blu stepped forward to answer this and Andromeda's question after taking the crest feather out of his beak.

"We didn't kill that cockatoo," he said in a scorn-laced voice, "We just savagely slashed and bit him like a pair of extremely enraged cats and tore out as many feathers as we could."

Then before Travis could ask, Jewel, her face completely smug-saturated continued the explanation.

"And not only that," she cackled, "we tormented him by screeching at him in the most terrifying way by bulging our eyes out at him right in his face and made ourselves look as frightening as possible," her beak then widened into an extremely smug smile, "I even took the opportunity to seize him by the neck and strangle him to the point of suffocating him like how Jupiter had almost done before we turned up. You should have seen how much of a coward he was when we savagely attacked him. He kept screaming and crying like the PATHETIC coward that he is, especially when we raked him with our claws and tore out his feathers to inflict him with extreme pain!"

And with that, she cackled menacingly, much to the disgust of Travis and the others.

"We sure enjoyed putting that (bleep) through the same hellish NIGHTMARES he had put us and any other victim he had tortured and abused in the past, I can tell you," added Blu, before his voice melted to one of pure rancour and hatred, "We were gonna kill him actually but we decided to leave that cockatoo to suffer those serious physical and mental scars we had inflicted upon him for the rest of his life."

"And I hope he has NIGHTMARES about us as well, especially after what he had almost done to Ruby," put in Jewel in an equally rancorous voice. Travis and the others continued listening to Blu and Jewel's description of what wrath they had put Nigel through until finally, Travis spoke.

"Well, I think you went a bit over-the-top with your savage attack on Nigel, you two," he said.

"And I think it's time you got cleaned up," put in Sunset.

"Eragon, I, those three city cats and our bat-birds had wondered what on earth all that agonised screeching and squawking was down that read during our walk," said Andromeda.

"Road," said Travis, correcting Andromeda's calling of the road, 'read'.

"And it actually sent shivers down some of our spines," said Eragon, "Especially Rouge, Andromeda's bat-bird here," he nodded to said bat-bird who let loose a squeaky whimper to confirm her agreement to this statement, "Even the three city cats were startled."

"Where is Nigel now after you had brutally scared him and tortured him?" asked Sunset. At this, Blu and Jewel's faces widened their sadistic and smug smiles, their wings folded and their eyes were shut.

"We tossed him into a chicken farm nearby," said Blu smugly, "Where we hope he'll live out the rest of his wretched days…"

"Well, I think we've heard enough on that subject of that twisted cockatoo," said Travis, interrupting, before his gaze turned to Blu and Jewel, "And as Sunset said, you two need to clean up."

"That's why we've come back here," said Blu, "To clean our pretty blue plumages of that cockatoo slime-ball's blood and feathers."

Jewel then opened her wings and took off for Tulio's Aviary's entrance without another word. Blu also followed with Travis and Sunset in tow.

"Bia and the others have gone stargazing," called Eustace. At this, Blu and Jewel flashed a smile of 'okay' before they disappeared into the building with Travis and Sunset in tow. After the four had gone, Clemont turned to Vincent, Yolanda, Peach, Oscar and Bruno and said, "Well, I think it's time that these five are returned to Tulio's Aviary too."

"Yeah, it's been a long day," said Vincent with a yawn after this. He then gazed down at his still-healing wing in its cast and sighed. Then Andromeda turned to Rouge and Spyro's bat-bird Garnet and said, "Rouge, Garnet, you two fly after Bia and the others and keep an eye on them. If you see any trouble, report back to us, the crested parrots and Blu and Jewel, okay?"

Rouge and Garnet nodded and took off into the air to follow Bia and the others. As the two bat-birds left, Serena flashed Andromeda a surprised look.

"Why are you sending two of your bat-birds after Bia and the other stargazers?" asked she.

"Just in case something happens to them," said Andromeda, "I just want to be on the safe side."

"But Bia and the others are sensible enough to look out for themselves, my shiny crystal," said Eragon as he stood with the remaining four bat-birds, two of which belonged to himself and Marella, "Including Spyro and Marella. They don't really need out constant eye on them all the time."

"And besides that," added Eustace, "They're not going too far away from here and they're not gonna venture into the forest at this time of night anyway. I'm sure they'll be fine…"

"I just want to make a safety net," said Andromeda, sharply interrupting Eustace's protests, much to the cockatoo's shock. Then before anyone else could speak further, Andromeda left for Tulio's Aviary's entrance, the remaining bat-birds in tow. Eustace glared after the archaeobird with a disgruntled look.

"She sure is a bit brusque, isn't she?" said he to the others. Then Eragon came in.

"Well, she's just wary of Bia and the others' safety, that's all," he said, understanding Andromeda's apparently overprotective attitude, "After all, half of the kids have been taken by those hideous poachers and we had to go through a lot of difficulty trying to protect the remaining ones as well as find out where the kidnapped kids including Sandalwood had been taken…"

"Not to mention all the bother Blu and the others had to go through in finding those kids," added Milo and with that, he left for Tulio's Aviary's entrance too. Rosa, Serena, Clemont, Vincent, Yolanda, Bruno, Peach and Oscar followed.

"Not to mention the trouble Chiquitita and Phobos had to put themselves through in rescuing some of the remaining kids when those rotten toucans seized them and made off with them, resulting in those two getting brutally beaten by those poachers' crows," added Rosa as she left. Eustace flashed his only sister a glare. He clearly did not like that flock of devious menaces getting mentioned. Eragon's wing claws on his un-casted wing then appeared and landed on his shoulder.

"Let's just return to the building, shall we?" said Eragon gently. Eustace breathed a sigh of defeat and relented, and with that the pair left.

 **Meanwhile**

Carla, Bia and Tiago, together with their respective mates Justin, Virgil and Matilda and their chicks Sirius, Einstein, Miles, Bartholomew, Bellatrix, Sonia, Spica and Melody, continued their walk into the dark clearing away from as much manmade light pollution as possible with the others accompanying them. Walking alongside Carla and her mate, daughters, nephews, nieces, brother, sister, brother-in-law and sister-in-law were Zephyr, Venus, Roberto and Brisa accompanied by Charlotte, Jojo, Felix and Lavender and their respective mates Músculo, Kira, Turquesa and Garrett and their chicks Jason, Petunia, Vega, Winona, Austin, Diego, Deneb, Lilac and Polaris; and Mars, Chiquitita, Phobos and Deimos with Alexandre, Estelle, Xander and Kayley and Jupiter and Ruby's first-brood offspring Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto and their respective mates Sheldon, Byron, Mimas and Athos and their chicks Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine, Thymine, Betelgeuse, Rigel, Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka, Canopus and Katniss.

Behind the Spix and red macaw families were Saturn, Orquidea, Enceladus and his mate hyacinth Trixie and their daughter Mira; Dione, Porthos and their sons Procyon and Peter; Titan, Brooke and their chicks Castor, Pollux and Poppy and also Rhea and Iapetus. They were accompanied by Uranus, Esmeralda, Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania and Oberon and Aramis, Benjamin, Ash and Tethys, the mates of Miranda, Umbriel, Titania and Oberon respectively and the chicks Capella, Achernar, Basil, Antares, Perdita, Aldebaran and Cecil as these seven excitedly skipped alongside their parents and with Fomalhaut and Cressida, Tethys and Oberon's chicks. Behind Uranus and his family were Neptune, Ultramarine, Triton, Iris, Violet, Indigo and Victor with their daughter Gertie, and Sapphire, Mercury, Phoebe, Jasmine, Annette and Phoebe's mate Squaw'tagnan and daughter Arcturus. Pluto, Lapis Lazuli, Blueberry, Charon, Quincy, Flor, Aiden and Neytiri walked along with Saiph, Regulus and Denebola; Ceres, Cobalto, Azul and his mate Fernanda, son Oceano, daughter Carmen and brothers Aurelio and Wilbur as these macaws walked in one large group and last of all were Frodo and Ellie the Cuban macaws and their chicks Olivia, Sylvester, Achilles, Alegria, Pitaya; Diantha and Tom the toucans and their chicks Gladion, Lillie, Aurora; and Augustus, Melissa, Stella and Soren, Sebastian and Anabelle, Luna, Sandalwood, Acerola and Ferdinand the flying foxes and Bambi, Altair and their parents Spyro and Marella who were accompanied by Greg, Sardonyx, Connie, Steven and Kevin and Broccoli, Daisy and Collette who had decided to go along with them.

Bia had the stargazing book while Uranus, Neptune, Venus and Mercury and several others carried several pairs of strange dual tube things the human-raised birds called binoculars which they had explained to the members not familiar with them that humans used these to magnify distant birds and stars during birdwatching or stargazing, as well as several more human devices the human-familiar birds called flashlights or torches to help navigate in the dark. As the large group continued to walk along, Sandalwood, while he was hanging onto Stella's breast, kept gazing at Saturn's bandaged talon whose bandage had just been replaced a while ago.

"What happened to Mr Saturn's foot, Mom?" asked Sandalwood. At this, Stella gazed at Saturn's bandaged talon as the blue-and-gold macaw hovered close to the ground for he still could not walk properly yet and said, "He cut it very badly on some stuff humans call glass."

"Glass?" squeaked Acerola as she walked alongside Anabelle, with Ferdinand on her breast, and Sebastian, the latter who gazed at her.

"It's that hard, transparent material human use to make windows," he explained.

"When it gets broken, according to Carla, Bia, Tiago and the other birds familiar with human things," added Soren who was on Stella's other side, "it can form very sharp edges that can inflict injury," his gaze then turned to Saturn's foot, "and unfortunately, Saturn suffered such injury on that talon."

"How did it happen?" asked Acerola. At this, Anabelle gazed at her and smiled.

"It's too complicated," she said gently, "Let's just focus on stargazing."

Acerola raised an eyebrow and soon put the curiosity about Saturn's injured foot to one side, as did Sandalwood. As the group walked along, the black canvas awash with the massive glitter river of stars hung above them like a curtain, much to the awe of the group.

"I believe that's the Milky Way," said Sirius as he gazed at the massive sea of stars, particularly the densest concentration of it that flowed across the sky.

"You're correct, son," said Bia, "That's our galaxy."

Nearby, Betelgeuse and Rigel turned their heads to a specific constellation that was quite low in the sky. This constellation was divided by three stars that appeared to be aligned in a row and below that row several blurry objects were aligned vertically and pointed downward, like a dagger from a hilt.

"That's the Orion constellation," Io told the two sisters, "That's the constellation our friends Cometa and Lightning took for their son because the markings on his underside resembles that pattern."

Betelgeuse then gazed at a specific red star, the only red star in the pattern and the one she was named for, and smiled while Rigel gazed at the blue star diagonally opposite the red one.

"Yes, my daughters," said Sheldon when he saw his two daughters gaze at the two stars, "We've named you two after those stars."

"While Tiago and Matilda have named their daughter after that star," said Europa, a nod to another blue star nearly horizontal to the red one but above the 'Belt' and with that she flashed a glance at Bellatrix as she listened to Tiago explain her name origin as well, "While Saiph is named after the fainter star just near Rigel, by Blueberry and Aiden," she nodded to said star in the Orion constellation, before turning to her three triplet chicks, "While you three are named after the Belt stars."

At this, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka gazed up at their namesake stars and smiled.

"So most of us have been named after stars?" asked Alnitak.

"Yes," said Byron, before his gaze turned to Bia and her family as they talked with Venus and Zephyr, "And Sirius is named after that bright star just near the Orion pattern," and as he said this he pointed to said star, prompting Alnitak and his brother and sister to gaze at it.

"When we grow up, we wanna take some chicks stargazing too," said Mintaka with a smile. Alnitak and Alnilam nodded in agreement.

"So will we," said Canopus, Katniss, Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine and Thymine altogether as they stood with Mimas, Ganymede, Callisto and Athos, much to the amusement of the adults.

"Must run in the family, I suppose," said Mars in the amusement. Chiquitita, whose healing injuries were still bandaged, nodded in agreement as did Phobos (who also wore his bandages), Deimos, Alexandre and Estelle simply smiled. From his mother Stella's breast, Sandalwood gazed at the sea of stars with wide eyes as did the other kids, including Aldebaran, whose worry and uneasy feeling he had been experiencing at the Vista Chinesa and for Bill and his box of matches all swept aside, as he gazed upward at the night sky with Capella, Achernar, Basil, Antares, Perdita and Cecil and their parents Miranda, Aramis, Titania, Ash, Benjamin and Umbriel. Broccoli, Daisy, Collette and Sardonyx, Greg, Kevin, Steven and Connie also gazed up at the sky and smiled in awe.

"We've always wanted to go stargazing properly when we lived in that 'Paradise Sanctuary'," said Greg, "but to actually go with other macaws is simply an awesome experience."

"I think we should take Travis and the others with us to stargaze next time," said Broccoli. Collette and Daisy then relished a small breeze as it blew by and caressed their fur, ruffling it like grass. Then Zephyr said to Bia, "Right, Bia, where shall we go?"

Bia smiled and nodded to a specific spot in the clearing.

"We'll go there," she said. With that, the group began to head for that spot, the streams of artificial light flowing from the torches held by some of the macaws aiming for the area, the kids excitedly bouncing along as they looked forward to peering through the binoculars and admiring the beautiful jewels of the night sky. However, Bia's group was completely unaware that the chosen spot was already under occupation and those occupiers were completely enveloped by the darkness of the night, doing what Bia and her group were about to do once they got there.

As Bia and company continued to their spot of choice, Saturn, who had fluttered to the front of the Spix macaws, suddenly felt his wing hit something, followed by a scream of shock. Saturn fluttered back in surprise and stopped the others dead as his other wing accidentally slapped Carla and Justin in the face and he flopped to the floor to be caught by Roberto and Brisa.

"MOOOM, DAAAAAD, GUUUYS!" cried the thing that Saturn ad accidentally struck with his wing, "SOMEONE'S ATTACKIN' MEEEE!"

Disbelief tore through Bia's group and glances were exchanged.

"'Someone's attacking me'?" repeated Kira with surprise and confusion as Jojo, Vega, Winona, Felix, Turquesa, Austin, Diego, Lavender, Garrett, Polaris, Deneb and Lilac only looked on speechlessly. Then Zephyr and Venus came in with Orquidea as Saturn apologised to Carla and Justin for accidentally hitting them in the faces with his wing. However, a look of suspicion was plastered all over the three macaws' faces as they glared at where the little creature Saturn had struck with his wing by accident had dashed off to. Bellatrix and Bartholomew jumped into Matilda's wings while Stella and Soren came in with Sandalwood.

"Someone's already stargazing?" asked Stella confused. Zephyr's green eyes then detected and just made out the partial silhouettes of some of the shadowy figures from the dark background. However, as he made out the shapes of what appeared to be the head features, he hissed a, "Oh, peaches and apples!"

"What is it, Uncle Zephyr?" asked Carla as she held Spica and Justin held Melody and Sonia. Bia, Virgil, Sirius, Einstein and Miles who stood near them just said nothing while Charlotte and Músculo just gazed at each other and shrugged, Jason and Petunia just looking on worriedly. Zephyr turned to his sons, daughters, sons-in-law, daughters-in-law and grand-chicks as well as the others and began to command them to turn round.

"Let's head back," he said, his gaze turned to the shadowy figures once again as Saturn also began to usher the group into turning around, "Based on the sound of whoever that was that Saturn had accidentally hit with his wing I've a feeling that you-know-who have already taken up that stargazing spot. We'd better…"

But before the Spix macaw could finish, an angered, "What's the big idea of hitting our daughter Isabella and sparking panic into her, you lousy interfering nuisances!?" exploded from the crowd of shadowy figures, freezing Bia's group in their tracks. This plunged everyone's hearts into ice and whipped up a whirlwind of fear within them, especially the kids but most especially Sandalwood, Bellatrix, Sirius, Spica and also Diantha, Tom, Gladion, Lillie and Aurora and all the kids leaped into their parents' wings, especially as the air was flooded with the sounds of wing-flaps… TOUCAN wing-flaps. Roberto, Jojo, Felix and Turquesa's crest spiked out as did those of Vega, Winona, Austin, Deneb, Lilac and also Betelgeuse's pineapple stalk-like crest. Broccoli, Collette and Daisy's fur also puffed out suspiciously while Carla, Bia, Tiago, Justin, Matilda, Charlotte and Virgil all flinched harshly and wrapped their wings around their chicks. Broccoli then glared at the incoming shadowy figures and muttered, "Anastasia, Marco and their gang and their numerous, numerous chicks," under his breath disgustedly and timidly. As the flock of the shadowy figures began to surround Bia and company and enclose them in a frightening ring, Zephyr barked at the group to beat a retreat but it was too late. The shadowy figures, which were indeed many of the horrible toucans and their countless kids, among them Anastasia, Marco, Sofia, Marcel and many of the other toucans and descendants of Rafael and Eva who have developed a bitter hatred of Blu and company, completed their entrapment of Bia and company, much to the latter group's frightened alarm and fear of the kids including Sandalwood, crow-like cackles escaping their big beaks. Sardonyx, Greg, Connie, Steven and Kevin threw on astonished, disbelieving looks as they examined the black and white birds with massive orange, black, lime green, magenta beaks and red, white or cream fronts as they flashed in the streams of artificial lights emanating from the torches held by some of the macaws, among them Mars, their eyes laced with suspicious scorn and mischief.

"Hey, what gives!?" snapped Greg at the behaviour of the toucans as they began to examine the toucans as they glared menacingly at them and the others in Bia's group. The kids huddled timidly closer to their parents while Mercury, Sapphire, Venus, Zephyr, Brisa, Roberto, Mars, Chiquitita, Saturn, Orquidea, Uranus, Esmeralda, Neptune, Ultramarine, Ceres, Cobalto, Pluto and Lapis Lazuli, together with Broccoli, Daisy and Collette, Augustus, Diantha and Tom, took up defensive stances.

The number of toucans was massive, and the majority of them were kids. There seemed to be too many of them to count but Uranus, along with Ganymede and Bia, had estimated the number of them to be well into the two-hundreds or perhaps more, more than _twice_ the number of toucans than the number in Bia's group with all the adults and kids summed together. That certainly was a LOT of toucans, and Bia's group could see the mass formed by them as they encapsulated them like a cell trapping a bacterium. Then as soon as everything had calmed down, one of the adult toucans, Marco, then stepped forward from the crowd of black and white/cream/reddish feathers with colourful large bills, his face saturated with the bitterest scorn Bia and company had ever seen, especially as his eyes bore into Tiago, Carla, Bia and their mates and chicks.

"Leavin' so soon, you bunch of lousy little troublemakers?" crooned he, much to the laughter of the other toucans surrounding Bia and company. Bia's group continued to gaze at the wall of the countless toucans as their scorn-saturated eyes bore into them and the terrified kids of Bia's group in the wings of their parents. Sirius, Miles and Einstein timidly peered over the rim of Bia's wings while Sandalwood peered out from the wrapping of his mother Stella's membranous wings, his eyes and ears just visible. In Carla's wings, Spica was visible but her sisters Melody and Sonia were hidden in Carla's wings for they were too afraid to peer out at the scornful toucans. While the mothers and some of the fathers protected their chicks and pups, the fathers and few of the mothers who did not have any of the kids in their wings spread their wings protectively across their families. Virgil did that with Bia and his sons while Soren did the same with Stella and Sandalwood, his eyes flared with wariness and rage as they scanned the mass of toucans as they flashed in the light streams from the torches. The other families also huddled together with either the father or the mother in a protective pose, their wings spread out as they glared at the toucans with Saturn and the other older adults and Broccoli, Daisy and Collette.

Then Quincy and Flor, the younger siblings of Blueberry and Charon, tried to take off to get help while Pluto and Lapis Lazuli continued to stand defensively with Blueberry and Charon as they tried to protect Aiden and Neytiri as they held Saiph, Denebola and Regulus close to them, Neytiri with the latter two chicks in her other wing for one of her wings was still in its cast.

"Quincy, Flor!" called Pluto as he saw his younger first-brood son and daughter try to fly over the wall of toucans. Quincy and Flor ignored their father's protests and continued to escape but before they could make it over the toucan wall, some of the adult toucans rocketed upwards and tackled into the pair, hitting them square in the torsos. Pluto and his family flinched while Saiph, Denebola and Regulus let loose short shrieks as they watched the adult toucans, wicked cackles escaping their beaks, then proceed to whack Quincy and Flor back into the centre of the circle with the others. Quincy and Flor then crash-landed at the feet of Altair, Marella, Frodo and Ellie, prompting Altair to help the two glaucous macaws to their feet while Marella, Frodo and Ellie kept a hold of Altair, Bambi, Olivia, Sylvester, Achilles, Alegria and Pitaya. Then Broccoli stepped forward, his face laced with pure outrage.

"Why can't you just let us go and get on with your stargazing!?" he demanded boldly at the toucans.

"Oh, we only wanna know what you lot are doing out here," replied Marco casually as though the question was insignificant. Titters then escaped the beaks of his mate Anastasia, their many, many kids including Isabella and the other toucans, much to Broccoli's flash of outrage. He, along with the rest of Bia's group, weren't amused at all. Then Anastasia came forward, her eyes fixed firmly on the Spix macaws, especially Tiago, Matilda, Bia, Carla, Virgil and Justin and the chicks in their wings, and also Sandalwood, Stella and Soren. When she and Marco saw Sandalwood and also Sirius, Spica and Bellatrix, the pair proceeded to scan the other kids. The pair realised that Io and Sheldon had Betelgeuse and Rigel back with them, as well as Europa and Byron with Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka, and also Gladion and Lillie with Diantha, Tom and Aurora. As they continued to examine the kids, wicked and bratty smiles crept into the massive beaks of the observant toucans.

"That's bizarre," crooned Anastasia mockingly, "I thought up to forty of your kids, including that psycho-chick," her eyes pierced Bellatrix and Bartholomew in Matilda's wings scornfully as she said this, making Tiago, Matilda, Bartholomew and Bellatrix flinch harshly As the remark stung them, before Anastasia's glare turned to Sandalwood clasped against Stella's breast, "and that useless flying fox pup were missing after those poachers took 'em. How did they return?"

Sandalwood, Stella and Soren, as well as Augustus, Melissa, Anabelle, Sebastian, Luna, Acerola and Ferdinand all flinched at the offensive remark and Stella actually emitted a hiss of rage as she glared bitterly at the mocking toucan and her mate as they continued to examine the other kids that had returned from getting poached.

"Maybe they magically returned somehow?" said one of the other adult toucans, one of Marco's siblings scornfully. Then titters rolled through the toucan crowd, much to another flash of outrage of Bia's group. Then Neptune came forward, a look of stormy thunder on his face.

"We don't have time for this palaver about how our missing kids have returned OR anything else," he snarled, his temper threatening to erupt, "Now let us past or we WILL take action."

As the hyacinth macaw said this, Ultramarine, along with Roberto, Brisa, Zephyr and Venus, stepped forward while Broccoli, Collette and Daisy entered a cat's threat pose by arching their backs, puffing their fur out and sending a hiss filtering through their gritted teeth to reinforce Neptune's point. But the wall of toucans refused to part in response to the threat.

"I'm afraid we can't do that, big bird," replied Marco casually, much to Neptune's stormy shock. Then another of the toucans, a female named Mabel, came forward with her mate, their eyes directed at a certain pair of hyacinth macaws standing behind Neptune and Ultramarine and beside Indigo, Victor and their daughter Gertie, and Violet, Indigo and Triton's younger sister. As Mabel and her mate glared at the male hyacinth macaw with the bandana over his left facial side accompanied by the female macaw with an unusual three-symmetry crest standing beside him, the heads of both toucans tipped to one side as wonder and perplex took hold.

"That's strange," said Mabel with a confused frown, "I thought Triton and Iris would have broken up after Triton sent those marmosets to attack Nico and Pedro's club the other night."

As these words left Mabel's beak, surprised and suspicious looks emerged on the faces of Bia's group while some of the kids, among them Sandalwood, Sirius, Spica and Bellatrix, who hadn't been there when Triton's framing happened, threw on confused looks. Then Diantha shot her sister a glare.

"Wait a minute, YOU and your MATE were DEFINITELY the ones that dressed as Triton and sent those marmosets to wreak havoc on the 'Welcome to Paradise' club in order to frame him the other day!"

"Yes, by dressing up as him in that navy blue feather cloak, that yellow human makeup, the bandana and the fruit shell pieces resembling a parrot's beak!" put in Tom. As Tom said this, Mabel's eyes flashed with immense shock and flabbergast. However, the toucan snidely brushed aside the surprise and threw on a mocking glare.

"Oh, it wasn't me and Robbie here, Diantha," she crooned, "It was definitely Triton."

Triton, at this, stepped forward with Iris.

"I did NOT send those marmosets to attack Nico and Pedro's club!" he retorted furiously.

"And based on your look of surprise at the revelation on the REAL culprits behind my boyfriend's framing," put in Iris, "It was definitely YOU AND YOUR MATE!"

She practically screeched these words right at Mabel and her mate Robbie's face, making the couple flinch and retreat to the toucan crowd. At this, Anastasia, Marco and some other adult toucans came forward. Marco stormed over to Iris and gave her a hefty shove, sending her bumping into Pluto and Lapis Lazuli.

"How DARE you speak to my sister like THAT, you LOUSY former PET!" snarled Marco as he did it. This sent immense pain tearing through Iris and her eyes flashed with hurt as the remark on her past as an abused pet stung her, especially as the other toucans tittered at the scene. At this, Triton angrily rushed to her defence but as he did so, Anastasia shot the bandana hyacinth macaw a mocking glare.

"Well if it ain't that one-eyed scarface macaw again," she crooned, stinging Triton and stopping him in his tracks and vaporising his boldness in an instant. At this, Iris, despite her hurt, along with Pluto and the others, became wary.

"Don't you EVEN think about it, Anastasia," growled Neptune but Anastasia ignored Triton's father's protests and glared at Triton as he gazed back at her with an offended look. Then Anastasia, without hesitation, went forward, hooked her wing onto Triton's bandana and yanked it off, revealing the hyacinth macaw's clouded eye and unsightly scarred streaks running down the left side of his face where that savage flying fox had struck him while he tried to protect Sebastian, Stella and Luna years ago. Triton felt outrage tear through him.

"Hey, give that BACK!" he bellowed and tried to seize his bandana from Anastasia's wing but Anastasia snidely passed it to some nearby toucan chicks and they flew off with it. Then Anastasia glared at Triton, his scarred face now on full show, wickedly while the other toucans laughed at the relics of his injury. The others of Bia's group, especially Iris and Augustus and the other flying foxes, looked on in extreme shock and disbelief at the toucans' audacity to mock Triton's most sensitive spot. Then Anastasia began to do the most spiteful thing in the confrontation.

"Do you think you're gonna have chicks with that scarred MESS on that FACE, Scarface?" crooned the toucan wickedly which was followed up by rolls of titters throughout the crowd. Neptune then began to storm forward but Marco and Mabel's mate Robbie darted in his path and spread their wings out.

"You take another step further an' we'll attack you," crooned Marco wickedly, much to Neptune's shock. Then Augustus tried his luck but met the same block by some more toucans. The same was repeated for some of the other macaws and Diantha as more toucans blocked their way. Diantha then shot Anastasia a furious look as she continued poking fun at Triton's scarred face.

"Don't you DARE, Anastasia!" she growled, flinching as one of her many, many brothers glared at her in the face and hissed. However, Anastasia did dare and she folded her wings and shook her head in scornful disapproval.

"Becoming a father with that mess on ya face, hyacinth boy," she continued, "Ain't never gonna happen to you."

"Like how it's happening to you countless times," retorted Triton furiously, his eyes on the massive number of chicks standing behind Anastasia, among them Isabella, "especially based on how you and your mate Marco and all your siblings and siblings-in-law," his eyes scanned the other adult toucans, "are breeding like _insects!?"_

This stung Anastasia's bratty pride and her eyes flashed in astonishment at the remark.

"What did you just say!?" she snapped.

"How DARE you compare us to insects!" put in Sofia furiously from the crowd. Then Marco left Neptune, once two other adult toucans had him blocked, stormed over to Triton and gave him a hefty shove, knocking Triton into a stumble and a fall onto his backside.

"WE'RE not the insects, Scarface," snapped Marco as he did it, before going over to Triton and seizing him by the neck in a talon and pulling his face towards his, "YOU lot are!"

"What did you SAY!?" snapped Io as she stood with Sheldon as he held Betelgeuse and Rigel. At this, Marco's gaze snapped from Triton to the oldest daughter of Jupiter and Ruby. When he saw Sheldon stand by her, surprise came over him.

"And I thought you two have broken up!" he said.

"Yeah, especially after we told you how stupid you two were in having those two lousy daughters, together with the rest," put in Sofia as she flapped over as Marco said this. At this, Sheldon handed Betelgeuse and Rigel to Io and stepped forward.

"That's a LIE!" he retorted.

"Is it?" crooned Sofia snidely, "Well if your chicks and pups are gonna be such psychotic killers and will likely GROW UP to be such," her scorn-saturated gaze travelled to Tiago and his family, especially to Bellatrix, "Then why did you lot decide to have 'em in the first place?"

"They don't deserve to be born!" put in Marco. This was followed up by another roll of spiteful toucan tittering. However, bemusement flared up within Bia's group. Carla stepped forward.

"We chose to have kids because we wanted to start FAMILIES!" she snapped. Justin, along with Bia, Tiago, Matilda, Virgil, Charlotte and Músculo nodded harshly in agreement to this.

"Well, you were STUPID in going ahead with those decisions then, ain't you, Fatty," snapped Sofia snidely. Another roll of spiteful tittering sounded from the toucan wall, especially as Carla's eyes flashed with hurt at the insult. Then Marco's glare turned to Sandalwood, Acerola and Ferdinand in the wings or standing by Stella, Soren, Anabelle and Sebastian.

"And those bats are stupid in goin' ahead and havin' pups," he crooned wickedly, "How can you flyin' foxes consent to havin' those pups since YOU are related to that bird-killin' psycho-bat that led the colony of flying foxes that killed birds just for fun. What was his name again? Cicatriz?"

Another roll of laughter emanated from the toucan crowd again, especially as this remark stabbed Augustus and his family like the fangs of a venomous snake, much to the outrage of their bird friends and also Broccoli, Collette and Daisy who now understood why the subject was such an exposed, sensitive nerve for these flying foxes. Sardonyx, Greg, Connie, Steven and Kevin, however, exchanged sceptical and surprised look as Augustus stepped forward, the hurt from the remark pushed aside.

"It is true that I'm the brother of that last flying fox colony leader but I'm NOTHING at all like him," he retorted before gesturing to his family, "Neither are Melissa, my two daughters, son and their mates and pups! Since the flying fox colony's defeat at the end of the Great Battle for the Sanctuary, that has changed and ALL flying foxes that had been against my brother and colony's teachings about the birds of the Amazon have made peace with those birds..."

"We now live in harmony!" put in Melissa. Bia and the other birds except Greg and his family and Connie nodded in agreement but to the sheer outrage of Bia's group especially Augustus and his family, the scornful looks never left the faces of their toucan bullies.

"Maybe those flyin' foxes have made harmony with those birds so that they could daughter them and harvest their feathers as trophies!" crooned Marco insensitively which was accompanied by more snide toucan laughs. That did it. Augustus backed away; flabbergast and immense hurt gripping him like the fangs of a serpent. A sniffle then entered his nose as the threat of tears approached him. Then Neptune decided that enough was enough and that this was the final leaf.

"We're outa here if you're gonna be like that," he snapped.

"'We're outa here if you're gonna be like that'!" crooned Marco immaturely as he repeated Neptune's statement and as Neptune turned round to command the others in Bia's group to follow him, Marco jumped up, hooked his wings onto the hyacinth macaw's right shoulder and yanked him back round, much to his astonishment and that of the others of Bia's group.

"We haven't finished with you lot!" growled Marco spitefully.

"Why can't you just leave us alone and let us stargaze!?" snapped Ultramarine.

"'Why can't you just leave us alone and let us stargaze!?'" crooned Anastasia much to the amusement of the other toucans, much to Ultramarine's disgust. Then the toucan wall began to close in on Bia's group, the looks on all of them morphing from scorn to sheer wickedness. This was no light-hearted mischief. This was mischief that was laced with immense maliciousness and borderline villainy.

"Time to cut to the chase, I think," growled Marco as his many, many siblings, siblings-in-law and nephews, nieces and kids of his own closed in on Bia's group. The parents of Bia's group timidly huddled their chicks and pups closer to them while Triton stood up and returned to Neptune's side, the hurt from Anastasia's remark about his face still burning him and sending tears down his cheeks. Saturn flashed glances this way and that as the torch holders continued to shine their lights at the inclosing toucans.

"This is honestly getting out of wing," muttered Saturn as he brought Iapetus and Rhea closer to himself while Orquidea took up a protective stance in front of Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione and Titan and their families. Adenine, Thymine, Guanine and Cytosine ducked in Mimas's wings while Ganymede, despite his still-casted wing, helped to reinforce Orquidea's protectiveness by taking up a stance alongside her as the toucans inched ever closer. Mercury, Sapphire, Venus, Zephyr, Brisa, Roberto, Mars, Chiquitita, Uranus, Esmeralda, Neptune, Ultramarine, Ceres, Cobalto, Pluto and Lapis Lazuli did the same with the others of Bia's group while Greg and his family and Connie continued to shoot horrified glances this way and that. Then Connie glared at Sandalwood and his family. While this was going on, two bat-like forms with beaks hovered nearby and when they saw the impending chaos threaten to erupt between Bia's group and the flock of toucans that was more than twice their number, the two forms immediately darted off to Tulio's Aviary to alert those back there.

The toucans continued closing in on Bia's group, Sofia closing in on Io and her family.

"Let me see those two daughters of yours," she crooned meanly. However, Io and Sheldon refused to expose Betelgeuse and Rigel to the mean toucan. Sofia's eyes then narrowed and without warning, she jumped up and kicked Io square in the face, knocking her back and making her toss both Betelgeuse and Rigel in Sofia's direction, much to the horror of the others of Bia's group but to the amusement of the toucans.

"IO!" cried Sheldon and went to help his pure scarlet mate to her feet. However, the kick to the face had unblocked the boiling, pressurised volcano of anger within Io. Scrambling to her feet and glaring at Sofia as she began to intimidate Betelgeuse and Rigel, Io surged forward, jumped up and without hesitation clawed Sofia across the face, hitting her cheek and opening a wound. Sofia let loose a screech of pain and clasped the area of impact as Io glared at her with amber-flamed eyes while Europa seized Betelgeuse and Rigel. Nearby, Mimas clasped Adenine and his three siblings closer to her while Alexandre and Estelle near them held Kayley and Xander closer to themselves. Sofia then glared at Io with malice-filled eyes as her scratched cheek began to weep some drops of blood. Marcel, her mate then fluttered over and when he saw what Io had done to his mate, he shot Io a furious glare.

"HOW DARE YOU SCRATCH MY MATE, YOU (BLEEP)…" he bellowed and with that, he lunged towards Io to attack her, much to the alarm of the others of Bia's group but before he could connect with Io in a tackle attack, a blur, coloured black, reddish-cream and orange and black, shot in from nowhere and tackled Marcel away.

"HEY!?" cried Sofia, Anastasia, Marco and some of the other toucans in shock as they watched Marcel fly past them. Io also shot a surprised look at the tackler which to her and Sheldon's surprise was another toucan but not Diantha or Tom. Europa, Ganymede and Callisto also came in as another toucan similar to the tackler came in and asked Io, "Are you alright?"

Io, at this, gazed at Sheldon and back at the two newcomer toucans and nodded. Marco then glared at the two newcomers and seized one of them by the shoulder, before yanking him around.

"What do you two think you're doing, Carlos and Rita!?" he snarled, the rest of the toucan crowd glaring at the two newcomers maliciously. Surprised glances were exchanged amongst Bia's group.

"Carlos and Rita?" whispered Broccoli as he held Achilles, Alegria, Sylvester, Pitaya, Olivia, Altair and Bambi in his front paws while Altair, Marella, Frodo and Ellie remained in their defensive stances nearby against some of the toucans.

"Look, Marco, this has gone far enough," said Rita.

"These poor birds and their flying fox companions have had enough bother from you as it is," put in Carlos. Shocked glances were exchanged amongst their many siblings and siblings-in-law, before a look of outrage flared on the faces of Marco, Sofia, Mabel, Robbie and Anastasia.

"You seriously need to stay out of this, you two!" growled Marco at his own brother and sister.

"Stay out of this?" retorted Rita, "So that you can abuse these poor macaws and company?" she gestured to Bia's group as she said this. At this, a flash of pure outrage flared within Marco.

While this confrontation occurred, Bia, Carla, Tiago and Kira then checked Io over with Sheldon, Mars and Chiquitita for any injuries while Jojo, Felix, Lavender, Roberto and Brisa called all the chicks together but then Kira notice Carlos and Rita begin to face the fury of their deranged siblings, especially based on the tone of the words exchanged between Rita and Marco as they argued back and forth, that furious tone escalating. Then horror tore through Carla, Bia and Tiago's cousin as she watched Marco's talon dart in, seize Rita by the neck and begin to throttle her as its owner's fury reached boiling point, and that Carlos was being restrained by some of the other toucans, among them chicks to prevent him from interfering.

"It seems that you've gone soft in the head, you NO SISTER OF MINE!" snarled Marco in an infuriated voice as he continued to shake Rita like a ragdoll by the neck, making her gag and flinch in pain. Kira then took action. Surging forward like a blue feathered bull, Kira charged into Marco and tackled him away from Rita, making him release the shaken toucan in the process.

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" she bellowed. In retaliation, Marco raised his wing and slapped Kira across the face as hard as he could, knocking her down, much to Jojo's outrage. As Jojo came over to Kira, Sofia spitefully tripped him up before Marco seized Carlos and then Rita and threw them down as well. Roberto and Brisa tried to go over to the four but more toucans blocked their way while the other toucans seized Bia and the others. Marco, an evil, villainous look finally taking hold on his face, then took off into the air and glared at Bia's group, many of them looking up at him with fearful looks.

"You lot seriously need to learn a lesson," growled the toucan in a fiery voice that was no different from that of a thug. He then nodded to his mate Anastasia, his own kids including Isabella and all his siblings and nephews and nieces and siblings-in-law excluding Rita, Carlos and Diantha.

"Attack those macaws and their friends and seize their kids," he commanded, much to the alarm of Bia's group, "Those kids of theirs don't deserve to be with their parents, especially since they are gonna spread lies about our own kids and say that they are badly behaved, naughty and whatnot," as he said this, his malicious glare flashed at Tiago and Bellatrix who flashed offended looks on their faces. Then Marco directed his malicious glare at Rita, Carlos, Kira and Jojo as they looked on in disbelief, "While Sofia and I deal with these four."

At this, Rita, Carlos, Kira and Jojo huddled together with the rest of Bia's group huddled together, their kids clasped to their breasts as the toucans, having now entered the realm of villainy, prepared to attack them. During the build-up to the imminent chaos about to erupt, Zephyr had seized Diantha and sent her up into the air. However, the friendly toucan turned to her mate Tom, chicks Gladion, Lillie and Aurora and some of the macaws surrounding them including Zephyr, clearly reluctant to leave them but Zephyr and Tom, along with the other macaws gazing at her, insisted that she get help.

"You go and fetch Blu, Jewel and the others NOW!" barked Zephyr, "That's an ORDER!"

Diantha continued to hover there, torn between staying and helping her friends to protect their kids from her countless deranged siblings, nephews, nieces and siblings-in-law, and seeking help. Then when she found herself on the receiving end of the spiteful and wicked glares some of the adult toucans from the crowd, some of them her own siblings, Diantha made her choice.

"I'LL NOT BE LONG!" she cried to Zephyr and the others of Bia's group, "HANG IN THERE!"

And with that, she tore off in the direction of Tulio's Aviary, some of the wicked toucans taking off after her while the others then leaped upon Zephyr and the others and began to attack them and seize their kids to kidnap once again.


	72. Chapter 71

**Chapter 71- the nightmare gets even worse**

 **Somewhere in Tujica Forest**

On the forest floor, dirt was flying up and landing in a spray from a certain location as some birds dug at the ground. These birds, which were more toucan chicks but not some of the chicks from Marco and Anastasia's group but relatives of them, were tittering mischievously away and digging a hole in the ground using slabs of wood like shovels and spades. Near this group of toucan chicks, a pile of twigs, sticks and leaves lay with three of the toucan chicks standing by it. This foliage will be used to cover the hole in the ground once the diggers have dug the pit deep enough. The toucan chicks were making another pitfall trap in hopes of trapping a victim to pelt with fruit and seeds for the fun of it, regardless of the potential injury the trap would inflict on the victim that stepped onto the false covering the toucan chicks were going to use to conceal the pit's opening. However, something, or rather someone, was about to invite these mischievous troublemakers to something far more dangerous than a pitfall trap.

While the group of toucan chicks continued digging the hole with their wood slab 'shovels' and 'spades', tossing the dirt aside as they hauled each load of dirt from the pit, one of the toucan chicks that was watching the diggers caught-sighted movement in a patch of ferns. At this, the chick's gaze turned from the pit and the diggers to the movement. As its attention was directed to the ferns, one of the fern fronds shuddered, before a shadowy shape appeared from the blackness under the ferns reached out and beckoned the chick into coming over. The chick, curiosity consuming him, then went over to investigate. As he left his comrades, another chick saw him leave and followed. This caused a chain reaction and soon the entire group of the toucan chicks, including the diggers of the hole who stopped digging and left the hole in the ground, had scurried over to the something in a patch of ferns. As soon as the group of toucan chicks (about twenty of them or more), had gathered around the something hiding in the patch of ferns, they were greeted by a pair of eyes that glowed menacingly in the darkness. However, these eyes meant no harm. The toucan chicks, curiosity and confusion welling within them, then exchanged glances as the something then reached a shadowy limb out of its hiding place, picked up a small fallen branch and pulled it into its dark hiding place. The toucan chicks continued looking on curiously as the branch was swallowed up by the darkness and the something in the shadows then set to its next intention.

The toucan chicks continued watching in curiosity for the next minute, whispering amongst each other what the stranger in the shadows had for them but as they spoke, a slashing noise, like something rubbed against the surface of a branch, sounded and before the toucan chicks knew it, the dark area under the ferns burst into light as an orange, glowing comet burst into life and hovered as a ball above the stranger, sending light emanating from it and lighting up everything within its reach. The toucan chicks, at first startled by the sudden appearance of the light then began to examine the hovering orange glowing ball. As they did so, their eyes inflated in admiration and awe while their beaks widened in awed smiles. Then the stranger then smiled at the toucans and picked up the branch it had dragged into its hiding place and set the glowing orange ball close to the leaves on its end. The toucan chicks watched in awe as the orange ball then sent more of itself onto the branch's ends as it made contact with the dried leaves. This done; the stranger then handed the glowing branch to one of the toucan chicks. The toucan chicks looked on in pour fascination, their eyes reflecting the orange glow as one of their siblings held it in his wings. Then the stranger went round and began to gather more fallen sticks and branches, the toucan chicks looking on in curiosity. Out of the toucan chicks' sight, a small box lay in a small patch of grass, its contents being pale orange sticks with red knobs on one end…

 **Meanwhile**

Back at Tulio's Aviary, Blu and Jewel had just finished washing the streaks of red of Nigel's blood off their blue and cerulean plumages in a special bath, the red streaks forming swirls in the water. This done, the two Spix macaws went to dry themselves on a towel handed to them by Travis and Sunset. Standing nearby, Eustace, Milo, Rosa, Clemont and Serena looked on with Andromeda, Eragon and the remaining bat-birds; Rouge and Garnet having been sent to keep an eye on Bia's group as they went out stargazing. Around the group, Tulio's employees, the nightshift workers, continued their work in checking on the health of the birds and the birds talked. Some even sat on the blades of the fan on the ceiling, chatting. Among the crowd were Jack and Jill as they helped in examining the health of the birds rescued from the Paradise Sanctuary place, among them Mumble, Balthazar, Atreyu and Ginny the emperor penguins. Mumble had taken the opportunity in showing his tap-dancing moves to the birds of Tulio's Aviary and was even teaching some of them, among them the cockatoo chicks Vincent, Oscar, Peach, Bruno and Yolanda some of the moves. Eustace examined the progress of the five chicks.

"Peach, Yolanda and Oscar certainly seem to have the talent to tap-dance," said he with a smile as Rosa, Serena and Clemont looked on.

"Vincent and Yolanda don't seem as keen," said Rosa as she watched the two said young cockatoos as they seemed to phase out at Mumble's basic dance lessons. Atreyu then called to the two cockatoos to pay attention much to the amusement of the watchers. Eragon then came in.

"Some of our clan members are expert fire dancers," he said, "Some can even spin sticks with each end lit with fire and dance while spinning them."

At this, Eustace gazed at the archaeobird clan patriarch. This description brought to his mind the dances some of the Polynesian humans involving sticks lit with fire on each end and spun in their hands as they danced. The archaeobirds certainly did show a remarkable mastery of fire in more ways than one, something the macaw and other bird tribes and clans, and the flying fox groups, of the Amazon had never developed due to fire's notoriety with them. The archaeobirds also used fire to cremate the deceased, to sit by and even to roast some snacks. However, the strange feathered dino-like creatures were also extremely careful to keep their fires contained for they were especially aware of how destructive the orange flames that formed it was if it landed in the wrong hands or wings or handled carelessly. No wonder they were unsurprised at the damage the previous fires as described to them by the inhabitants of the Sanctuary de Amazon had inflicted on the rainforest. As Eustace continued to think about the archaeobirds' mastery of fire, Blu sand Jewel, their plumage now dry, then walked over to the cockatoos, Eragon and Andromeda as she checked on the bat-birds. Travis and Sunset were behind them.

"I suppose you're going to join Bia and the others to stargaze, eh?" asked Milo.

"We are as well as spend some romantic time together," said Blu, "Like how Jupiter and Ruby are doing in the artificial cage."

"Cage?" repeated Andromeda confused.

"That jungle like thing our human friends have constructed," explained Jewel, "Where I met Blu."

"But aren't cages these metal square slabs joined by vertical metal poles with a door in one side?" asked Eragon, "Or are barred metal things that come in different shapes?"

"They are but I suppose 'cage' could also refer to an artificial habitat like the one in this building as well," said Milo. Then Rosa flashed a glance at the five cockatoo chicks Vincent, Oscar, Peach, Bruno and Yolanda as they continued learning tap-dancing from Mumble and smiled.

"Well, we're gonna watch our chicks learn tap-dancing from that emperor penguin over there," she said, "While the rest of you carry out your plans."

And with that, she opened her wings and took off with Clemont, Serena, Milo and Eustace in tow. Andromeda watched the five younger adult cockatoos leave before something else came into her head.

"I wonder how Bia and the others are doing out on their little stargazing trip," she said.

"I'm pretty sure they are alright," said Travis with a smile of certainty, "They have Venus, Zephyr, Roberto, Brisa and the others with them after all."

"What could possibly go wrong with that group, anyway?" put in Sunset, "and I think it was quite unnecessary in sending two of your bat-birds after them to keep an eye on them."

"I want to make sure that Carla, Bia, Tiago and the others are safe, especially the kids," muttered Andromeda slightly irritably, "don't you remember what happened last time when around half of them, among them Sandalwood and our grandson Altair, were taken by those rotten poachers?"

Eragon just gazed at Travis and Sunset and shrugged while the cockatoo couple simply gazed at Andromeda in wonder over her apparent overprotectiveness and over-cautionary idea in sending Rouge and Garnet after Bia and company. Blu and Jewel then came in but as they did so, a frantic shout, accompanied by the sounds of equally frantic wing flaps entered the six's ears.

"Blu, JEWEL, GUYS!" it cried in a familiar female voice before an episode of rapid puffing and panting was followed. At this, the sulfur-crested and Major Mitchell's cockatoos, the two Spix macaws and the two archaeobirds, together with the remaining bat-birds, all turned their heads to the shouter as she charged towards them. To Blu and the other five's surprise, the incoming bird had a black plumage and reddish-cream underside and face mask, and a multi-coloured (orange, black, lime green and magenta) beak indicative of her hybrid nature due to her heritage from two separate toucan species (toco and keel-billed).

As the hybrid toucan rocketed towards Travis, Sunset, Andromeda, Eragon, Blu and Jewel, Milo saw her in the form of a colourful, mostly black, comet.

"Diantha's back so soon?" he said to the other cockatoos and also Mumble, Atreyu, Ginny and Balthazar, interrupting Vincent, Yolanda, Bruno, Peach and Oscar's tap-dancing lessons from the first penguin. The group of cockatoos and emperor penguins then all flinched harshly as the toucan, which was indeed Diantha, then crash-landed onto the table top before Blu and Jewel, almost crashing into Travis who had managed to back away just in time. Then two more comets, this time a pair reddish and dark red ones made of a fur-like coat and membranous wings, appeared and touched down before Eragon and Andromeda, having followed Diantha through an open window.

"Looks like Diantha has had a close encounter with a predatory bird like a harpy eagle," said Rosa when she saw the panicked appearance of the poor toucan. Diantha was indeed stricken with panic. Her sleek black feathers and red-cream front which she had inherited from her keel-billed mother Eva were puffed out and her brown eyes were saturated with unspeakable terror as though she had seen a ghost, and she was puffing and panting rapidly from flying so fast.

"Let's see what's going on," said Eustace when he saw Travis and Blu help Diantha to her feet and Andromeda tend to Garnet and Rouge, their eyes also flooded with alarm and terror, "I have a bad feeling that something horrible has happened…"

"Stay here with Mumble and the penguins, kids," commanded Rosa as she opened her wings and took off after Eustace. Milo, Clemont and Serena followed despite protests from Bruno and Oscar, only for the two to stop and throw a disgruntled growl.

"It's not fair!" muttered Bruno, a wing slap onto the floor.

"We NEVER are allowed to help," put in Oscar. Yolanda and Peach also emitted frustrated sighs but Vincent, Mumble, Balthazar and Ginny were unsurprised, while Atreyu was curious about Diantha's rushed flight into the room.

"Well if a situation's too dangerous for chicks like you crested skuas and Atreyu," explained Mumble.

"We're cockatoos," snapped Vincent in irritation at Mumble's calling them skuas.

"Whatever alien bird you are," said Mumble, "But as I was saying, if a situation's too dangerous for chicks, then the elders have good reason to command you kids to stay out of that and thus the danger involved."

"You could get seriously hurt," added Vincent before showing his younger brother Oscar and cousin Bruno his still-healing wing, an injury he had suffered during Sandalwood's incident, "Like how I had suffered this broken wing, or even killed like how Hunter was…"

"You broke your wing?" asked Ginny curiously.

"It's a long story," replied Vincent with a glance at her before resuming his explanation to the two younger male cockatoos and his sister Yolanda and other cousin Peach, "Thus Mom, Dad, Uncles Clemont and Milo and Auntie Rosa don't us risking getting hurt again…"

"That's right," added Mumble, before he turned to Atreyu, "When Atreyu was caught in that fishing net during our fishing trip, my mate Gloria had ordered the other young penguins to retreat to a safe distance while I and some other adult penguins pursued that boat to rescue Atreyu only to fail to prevent any more young penguins getting caught by those intrusive aliens, which we now know are called 'humans' in their fishing nets."

Vincent nodded in agreement but before Yolanda could ask a question about Atreyu's incident, Blu's voice exploded from across the room, pulling the group's attention to Blu's group on the table.

"Take us there AS FAST AS YOU CAN, DIANTHA!" bellowed the Spix macaw. Diantha nodded frantically and took off like mad with Blu, Jewel and Andromeda on her bat-bird Rouge following. Eragon, Travis and Sunset then took off in another direction while Milo returned to Vincent and the other four young cockatoos and Eustace, Clemont, Serena and Rosa took to looking after the remaining bat-birds.

"We'll round up the humans with their net-guns while you five take care of the bat-birds and the cockatoo kids," called Travis as he followed Sunset and Eragon, also on his bat-bird steed, as they began to sound the alarm to the human bird catchers. As Milo touched down, Vincent stepped forward.

"What's going on, Uncle Milo?" he asked.

"Carla, Tiago and Bia and the others are in serious trouble," replied Milo, dread and alarm swamping him like a stormy flood, "But you're to stay here with us while Blu and the others go to their rescue."

"Toucans again?" asked Peach. Then Mumble, Ginny and Balthazar exchanged worried looks while Atreyu began to feel worry for his friends, among them Sandalwood, Sirius and Acerola, boil within him. Milo shot his niece a confirmatory glare.

"Yes!" he snapped, making Peach flinch. Then Eustace flew in.

"Should we alert Jupiter and Ruby as well?" he asked. Milo was about to reply but then he remembered the recent incident in which Nigel had attempted to kill Ruby only to send Jupiter over the edge into a violent storm of unspeakable rage. The shock of Nigel's appearance and almost killing Ruby had already worn down the scarlet macaw couple, especially Ruby who was still traumatised from the incident. Hearing that Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto, along with their mates and chicks and everyone else as well were in danger would probably add fuel to their already raging fire of stress. Milo then reached his final decision but with reluctance.

"I think we'll leave those two in peace," he said, "they've had enough trouble as it is with that rotten Nigel character making his uninvited appearance to cause them trouble…"

But before he could finish this sentence, a voice said, "Milo?"

At this, Milo, Eustace, Clemont, Serena and Rosa turned and to their surprise, they saw a pair of scarlet macaws, one with vermillion feathers, a burly build and his left wing in a cast, walk in.

"What's going on?" asked Jupiter as he walked in with Ruby. At this, Milo gazed at the other four cockatoos and Mumble, Atreyu, Ginny and Balthazar worriedly.

"Is it about Bia and company?" asked Ruby equally worriedly.

"We heard Blu shout to Diantha through the door to the artificial jungle room," said Jupiter. At this, Milo decided to explain to the pair of scarlet macaws what was happening.

"Okay, but you're not gonna like it you two," murmured the middle child of Sunset and Travis and with that, he prepared to launch into an explanation bout Diantha, Garnet and Rouge's hasty appearance and their subsequent departure with Andromeda, Eragon, Blu, Jewel, Travis and Sunset's scramble to fly to Carla, Bia, Tiago and company's rescue after them.

 **Meanwhile**

The spot where Bia, Carla and Tiago and company were supposed to be stargazing had erupted into chaos. The night air above the area was flooded with angry squawks, screeches and the sounds of struggling and fighting as Carla, Bia and Tiago's group struggled to fend off their toucan attackers and protect the terrified kids of Bia's group. However, because there were so many toucans present, around more than twice the number of members in Bia's group, Carla, Bia and Tiago and the rest were fighting a losing battle.

Zephyr, Venus, Roberto and Brisa viciously drove away several adult toucans and some of the toucan chicks away from Carla, Bia, Tiago, Justin, Charlotte, Matilda, Virgil, Músculo, Kira, Turquesa, Garrett, Jojo, Felix and Lavender as the latter Spix macaws tried shielding the Spix macaw chicks. Sirius, Einstein and Miles cowered under Virgil and Bia while Sonia, Melody and Spica hid in Carla and Justin's wings; Bellatrix and Bartholomew hid in the wings of Tiago and Matilda; Charlotte and Músculo kept a firm hold of Jason and Petunia; Kira and Jojo kept a firm hold of Vega and Winona as they screamed in their wings; Felix helped Roberto to drive away one of the adult toucans while Turquesa held a frightened Austin and Diego, and Lavender and Garrett protectively held Deneb, Lilac and Polaris from more of the marauding toucans as they tried to get at the chicks.

"Where are your CHICKS!?" snarled one of the toucans, Marco as he charged in at the Spix macaws, aiming for Tiago and Matilda, his two most hated macaws. Matilda let loose a frightened shriek and held Bellatrix and Bartholomew closer to her while Tiago jumped up to meet Marco in mid-air, resulting in the two birds colliding, flying and then rolling along the hard tarmac, a full-blown brawl finally erupting between the toucan and the youngest and only first-brood son of Blu and Jewel as they struggled in the tumble.

"TIAGO!" cried Matilda as she watched her mate begin to viciously fight the aggressive toucan. Black and blue feathers flew everywhere as Tiago and Marco's beaks lashed at each other and tore out beak-fuls of their opponent's feathers while their talons raked over one another's skin. Tiago let loose an agonised cry as Marco's beak clamped onto some of the primary flight feathers and begin to tear them out, Marco's mind and eyes completely warped by pure insanity. Matilda continued to watch on when suddenly, several smaller comets, some of Marco's kids, shot in and tackled her from behind, sending Matilda flying forward and accidentally throwing Bellatrix and Bartholomew out of the safety of her wings. Then Matilda was forced to fend off the attacking little toucans while the other Spix macaws began to lose the other Spix kids as well. Carla and Justin were savagely tackled by some more young toucans, the chaos sending Sonia, Spica and Melody flying from their wings while Bia and Virgil were forced to defend themselves from more toucan chicks and three of the adults, their minds diverted from Sirius, Einstein and Miles. This also happened with Charlotte and Músculo, Jojo and Kira, Felix and Turquesa, and Lavender and Garrett as they were forced to fight off the toucans attacking them or help Zephyr, Venus, Roberto and Brisa as more toucans began to tear out some of their feathers.

While the Spix macaws struggled with the group of toucans attacking them, Mars, Chiquitita, Phobos and Deimos were having a hard time protecting Ganymede, Mimas, Io, Sheldon, Europa, Byron, Callisto, Athos, Alexandre and Estelle from more toucans as these macaws tried shielding Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine, Thymine, Betelgeuse, Rigel, Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka, Canopus, Katniss, Xander and Kayley from those same toucans as they tried to fight their way past the defensive adults to reach the chicks.

"There are TOO MANY of them!" cried Mars as he tackled one of the adult toucans away from Io and Sheldon as they held the frightened Betelgeuse and Rigel close to them. Then another adult toucan, his face laced with pure insanity that went WAY beyond the mischief he had had when he was young, lurched towards Mars, clamped his big orange and black beak onto the green-winged macaw's wing flight feathers and began to pull as hard as he could, sending excruciating pain tearing through Mars's wing and making him screech and flap his other wing to free it. Chiquitita shouted Mars's name when she heard her mate yell in agony as she tried helping Athos and Callisto fend off another toucan before she was struck by Phobos and Deimos as the two brothers were thrown by several more toucans away from Mimas and her family and were sent crashing into their mother. The three all fell to the ground, dazed, and were immediately swallowed up by a small cloud of smaller toucans who began to mercilessly attack them.

Nearby, Saturn, Orquidea, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Titan, Iapetus, Trixie, Porthos, Oberon and Brooke, together with Uranus, Esmeralda, Neptune, Ultramarine, Indigo, Victor, Umbriel, Benjamin, Titania, Ash, Miranda, Ariel and Aramis, were struggling with even more toucans while Mira, Procyon, Peter, Castor, Pollux, Poppy, Capella, Achernar, Fomalhaut, Cressida, Basil, Antares, Perdita, Aldebaran, Cecil and Gertie, together with Violet, were being herded to safety by Triton and Iris. As the two hyacinth macaws guided the fourteen chicks and Triton's younger sister, they found themselves confronted by more adult toucans, among them Anastasia and Sofia who shot Triton and Iris a particularly acidic, mocking and scornful look.

"Goin' somewhere, cutesy pair of hyacinth lovebirds?" crooned Anastasia wickedly.

"Or should that be Scarface and show pet girl?" said Sofia, much to Anastasia and the other toucans' tittering. Triton and Iris, at this, stopped and glared bitterly at the two girls and their comrades and Iris stormed over to Sofia and shoved her black beak right into the bratty toucan's face.

"Who are you callin' Scarface and show pet girl," retorted Iris right into Sofia's face "Tremaine toucan!?"

This was retaliated by a hefty shove from Sofia as she was stung by this remark. However, Iris managed to stop herself from tumbling into the small flock of frightened kids behind her while Violet hid behind Triton, his bandana still missing from his scarred left facial side. Then Anastasia glared at Triton.

"Do you think you'd make a great father with that face, Scar?" she crooned, before turning down the pH of her insults, "Or should that be _Cicatriz_ instead, like that bird killin' bat in the Amazon that almost slaughtered your tribes, clans and smaller bird groups?"

This was followed by more tittering from the two girls' comrades but this also sent pure outrage flaring within Triton and Iris.

"How DARE you!" bellowed Iris and without thinking, she launched herself at Sofia and collided with her, much to Triton and the kids' shock.

"IRIS!" cried Triton as he watched his girlfriend then began her own brawl with Sofia. However, the scarred hyacinth macaw found himself at the mercy of a number of spiteful and horrible glares from the other toucans.

"Now it's time to hind those kiddies over for us to take away, Scarface," crooned Anastasia evilly. Behind Triton, Gertie, Mira, Capella, Achernar and the other kids and Violet all whimpered timidly while Triton refused to budge. When he refused to move, one of Anastasia's male comrades came forward and flared the claws on one of his talons.

"Would you like us to slash you over the other side of your face and blind you in the other eye, Cicatriz?" crooned the toucan, much to Triton's sudden burst of fear. The hyacinth macaw then began to quiver as Anastasia and the other toucans then giggled wickedly as this threat sent shivers down his spine and skin. Behind Anastasia and her comrades, Iris and Sofia continued fighting with Sofia clamping one of her talons around Iris's neck and Iris's wing clamped onto one of her wings as the two tumbled in a blurry barrel roll of violet, yellow, black, orange, and reddish-cream, the black feathers from Sofia and the unusually violet feathers from Iris flying everywhere like strands of plant material from a tumbleweed as the pair continued to roll like one. Triton continued shaking at the sight of the toucan's flared claws, the fear of losing sight in his other eye burning higher and higher and sending his entire body into a tremble and his breathing and heartrate skyrocketing, especially as the toucan said, "And I'm not jokin', Scar boy," before his claw-flared talon was directed at Violet who hid behind her older brother, "And your cute little sister there will be the next one to lose her sight!" making Violet tremble and whimper as well. Anastasia and the others with her tittered at this as they watched the fear of Triton and Violet escalate to the point of the two of them panicking. Nearby, Neptune was thrown back by one of the toucans into Ultramarine and Esmeralda and the pair crashed into a heap on the floor. Gertie then flashed her grandparents and great green 'great-aunt' a horrified look before turning her gaze to Indigo and Victor as Victor drove away another toucan by throwing his fruit-shell hat into her face, knocking her down, before returning her terrified gaze at the toucan as he approached Triton with his claw-flared talon.

"UNCLE TRITON!" she screamed. As his name escaped the hyacinth macaw chick's beak, the toucan finally gave into the urge to slash Triton's right facial side and he raised his talon, aiming for the area. The kids screamed but then Aldebaran lurched at the toucan without a second thought.

"ALDEBARAN!" cried Perdita, Cecil, Capella, Achernar, Basil and Antares as they watched their brother/cousin launch himself at Triton's would-be attacker with an enraged screech, landing square on his face. Then as soon as he was on the toucan's face, Aldebaran began to savagely score his claws in the toucan's skin, making the toucan scream and bolt top shift the Verde (scarlet/great green hybrid) macaw off his face. Anastasia and the others then rushed in to help but found themselves on the receiving end of a furious one-eyed hyacinth macaw. Triton, having managed to push aside his fears of losing sight in his right eye, then let loose a screech of pure rage of his own and launched himself at the group of toucans, knocking them down as he charged into them. After he had knocked the toucans down, Triton quickly returned to the other kids, yanked Aldebaran off his would-be attacker's face and barked at the other kids and Violet to flee. Aldebaran screeched and squirmed in Triton's wings as he struggled to free himself from his grasp and launch himself back at the toucan that attempted to slash Triton down the right side of his face, especially as the toucan cried and wept with his wings covering his bloodied face.

"LET ME AT HIM!" bellowed the son of Benjamin and Umbriel, "I WANNA CLAW HIS EYES OUT!"

He continued struggling violently in Triton's wings as Triton carried him away but before he and the kids could get to safety, more toucans came in, especially the mate of the toucan attacked by Aldebaran. At this, Triton and company stopped dead, eyes flooded with terror as the lead toucan said, "Goin' somewhere?" while the others tittered meanly. Triton then gazed at this new threat of toucans while Iris continued brawling with Sofia nearby.

Close by, Mercury, Sapphire, Phoebe, Squaw'tagnan, Jasmine and Annette the Lear's macaws; Blueberry, Aiden, Quincy, Flor, Charon, Neytiri, Pluto and Lapis Lazuli the glaucous macaws and Ceres, Cobalto, Wilbur, Azul, Fernanda and Aurelio the blue-throated macaws, together with Broccoli, Collette and Daisy the cats, were warding off more toucans while Frodo, Ellie, Spyro, Marella and Tom, together with Rita and Carlos, Augustus, Melissa, Stella, Luna, Sebastian, Soren and Anabelle desperately tried leading Arcturus, Saiph, Regulus, Denebola, Oceano, Carmen, Olivia, Sylvester, Achilles, Alegria, Pitaya, Gladion, Lillie, Aurora, Sandalwood, Acerola, Ferdinand, Bambi and Altair to safety. However, no matter how hard Frodo and company tried to escape the inferno, toucans came in from all directions and attacked, forcing the adults to fight them off. Tom tackled away one of the toucans as he tried getting to Gladion, Lillie and Aurora while Ellie drove off some of the young toucan chicks threatening Olivia and Sylvester.

"What's taking Diantha so long?" demanded Ellie as she drove off more toucan chicks only for one to grab onto her wing flight feathers and pull, causing her pain and making her screech.

"I don't know but she should be back with help by now… OOOOW!" screeched Tom as three of the toucan chicks jumped onto his back and began tearing feathers from that area and the back of his head. Tom then began to bolt and writhe to shake off these chicks but they refused to let go. Spyro struggled as more toucan chicks began ripping tail feathers from his prehensile tail while Marella and Frodo struggled with more toucans. Nearby, Augustus angrily wing-slapped more toucans as they threatened Sandalwood and the others to drive them away.

"I don't know WHAT has caused these toucans to become THIS bad but THEIR BEHAVIOUR certainly is OUT OF ORDER!" he bellowed and with that, he chased off another toucan as he kicked Stella in the stomach but the toucan had managed to send Sandalwood flying from Stella's breast and into the space amongst the chaos. However, Augustus and Stella, together with the others, were too engrossed in fighting off the toucans to notice that he was thrown from his mother's breast. Then Sandalwood rose to his feet and began to shoot terrified gazes at the cloud of brawling toucans and Bia, Carla, Tiago and company. As he did that, an auburn flying fox pup and some macaw chicks, among them Kevin and Steven and also Connie the grey-headed flying fox pup who had been separated from Greg and Sardonyx amidst the chaos, rushed in and helped him to his feet. Lillie also rushed in.

"Are you alright, Sandalwood?" asked Acerola. Sandalwood only gazed at Acerola, Sirius, Einstein, Miles, Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine, Thymine, Lillie and Bellatrix with terror-flooded eyes before those eyes turned to face Connie, Steven and Kevin, all of who wore disgusted looks on their faces.

"You two are descended from some bird-killing psycho bat, aren't you, Sandalwood and Acerola?" growled Steven bitterly. At this, Sandalwood and Acerola flinched while Sirius and the other eight chicks present shot the scarlet macaw chick looks of astonishment and outrage.

"What did you just say about Sandalwood and Acerola?" asked Lillie fiercely. Adenine, Thymine, Guanine and Cytosine's colourful plumages also bristled.

"Some relative of yours was a bird murderer and slaughterer?" added Connie.

"And led a colony of other flying foxes on a killing spree of countless flocks of birds?" put in Kevin. At this, Sandalwood's eyes flashed with hurt while Acerola gave the trio a furious eye.

"Look, while that's true, we're NOTHING AT ALL like that great-uncle who led the colony of flying foxes who fought against the bird tribes and other flocks for the Amazon Sanctuary and slaughtered countless birds before then," growled she, "Neither are Grandpa Augustus, Grandma Acerola, our parents, Aunt Luna and Ferdinand, my brother."

Sirius, Einstein, Miles, Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine, Thymine, Lillie and Bellatrix fiercely nodded in agreement as did Sandalwood. However, the moment those nods were finished, a scornful voice emanated from behind Connie, Kevin and Steven.

"Sandy-bud and Ace-roll-y are indeed like their relative Cicatriz, you three," it said.

At this, Connie, Steven and Kevin turned round and to Sandalwood and company's immense fear and outrage, the speaker turned out to be Isabella, one of Anastasia and Marco's daughters and the one who led the horrible plank-of-wood scene with a bound Sandalwood on the end of the branch leading to the incident in which Sandalwood was knocked off that branch. Isabella was accompanied by around three dozen other chicks, and all of them wore scornful and mocking glares on their faces.

"Isabella!?" barked Bellatrix as Sandalwood jumped behind Acerola, Einstein and Miles who took up a defensive stance as the group of toucan kids walked in. Isabella and her comrades just continued to walk towards Sandalwood and his group and stopped.

"How is Sandy-bud?" crooned Isabella meanly, "Still flightless, is he?"

"Especially after what Bellatrix had done to him when she bound his wings to his sides and knocked him off the end of that branch," said one of Isabella's brothers from the chick crowd. This was followed up by a titter from the other toucan chicks. At this, Bellatrix's eyes flashed with hurt but then outrage fired up within her.

"I was NOT the one who knocked Sandalwood off the end of that branch, folks," she growled, her two pigtail-like crests she had got from her grandmother Venus and mother Matilda flaring out. Her blue feathers also bristled. "YOU WERE!"

"Yes, when you lot scattered and one of you carelessly charged into Sandalwood during the chaos when Bellatrix surged towards him in alarm to rescue him," put in Einstein. Sandalwood behind him timidly nodded in agreement.

This was only met by the mocking laughter of Isabella and her comrades.

"Oh, we were only fleein', Bella," crooned Isabella spitefully and with amusement and began to come up with a story to deny her and her comrades' involvement in the incident leading to Sandalwood's fear of heights and flying, "When we scattered, YOU deliberately rammed into that little bat and knocked him off the end of that branch."

Bellatrix's eyes morphed into a look of astonishment, much to the sickening amusement of Isabella and company.

"We thought so," crooned Isabella when she saw the look on Bellatrix's face, "You're nothing but a PSYCHO-CHICK an' a MURDERER," her gaze then turned to Sandalwood who remained ducked behind Einstein and Miles, "just like Sandy-bud behind two of your cute cousins!"

And with that she, along with her comrades, burst out laughing, especially as Bellatrix's eyes flashed with hurt again. Connie, Steven and Kevin looked on with confusion while Sirius, Einstein, Miles, Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine, Thymine, Lillie and Acerola threw on furious looks. Then what happened next astonished them all. Sandalwood, having had enough of the toucan chicks' torment of Bellatrix over the incident, especially as tears and sobs threatened to stream down her cheeks and escape her beak as self-blame began to well within her, felt courage flare within him. Boldly emerging from behind Einstein, Miles and Acerola and storming right up to the laughing Isabella, the amber son of Stella and Soren let his anger explode through his mouth but in a controlled way. Isabella continued spewing laughter from her beak but that fountain was cut off abruptly when she felt a sharp pain explode from her left wing as it was seized and yanked forward. Isabella gasped in shock until she found herself in the fiery green glare of a furious flying fox pup.

"Bellatrix is a murderer and a psycho-chick!?" repeated Sandalwood furiously as he held Isabella by the wing feathers firmly, "I think THAT STATEMENT should be about YOU AND YOUR COMRADES," he flashed a furious glare at Isabella's siblings and cousins accompanying her who only gazed back at him with stunned eyes. Sirius and the others including Connie, Steven and Kevin only watched on in amazement.

"YOU were the ones who bound me in those vines and stashed me on the end of that branch," growled Sandalwood furiously, "ALL because I absolutely REFUSED to participate in causing those blue-and-gold macaws trouble by playing pirates."

He practically spat these words right into Isabella's face and she actually shuddered. Acerola, Sirius, Einstein, Miles, Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine, Thymine, Lillie and Bellatrix could not help but admire Sandalwood's newfound boldness. Before, he had been extremely timid and shy but now he seemed to have emerged as a bold flying fox pup. Could his time at the fake Paradise Sanctuary place have helped him develop his assertiveness? Sirius, Acerola, Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine, Thymine and Lillie had formed a conclusion in their heads that this was plausible, especially on how he had dealt with Dalek.

"And when Bellatrix and the others came zooming in," Sandalwood continued, his membranous wing firmly gripping Isabella's feathered one as she tried prying it free, "ONE OF YOUR COMRADES carelessly flew into ME AND KNOCKED ME OFF THE END OF THAT BRANCH! Now I'm TOO AFRAID TO FLY, Vincent is HURT AND Hunter is DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU and your comrades STUPID CARELESSNESS!"

"Yes, absolutely," put in Sirius equally boldly. Kevin, Connie and Steven just exchanged glances and shrugged but they felt a flash of sympathy for Sandalwood and outrage at Isabella and her comrades for the incident. Sandalwood continued.

"And as for US being like Grandpa's brother Cicatriz, that is absolutely NOT TRUE!" bellowed the amber flying fox pup loudly with another yank of Isabella's wing as he said this, "Grandpa has already explained THAT and the story of how he, Grandma, Mom, Uncle Sebastian and Aunt Luna and some other flying foxes, including Dad and Aunt Anabelle, had helped the bird flocks in the Amazon against the evil flying fox colony and helped them deal with that massive threat. DO YOU GET IT NOW!?"

He shook Isabella again by the wing as he said this. Isabella continued gazing into Sandalwood's eyes timidly while Acerola, Sirius, Einstein, Miles, Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine, Thymine, Lillie and Bellatrix shot the other toucan chicks accompanying Isabella a furious glare. They clearly knew that some of these chicks were the ones responsible for Sandalwood's incident, alongside the collateral damage it has caused, such as Vincent's broken wing and Hunter's fatal plunging into that thorn-bush. The confrontation was frozen for a few seconds while in the background, the brawl between the toucans and the rest of Bia's group continued. Isabella continued gazing into Sandalwood's eyes for another few more seconds, and finally came to an understanding.

"Okay, I'm sorry for calling you a bird-killer," said Isabella gently, prompting Sandalwood to calm the flames of anger down and release the toucan chick's wing from his own membranous one. Isabella continued gazing at Sandalwood and the others with him as she rubbed her wing, some of her comrades coming in to check on her. In the background, Betelgeuse and Rigel came in and watched the confrontation.

"And I'm also sorry for that careless incident the other day as well," continued Isabella, much to the satisfaction of Sandalwood, Acerola, Sirius, Einstein, Miles, Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine, Thymine, Lillie and Bellatrix who formed smiles on their beaks and mouths. Connie, Kevin and Steven could only look on. Isabella then continued.

"I think we'll put that in the past and help you to fly again," said she, much to Sandalwood's widening and hopeful smile. However, Isabella's spiteful and bratty attitude soon emerged and broke through the apologetic outlook, which was merely a façade, deliberately set up by the spiteful brat to trick Sandalwood and the other eleven with him. As astonishment tore through Sandalwood and the other eleven, and also Betelgeuse, Rigel, Connie, Steven and Kevin, Isabella then lurched forward and seized Sandalwood by the head hair and yanked him towards her face.

"Heh; didn't see that comin' did ya, Cicatriz bat?" she growled spitefully as Sandalwood's face twisted in sheer agony as his head hair was pulled by the toucan chick. Then Acerola, Sirius, Einstein, Miles, Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine, Thymine, Lillie and Bellatrix all surged forward but were caught by Isabella's comrades. Isabella then yanked Sandalwood's air down, inflicting him with more pain.

"I think we oughta tie your wings and feet up again in vines and set you on the end of another branch like last time and push you off its end like last time," said the wicked toucan chick spitefully, "Let's see if that helps you to learnt to fly again, eh?"

The moment these words came out of Isabella's acidic orange and black beak and into Sandalwood's ears, any assertiveness the little flying fox pup harboured was suddenly vaporised like a drop of water landing on the heated surface on a very hot sunny day, and the bat pup began to tremble, much to Isabella's delight and sickening titter. Behind Sandalwood, Acerola and Bellatrix struggled in the grasp of the other toucan chicks.

"Let him GO!" BARKED Acerola furiously as two toucan chicks held her by the wings. Bellatrix also silently begged the same demand but Isabella ignored the two and began to drag Sandalwood away by the hair, causing him more pain and making him whimper from both it and the timidity whipped up by Isabella's threat. Isabella then turned to several of her comrades.

"Look around for some vines," she said as she continued restraining the terrified Sandalwood, "We're gonna bind him wing and foot and then we're gonna look for a high branch to set him on."

The toucan chicks nodded and left but before they could leave, a pair of red blurs with colourful wings shot in, one in the air and the other on the ground, and knocked them both out of the air before they could gain height. Isabella gasped in astonishment but then she was tackled hard in the side by one of those blurs.

"LET SANDALWOOD GO!" screeched the blur, which was none other than Betelgeuse, as she knocked Isabella away and rescued Sandalwood. Isabella, as she landed on her back, then leaped to her feet and head-butted Betelgeuse right in the stomach, knocking her down. Then she seized Sandalwood and shoved her into Betelgeuse as she struggled to her feet while the other toucan chicks seized the other red blur, Rigel. As Sandalwood and Betelgeuse struggled to their feet, Isabella came in with a few of her comrades who were not holding any macaw chick, Lillie or Acerola.

"You sure have an attitude problem, you violent beetle bird," muttered Isabella to Betelgeuse, intentionally spitting that dart of an insult right at her and making the oldest daughter of Io and Sheldon flinch, for it was one of her most loathed insults. Betelgeuse glared bitterly and offended at the toucan chick, her pineapple-stalk crest spiked out while Sandalwood gazed at Isabella with a frightened look. Then suddenly, Isabella heard the sounds of one of the adult toucans shout.

"SOMEONE'S COMING WITH SOME HUMANS!" he cried, making Isabella and her comrades shoot startled gazes in his direction, "LET'S GET OUTA HERE!"

And within seconds, the night air erupted with the sounds of wing-flaps as the toucans excluding Tom, Lillie, Gladion and Aurora hastily took to the air. However, they did not leave empty-taloned. Isabella then let loose a hiss and began to chase Sandalwood, forcing him to run for it while Betelgeuse, Rigel and also Acerola, Sirius, Einstein, Miles, Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine, Thymine, Lillie and Bellatrix were seized by the other toucan chicks and carried away.

"You're coming with us, you pathetic insects," said one of the chicks as he carried Acerola away by the wing.

"Yes," said another who carried Acerola by the other wing. Acerola struggled as the toucan chicks carried her away after the other chicks who carried Sirius and the others off.

Within moments, the chaos had finally subsided but the damage has been done. Blu, Jewel, Travis, Sunset, Andromeda, Eragon (on their bat-birds), Diantha, Jupiter and Ruby either ran or flew in with the group of humans, among them Tulio, Jack and Jill and those armed with net-guns, behind them. Blu and Jewel made a beeline for the badly shaken Roberto, Brisa, Zephyr and Venus and the terrified Carla, Bia, Tiago, Justin, Charloitte, Matilda, Virgil, Músculo, Jojo, Kira, Felix, Turquesa, Lavender and Garrett as they limped and struggled to their feet while Diantha went to see Tom, Rita and Carlos. Bia, Carla and Tiago and company were in a terrible state. Many of them were covered with cuts, bruises, and bald patches and some of them were missing flight feathers from their wings. Some, such as Jojo, Virgil, Músculo and Turquesa, bore black bruising around their eyes and Felix, Jojo and Roberto were missing some of their head feathers, those feathers having been torn out by the toucans during the brawl.

Mars, Chiquitita, Saturn, Orquidea, Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, Phobos, Deimos, Alexandre, Estelle, Sheldon, Byron and Athos were missing quite a few of their flight feathers and some bore bleeding scratches on their faces and bodies, and Ganymede was holding his casted wing. Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Titan, Iapetus, Trixie, Brooke and Porthos looked as though they had been fighting with some cats and Porthos bore a black eye like Jojo, Virgil, Músculo and Turquesa; and Uranus, Esmeralda, Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, Oberon, Ash, Aramis and Benjamin; Neptune, Ultramarine, Indigo, Victor, Violet, Triton and Iris; and Mercury, Sapphire, Ceres, Pluto, Cobalto, Lapis Lazuli, Phoebe, Jasmine, Annette, Squaw'tagnan, Blueberry, Charon, Quincy, Flor, Wilbur, Aurelio, Azul, Fernanda, Aiden and Fernanda and also Tom, Frodo and Ellie were also covered in cuts and bruises, some of them bearing torn out flight feathers and black eyes. Augustus, Spyro, Marella, Melissa, Stella, Luna, Sebastian, Soren and Anabelle, and also Broccoli, Collette and Daisy, were also covered with cuts, bruises and torn out feathers and fur but thankfully, these twelve did not bear that many injuries and bald patches and the bats' wings did not suffer any damage for the three cats had managed to seize them and take them out of the inferno before the toucans could damage their wing membranes.

As Tulio and the others began to examine the area for toucans, the catchers with their net-guns cocked and ready, Jupiter, Blu, Jewel, Ruby, Travis, Sunset, Eragon and Andromeda began to fuss over the battered and bruised Carla, Bia and Tiago and company.

"WHAT IN THE WORLD HAPPENED!?" demanded Jupiter as he shook the battered Mars worriedly with one wing. Then the pair heard Jack and Jill's voices ring out.

"Folks, let's get these birds and bats to Tulio's Aviary, QUICKLY!" shouted the two. Then Mars was about to answer Jupiter's question but before he could speak, a blood curdling screech exploded from some of the macaws.

"THE KIIIIIIIDS!" screeched those macaws. At this, Blu, Jewel, Jupiter, Ruby, Travis, Sunset, Eragon and Andromeda and Diantha felt their blood plunge into ice and their hearts drop. Diantha then quickly began to examine the group for any smaller animals but to her immense horror, she saw that there were none, and many of the attacked members of Bia's group, especially Carla, Bia and Tiago and their mates Justin, Virgil and Matilda, were crying hysterically and shouting the names of their chicks. Many of the other parents were doing the same and Stella, Soren, Anabelle and Sebastian had only just noticed that Sandalwood, Ferdinand and Acerola were messing. Jupiter and the new arrivals then backed away, dread coming over them like a rogue wave.

Sandalwood and the other kids have been abducted by the nasty toucans and this time, ALL of them had been taken.


	73. Chapter 72

**Chapter 72- a spreading menace, Blu and company's determination, Sandalwood's despair**

 **Back in the forest**

In the dark clutter of the jungle, movement indicating the presence of nocturnal animals shook some small branches as those tree animals were out hunting, their eyes glowing like cat's eyes in the dark as they scanned their shadowy surroundings for any flash of movement of prey. Above the trees, the moon continued bathing the treetop zone with its silvery shafts of light, transforming that part of the jungle into a mystical paradise-like realm. However, the peaceful dark night and the activities of the nocturnal animals was about to be shattered. As the animals, which were some nocturnal marmosets, continued their search for prey, they were made aware of an orange glow heading their way. At this, the little monkeys shot their glowing eyes in the direction of the brightening orange glow but as the source drew near, the little animals, stricken by panic, fled, moments before the source, which were orange comets being carried on branches by some flying birds, shot past, bathing the areas where the monkeys had been in a bright orange light.

The toucan chicks, their talons carrying the branches with the orange comets on their ends and their beaks emanating gleeful and fascinated laughter and with sheer excitement boiling within them, continued zooming through the canopy. However, they were so consumed by the equally glowing orbs of excitement that glowed brightly as the orbs on the ends of their branches that they were unaware that those orange balls were making contact with the branches of the surrounding trees as they passed, and the moment those branches and their leaves touched the orange comets, the orange balls began to replicate themselves and spread and climb up the green leaves and wooden covering of those trees' branches. Small orange stars also rained down from the orange balls on the branches and leaves, and nocturnal animals looked on in sheer horror as they watched the moving orange comets on the branches carried by the toucan chicks continue to rush through the forest and disappear out of sight, leaving behind a trail of growing orange balls spawned by those comets on more tree branches and vegetation in their wake.

 **Back in Tulio's Aviary**

Almost every space of the worktops of the main medical room was blanketed by colourful feathers as Carla, Bia and Tiago and company had been brought into this room by the humans for treatment. Poor Carla, Bia and Tiago and most of the rest of the group were battered and badly shaken from the toucan attack and many have had the primary or secondary feathers of their wings torn out and were thus grounded until their feathers grew back. The only birds that still had their full set of flight feathers in the group were Carla, Bia, Charlotte, Jojo, Zephyr and Venus of the Spix macaws; Io and Sheldon out of the red macaws; Titan, Brooke and Rhea of the blue-and-gold macaws; Aramis of the green macaws; Triton and Iris of the hyacinth macaws and Wilbur of the blue-throated macaws. Mercury, Sapphire, Brisa, Roberto, Mars, Chiquitita, Saturn, Orquidea, Uranus, Esmeralda, Neptune, Ultramarine, Pluto, Lapis Lazuli, Ceres and Cobalto and the rest of the macaws including Tiago and Matilda were missing some of their wing flight feathers, something that macaws needed a full set of if they were to fly properly. The other members of the group still able to fly were Diantha, Tom and all the flying foxes and of course Greg, Sardonyx, Rita and Carlos for they had managed to escape, or had had help escaping from Broccoli, Daisy and Collette who had managed to seize the birds and bats and leap out of the inferno. However, the three cats were also battered and bruised with patches of torn-out fur and scratches marking their bodies, some of the marauding toucans having attacked them as well and had yanked out beak-fuls of fur. But the external injuries were nothing compared to what the poor lot, especially the macaws, Diantha, Tom, Spyro, Marella and the flying foxes, felt on the inside after losing their kids a second time. Extreme distress, worry, trauma and other negative emotions churned like the choppy waters of the Amazon River inside these poor characters and they were afraid that they might never see their kids again. This was the second time they had been plunged into this abyss at the clutches of those horrid toucans. Only this time the joy and happiness of successfully rescuing Sandalwood and the other kids from the fraudulent Paradise Sanctuary place were completely crushed for the hard work of Blu and the others who had risked everything to venture there and retrieve them had been wasted.

As Blu, Jewel, Eragon, Andromeda, Jupiter, Ruby, Travis and Sunset, accompanied by Milo, Eustace, Rosa, Clemont, Serena and cockatoo chicks Vincent, Oscar, Yolanda, Bruno and Peach, stood back and watched the humans as they examined the battered Carla, Bia, Tiago and company with the bat-birds standing with them under Andromeda and Eragon's care, Eustace, Milo, Rosa, Clemont and Serena were flooded with immense outrage and horror.

"This is HONESTLY the worst thing those toucans have EVER done!" said Eustace as he watched the poor members of Bia's group continue to be treated, some of them wincing from the pain of their cuts and scratches as the humans continued to clean them. Eustace's worried gaze travelled to Tiago and Matilda as they winced with gritted beaks from the pain as one of the bird doctors gently dabbed the scratches and bite marks on their sides and faces with a sterile tissue to clean them of the weeping blood. Jupiter and Ruby then gazed at Europa, Byron, Callisto and Athos as the four red macaws gazed wearily at their tattered wings while Ganymede and Mimas were in a hug (with Ganymede using his only functional wing for his other wing was still in a cast), the devastation and distress clearly smeared all over their faces, and both of Mimas's wings were tattered with a good number of flight feathers missing. Jupiter and Ruby knew that their blue-and-gold daughter-in-law would not be able to fly with tattered wings like that, and it was likely to take months for new flight feathers to regrow and replace the ones lost. As the scarlet couple gazed at Mimas and the other birds with torn out wing flight feathers, the rest of the group including Blu and Jewel just looked on, too gripped by immense flabbergast and mortification to even form words.

While Blu's group continued to watch their human friends treat the battered group of Carla, Bia and Tiago, Broccoli limped in. His left front paw had been bitten by one of the adult toucans as he tried rescuing some of the kids but without success and the rest of his body, especially his right ear, were covered with toucan claw and bite marks and bald patches from ripped out fur, and Susan had just finished bandaging his injuries and had put his injured left paw in a bandage. However, despite the pain emanating from his injuries and the trauma of getting attacked along with his sisters Collette and Daisy and Bia's group, which was eerily similar to the vicious attack he had faced from Nigel years ago, Broccoli's face was saturated with unspeakable wrath and he was actually trembling with it. An infuriated hiss, indicative of his temper about to erupt, was filtering through his gritted teeth, sand his brown eyes were blazing firestorms, something Broccoli rarely harboured, and as he spoke, his temper actually did burst out of its containment field.

"This is just like what HAPPENED with them poachers ALL OVER AGAIN!" bellowed the volcanic Veggie look-a-like at the top of his voice. Blu, Jewel, Eragon, Andromeda, Jupiter, Ruby, Travis and Sunset and the bat-birds then jumped back as Broccoli let loose a furious screech and slammed his other paw, the right one and the one that hadn't been badly bitten, hard onto the leg of the table as his volcanic temper momentarily got the better of him, sending a loud bang coursing through the wood like a shockwave and into the main body of the table, startling some of the birds standing on top of it, among them Mercury, Sapphire, Phoebe, Squaw'tagnan, Jasmine and Annette.

"IT MAY NOT be in my nature to harm and kill birds but AFTER WHAT THOSE TOUCANS HAVE DONE, I REALLY WANNA FLAY THEM!" bellowed the cat as he did it. Because he was so consumed by the firestorm of wrath, Broccoli did not care one bit about the pain it had caused his paw.

"Hey, watch it, Broc," called Mercury as he winced from a piece of tissue dabbing at his scratched face by one of Tulio's employees who had flashed Broccoli an annoyed look, "You'll frighten everyone and draw attention to yourself."

"Go and vent your anger somewhere else," commanded Sapphire. Broccoli, his fury finally threatening to explode in the most violent way in his life, obeyed without hesitation and darted for the main entrance to the building, jumping aside to avoid running into the cage containing Mumble, Ginny, Balthazar and Atreyu who flashed a glance at the cat as he hurried outside.

"That four-legged seal certainly has a volcanic temper," said Mumble as he watched Broccoli leave through the main entrance, erroneously referring to him as a seal.

"He's a city cat," said Blu, "but him being extremely volcanic is not surprising. What those toucans have done is the final leaf."

"Is that how Sandalwood and the others ended up at the Paradise place?" asked Atreyu.

"Yes, but it's a long story," said Clemont, "In fact, if I were to calculate, it would take ages to explain everything to you since you've never been in a human city before and will likely have not heard many human-excusive terms, like 'plane' or 'Iquitos' which is the name of the city where that building was run, before."

"Never mind one with flying birds that live in trees, such as us macaws," put in Blu.

"Which you lot keep calling skuas," added Travis. Sunset rolled her eyes at this. She obviously did not like being called a seabird she knew to be gruesome carnivores at times.

"Hey, I've been in a penguin enclosure before," grumbled Mumble. However, the neotenous emperor penguin trailed off when he saw Ruby begin to volcanically erupt as well but unlike Broccoli whose outburst was pure anger and frustration over the toucans' attack and kidnapping of the kids, Ruby's outburst was devastation and extreme distraught. A piercing screech exploding out of her beak followed by uncontrollable sobbing, the scarlet macaw then fell onto her front and began to weep hard and loud. Jupiter and Jewel went over to her and put their wings around her to comfort her as she began to break down, tears falling like heavy rain on a stormy day and like the other macaws, among them Io and Sheldon, as many of them began to break down as well. Mumble and the other three penguins could only watch sympathetically for they lacked the understanding of what has happened.

Somewhere else in the room, Diantha, Tom, Venus and Zephyr (who also bore bandages and plasters for their injuries but their wings still had a full set of flight feathers) were talking with Rita and Carlos, the latter two toucans and two of Diantha's many, many siblings who were swamped with immense guilt and feelings that they were failures at being unable to rescue any of the kids from Bia's group. While these six talked, Saturn and Uranus (who were also battered and bruised and were missing some of the flight feathers from their wings) were looking over Collette and Daisy as Lucy bandaged their injuries. Nearby, Enceladus, Trixie, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Titan, Iapetus, Porthos, Oberon, Brooke, Miranda, Aramis, Ariel, Umbriel, Benjamin, Titania and Ash were being comforted by Esmeralda and Orquidea as the turmoil of emotions, among them extreme anger and distress, boiled within them and while more of Tulio's employees treated them of their injuries as well. Across the room, Roberto and Brisa were with Carla, Bia, Tiago, Justin, Charlotte, Matilda, Virgil andMúsculo and also their own Jojo, Felix and Lavender and their respective mates Kira, Turquesa and Garrett, comforting them as well.

"This CANNOT be happening," Saturn heard Zephyr snarl, to which he stole a glance.

"Mom and Dad are gonna go Krakatoa if they hear about this," murmured Carlos timidly and guiltily.

"They REALLY HAVE crossed the line, I can tell you," put in Diantha furiously. She practically felt no trust or love for her many, many siblings, apart from a few, anymore and felt utterly betrayed and devastated by this final leaf. In fact Diantha did not see Marco and the others as her brothers and sisters and in-laws anymore. Nor did she see their kids as her nephews and nieces. The only thing Diantha saw in those toucans were mere monsters that have descended into the depths of insanity, beyond the point of no return, just like how Nigel had when that parakeet destroyed his acting career. As these feelings against her siblings and their families boiled within her, Collette came up to the group after Lucy had finished bandaging her injuries. Like Broccoli, Collette was furious with the toucans but she had managed to keep her explosive, volatile anger under control.

"Have you guys seen Broccoli?" she asked. At this, Diantha, Tom, Venus, Zephyr, Rita and Carlos and also Saturn and Uranus gazed at her.

"Um… I think he went outside," said Venus.

"Yes, we heard Broccoli erupt into a furious meltdown a few seconds ago," said Uranus.

"Why do you want him?" asked Zephyr. Then a look of determination appeared on Collette's face. Behind her, Daisy was gritting her teeth and tightening her eyes from the pain from her bite and scratch wounds as Lucy continued to wash them with clean, sterile water. However, she cocked an ear to listen to her sister speak.

"Once Daisy over there has been bandaged," said Collette with a flash of glance at her sister, "we're gonna go after those rotten toucans and get those kids back. Broccoli's gonna come with us as well."

At this, astonishment tore through Zephyr's group.

"WHAT!?" barked Zephyr, Venus, Uranus, Saturn, Rita and Carlos all at the same time. Then Tom came forward, a look of angry disapproval plastering his face.

"Are you MAD, Collette," he retorted, "You, your sister and your brother are lucky that you didn't suffer any serious injuries from those marauding CROWS who call themselves toucans such as a scratch over your neck artery and vein," as he said this, Collette raised a paw and felt the area where her carotid artery and jugular vein, the important vessels of the neck, were and flinched at the thought of a toucan or macaw scratch attack running over that area which fortunately was unmarked. However, she pushed it aside and glared back at Tom as he continued. "You're gonna stay here in the safety of your human companions…"

However, Collette's stubbornness only sent this command in one of her ears and out of the other. When he saw that Tom's protests were not sinking into the caliby (calico/tabby mix) cat, Zephyr went over to her to back Tom up. Behind Zephyr and Tom, Diantha felt agreement with Collette's statement well within her.

"Tom is right, Collette," said Zephyr, "You should stay here. We can't risk you, Daisy and Broccoli getting hurt like this again."

"And besides that," put in Carlos as he stood with Rita, "Our siblings and their families are RUTHLESS. They might even be like those rabid flying foxes of that… um… Scarface's colony Uncle Zephyr and the others were forced to fight to protect their protected homes in the Amazon…"

As he said this, he found himself on the receiving end of a glare of a group of seven flying foxes from nearby. At this, Carlos turned and saw Augustus, Stella, Luna, Melissa, Sebastian, Soren and Anabelle glare at him with seemingly offended frowns. At this, Carlos felt a pang of guilt stab him.

"Sorry for mentioning your former colony, you seven, I-I-I just wanted to say how bad our pathetic excuse for siblings and their families are in this deed," he said to the bats. However, Augustus walked over to him with, to Carlos and Rita's surprise, an agreeing look on his face.

"Don't be," he said, "What you've said about those toucans is absolutely right. They ARE like that psychotic brother of mine and his mate."

Carlos shot Augustus a confused look as Blu, Jewel, Andromeda, Eragon, Travis and Sunset and the bat-birds, two of them being ridden by Andromeda and Eragon came in. Jupiter and Ruby had gone to see to Broccoli after he had burned himself out in his temper outburst.

"Correct, Augustus," said Blu, an angry look on his face, "Marco and that gang of his are certainly no different from Cicatriz and his colony."

"And because of that," said Jewel, "We're gonna go after those wretched psychos and rescue Sandalwood and the others before they do anything to them."

At this, Carlos and Rita gazed at something behind Blu, Jewel, Andromeda, Eragon, Travis and Sunset and saw that some of Bia's group, those that still had a full set of wing feathers, stand in a row, determined looks on their faces.

Carla, Bia, Charlotte, Jojo, Io, Sheldon, Titan, Brooke, Rhea, Aramis, Triton (who was missing his bandana), Iris and Wilbur stood in that row with determined looks on their faces. Despite the injuries they bore, the determination to get the kids back was burning brightly within them. That flame was also burning brightly within Blu, Jewel, Diantha, Zephyr, Venus, Augustus, Stella, Luna, Melissa, Sebastian, Soren, Anabelle and Tom and also Travis, Sunset, Andromeda and Eragon. In the background, Eustace, Milo, Rosa, Clemont, Serena and Peach, Bruno, Yolanda, Vincent and Oscar stood with some of the macaws unable to fly due to missing flight feathers, among them Frodo and Ellie. Then Blu stepped forward, his eyes beginning to scan the other toucans, especially Tiago and Matilda and the other grounded Spix macaws who wore desperate looks on their faces, and called for the birds still able to fly to come over to him.

"Anyone still able to fly, come here please," he called. And with that, the sounds of flapping wings filled the air as Carla and company flew over to Blu and Jewel and touched down around him. Rita and Carlos gazed at each other.

"What's going on?" asked Rita. Blu and Augustus shot her and Carlos a determined frown.

"We're gonna devise a plan and get Sandalwood and the others back," Blu said bluntly.

"But it might mean using serious force or even violence," said Augustus a little reluctantly. This was met with an agreeing nod from Jewel and Zephyr and a small, reluctant nod from Melissa, Stella, Luna, Sebastian, Soren and Anabelle. Violence against birds was often a big taboo in Augustus's new clan of flying foxes since the fall of their colony but in extremely rare cases, such as this one involving the toucans making off with Sandalwood and the others, Augustus and his family had no other choice. When they hear Augustus say this boldly, despite the reluctance he felt, Carlos and Rita felt alarm tear through them at this remark but they were unsurprised. Marco and the others have really crossed the line and deserved to be punished and possibly exiled from the Blu Bird Sanctuary as well.

 **Meanwhile**

Sandalwood continued dashing through the darkness in the direction of the outskirts of the forest, a small flock of toucan chicks hot on his tail. He was running along like he had never run before and was constantly dodging and darting this way and that as Isabella and her gang swooped down on him from the air and tried to attack him. As they did that, the toucan chicks were flooding the air with crow-like cackles and squawks which were as frightening as Carnassial's wrath. But despite their behaviour reminding him of that horrible caracal and friend of that equally horrible parrot-detesting chameleon, Sandalwood continued running like a terrified mouse despite the fatigue setting in his wing and leg muscles and his panting for breath.

"C'mere, ya useless flightless bat," cackled Isabella as she swooped down at Sandalwood from above in an attempt to seize him with her talons, only for him to dodge, "We're gonna bind ya and knock ya off the end of a branch again!"

"And this time, it'll be straight into a runnin' stream… at night!" cackled one of Isabella's comrades, one of her brothers as he attempted to capture Sandalwood by the head only for him to dodge.

"What's the matter, puppy?" asked another toucan meanly, "Unable to fly?"

This sent hurt piercing through Sandalwood's terror when those words reached his ears but then Isabella's mean voice sounded.

"He won't be when we bind him and toss him into a stream, sis," she crooned. Sandalwood let loose a timid whimper ass he continued dodging more toucan swoops and continued dashing, the flock of toucans cackling continuously as they continued chasing him and swooping at him in an attempt to catch him.

"You certainly ARE a useless, pathetic bat, Sandy-bud," Isabella continued as she swooped right behind the terrified bat pup, "Was this how ya grandpa and grandma, and your mommy, daddy and ya uncle and auntie behaved… when they had to meet those bird flocks in the Amazon when your colony was threatenin' them?"

The other toucan chicks cackled mockingly after this. At this, Sandalwood snapped an enraged glare at the toucans.

"You sure know NOTHING ABOUT what Mom, Grandpa… Grandma, Aunt Luna and Uncle Sebastian did… when THEY helped the bird flocks to DEFEND THEIR HOME FROM THAT DERANGED FLYING FOX COLONY led by my great-uncle Cicatriz, you BUNCH OF BRATTY TOUCANS!" retorted the flying fox pup as he dodged another feathered comet as another toucan chick swooped upon him. Sandalwood could not believe the boldness he had expressed as he said this but he knew that he had to get away from these toucan chicks or they would carry out their threat if they catch him. Terrified, the amber flying fox pup accelerated on with his big-nosed pursuers in hot pursuit.

Behind Sandalwood, some of the chicks from Bia's group was struggling to keep up. Gertie, Arcturus, Saiph, Sonia, Spica and Melody, along with Connie, Steven and Kevin who had managed to escape getting seized by the toucans in the closing minutes of their brawl with their parents and relatives (Carla, Bia, Tiago and company), were pursuing the toucan chicks as they continued to terrorise Sandalwood and attempt to catch him, Gertie rushing ahead of them for she was larger than the others due to being a hyacinth macaw chicks, having already begun the growth spurt that was characteristic of her species.

"If we don't… stop those… toucan chicks," called Gertie as she flew ahead, her lungs straining to draws in air to power her flight muscles, "If they… get hold of… Sandalwood… they're likely gonna… do what they did… in the beginning!"

As she said this, Saiph began to put more effort into flying faster and attempt to catch up with the toucan chicks before they could get a hold of Sandalwood while Connie, Steven and Kevin continued to fly alongside him, confused and disgusted looks on their faces.

"So is Sandalwood a descendant of some bird-killing bat?" demanded Steven furiously. However, none of the other six macaw chicks responded and continued chasing the toucan chicks as they continued to terrorise Sandalwood. As the dark sea of trees approached, the screaming of a flying fox pup erupted from the toucan chick cloud, plunging the hearts and blood of Spica, Sonia, Melody, Saiph, Arcturus and Gertie into ice and also frightening Connie.

"PUT ME DOOOWWWN!" screamed Sandalwood's voice as the crow-like cackling of the toucan chicks sounded. Sonia and her sisters could only deduce one thing.

"They've GOT HIM!" cried the three daughters of Carla and Justin in unison and with that, they and the other six rocketed more after the toucan chicks. Sandalwood screamed and writhed as one of Isabella's chicks hauled him into the air in his talons like a coconut but the ears. The toucan chicks relished his terrified screams.

"Oooh, look at you," crooned Isabella wickedly as she gazed at the terrified flying fox pup, "You certainly ARE afraid of flying and heights," she then turned to some of her comrades, "Get some vines!"

The comrades, which were five of her brothers and sisters, nodded and left to find said material but as they left, something astonishing, especially to Isabella and her group, happened. As Sonia, Spica, Melody, Gertie, Saiph and Arcturus, with Steven, Kevin and Connie right behind them charged in, Sandalwood suddenly felt the urge to defend himself volcanically erupt and explode through his terror. As the toucan chick then lifted the flying fox pup into the air and caught him by the sides, Sandalwood suddenly turned round and, without hesitation and with his eyes flaring green fire, lashed out and sank his teeth as hard as he could into one of the toucan chick's wings! Gertie, Arcturus, Saiph, Sonia, Spica and Melody arrived just in time to hear a piercing scream from a toucan chick but as they charged into the cloud of chicks like a squadron of mini-planes, sending the chicks flying everywhere, Sandalwood had disappeared.

"You five take care of those brats while we look of Sandalwood," commanded Arcturus and with that. The Lear's macaw chick dived down with Steven, Connie and Kevin shooting after her while Spica, Melody, Sonia, Gertie and Saiph began to unleash their fury on Isabella's gang full throttle. Spica then rushed in and seized Isabella by the throat with her talons.

"How DARE you threaten to tie Sandalwood up and plan to do to him like what you did in the BEGINNING!" bellowed the Spix macaw right into Isabella's face, "How DARE you attempt to traumatise him like you've done before."

As she spat these words into Isabella's face like fireballs, Isabella glared bitterly at the daughter of Carla and Justin.

"Would you like me to bring my Mommy and Daddy into this to have you dealt with?" she retorted. Spica, in response, just thrusted the toucan chick downward and the two began to circle one another like a pair of cats.

Below the cloud of inferno as the brawl between Spica, Sonia, Melody, Gertie and Saiph and Isabella and her comrades began to erupt, Sandalwood had crash-landed into a patch of ferns after the toucan chick he had managed to bite had dropped him. Not too far away, the injured toucan chick was dragging his wounded wing which was punctured with bleeding tooth marks marked by Sandalwood during his defensive lash, his other wing grasping it and his face twisted in agony. While the brawl between Spica and the other four chicks and Isabella's group continued to rage, Sandalwood crept out of the ferns, stunned from both the fall and the change of events. As the flying fox pup crept fully out of the ferns, he was met by a quartet of forms. At first Sandalwood thought they were toucan chicks but when one of the forms explained, "Sandalwood, oh, you're alright!" and pulled him into a hug, Sandalwood felt a wave of relief wash over him when he realised that it were only Arcturus. As the Lear's macaw chick and the flying fox pup broke the hug, the other three forms, Connie, Steven and Kevin walked in. However, their faces were laced with sheer disgust as they glared at the flying fox pup. A few minutes later there was commotion outside the beginning of the jungle and five macaw chicks appeared, battered and bruised and out of breath but fine.

"Those… cowardly toucan chicks… gave up and fled almost… instantly," puffed Spica as she stood with the equally out-of-breath Saiph, Sonia, Melody and Gertie, "Apparently, an overhead shadowy form with gleaming eyes which I believe was a nocturnal predatory bird flew over us and Isabella broke off their attack on us and fled."

However, Spica's excitement and relief suddenly gave way to surprise when she saw the disgusted looks on Connie, Steven and Kevin's faces aimed at Sandalwood. Then Steven came forward.

"You came from a family of bird-killing flying foxes that detested birds like how Dalek loathed parrots?" asked the scarlet macaw chick, "Why didn't you tell us?"

"What!?" snapped Sandalwood.

"Your family killed birds for fun?" said Connie with disgust lacing her voice. At this, Sandalwood flinched but then outrage took hold.

"Look, it's NOT what you think it is," he said, "While it's true that Grandpa and his family came from a colony of bird detesting and killing flying foxes, not all of them were like that and Grandpa, Grandma, Mom, Dad, Aunts Luna and Anabelle and Uncle Sebastian were NOT like that."

"They actually helped the bird flocks to defend their home in the Amazon Sanctuary," added Gertie, before her wings went to her hips, "I think you should ask Mr Augustus to explain everything to you. He understands it all better than us for he has been through it himself."

"We're confused," said Kevin. Then Connie decided to change the subject.

"Look, let's just fly out of here and return to where we originally were," she said. Then a smile appeared on her face, the disgust at Sandalwood's family's backstory having faded, "I can't wait to have a fly around this city to explore it."

Kevin and Steven both nodded in agreement.

"We will when we sort this whole mess out first," said Spica to which Gertie, Saiph, Sonia, Melody and Arcturus nodded. At this, Sandalwood felt a wave of sadness come upon him.

"B-b-but I still cannot fly," said he, "How am I gonna join you if I cannot fly?"

He then shuddered and flinched at the thought of standing on an edge of an elevated edge and dropping into the air, something that bats had to do to get airborne. Sandalwood's eyes then turned to Connie and began to well despair.

"Especially you, Connie, and my cousins Acerola and Ferdinand and my Grandma, Grandpa, Mom, Dad and everyone else," he continued before his gaze turned to then birds, "Including you guys."

"Er… well, um…" began Sonia but Connie interrupted.

"I thought you would overcome that issue now," she said. Sandalwood returned his gaze to her and said, "Look, Connie, how am I gonna follow you on the land while you soar in the sky with everyone else? I can't possibly follow you everywhere like this…"

"Hey, are you blaming me that you can't fly, Sandalwood!?" snapped Connie in disbelief, believing that Sandalwood was trying to pin the fault on her for his not being able to fly. Then silence hung over the little group.

"Uh, dear," murmured Saiph uneasily. Then Steven came in and said, "Look, you two, let's just put all this aside and let's focus on returning to where we are, okay?"

"We could carry Sandalwood," said Kevin.

"What, with HIM being unable to fly and being scared of heights!?" snapped Connie bitterly, her glare aimed at Sandalwood, making the amber flying fox flinch. Finally, something within Sandalwood snapped and he glared fiercely at Connie.

"You think I'm some stupid and inconvenient burden to everyone else, don't you!?" retorted the amber bat at the grey-headed flying fox pup, "YOU think I'm just an annoying blot amongst everyone else who is able to fly and a stone that keeps slowing everyone down, DON'T YOU!"

"Hey, don't you DARE accuse me of being like your bullies who grounded you in the first place!" snapped Connie in a furious voice.

"Can I say something?" asked Gertie.

"NOO!" snapped both Connie and Sandalwood at the same time, making the hyacinth macaw chick flinch.

"Why can't YOU ACCEPT THE FACT THAT I will NOT be able to fly until I HAVE OVERCOME MY FEAR OF HEIGHTS COMPLETELY FIRST!" screeched Sandalwood at Connie.

"Well, I guess that proves it," snapped Connie angrily, "You ARE an annoying BRAT!"

That did it. The moment that word stabbed Sandalwood like a thorn and made him flinch with hurt, the macaw chicks decided to intervene. Gertie was the first to jump between the arguing bats.

"Look, let's SNAP OUT OF IT before THIS SPIRALS OUT OF CONTROL, OKAY!?" she barked, making Sandalwood and Connie flinch, "Arguing is not gonna get us anywhere. Let's just return to where we should be as it's not safe here."

"Good point, hyacinth macaw chick," snapped Connie and with that, the grey-headed flying fox pup whirled round, climbed a tree trunk and dropped into flight. Kevin and Steven took off after her. Saiph simply breathed a relieved sigh.

"I guess it's time to leave," said the glaucous macaw chick.

"Sandalwood," said Spica. However, as she, Arcturus, Gertie, Sonia and Melody turned, they saw that he had disappeared.

"Sandalwood?" asked Spica again. Then Melody saw movement in the forest floor foliage. At this, annoyance tore through her.

"Oh, GREAT!" she snarled. Gertie came in.

"Arcturus and I will go after him," said she, "You four follow Steven, Connie and Kevin back to Tulio's Aviary."

"But Gertie," began Saiph but Gertie shot him a glare.

"Just DO IT!" she snapped and before anyone could stop her, the hyacinth macaw chick took off after Sandalwood with Arcturus following, both of them calling Sandalwood's name. Giving up, Saiph, Melody, Spica and Sonia departed after Connie, Steven and Kevin, leaving Gertie and Arcturus to chase down Sandalwood as he continued to dart through the forest floor foliage, immense sobs and tears flying from him.


	74. Chapter 73

**Chapter 73- the insanity of the toucans**

Somewhere else in the dark, moonlit Tujica Forest, another group of toucans, about three-dozen of them or more, were carrying some of the other kids from Carla, Bia and Tiago's group through the dark trees, their cargo screaming and writhing like mad and demanding they be released. However, their desperate pleas were only received with snide replies from their captors. The cargo consisted of Acerola, Sirius, Einstein, Miles, Adenine, Cytosine, Thymine, Guanine and Castor, Pollux and Poppy, the three chicks of Titan and Brooke, and also Lillie, Gladion and Aurora, Diantha and Tom's chicks and the toucan chick captors' own cousins. Acerola furiously writhed in her toucan captors' talons as they continued to carry her by the wings, head and feet while the macaw and three good toucan chicks also struggled as their captors carried them along as well, some by their talons upside down such as Gladion who kept yelping in pain from his still-healing wing which was set in a cast every time it touched a branch or fruit in the dark.

"Let US GO!" barked the auburn daughter of Sebastian and Anabelle and Ferdinand's older sister.

"Shut up, you little winged rat," retorted one of the toucan chicks who carried her by one of the wings.

"Release us, or we'll BECOME VIOLENT!" screeched Sirius, his temper threatening to erupt but his captors refused to drop him as well.

"Oh, shut up, you bunch of little weaklings," crooned another toucan chick, a female. Screeches of demands and protests also erupted out of the beaks of Einstein, Miles, Adenine, Cytosine, Thymine, Guanine, Castor, Pollux, Poppy, Lillie, Gladion and Aurora as well but to these chicks' dismay, their cries of desperation to be released only fell on deaf ears as their toucan chick captors continued deeper into the dark jungle illuminated by the silvery shafts of moonlight. As the two toucan chicks carried Gladion upside down by the feet past a branch, his casted wing struck it, sending sharp pain shooting through his wing.

"YEEEOOW, CAREFUL!" shouted the only son of Diantha and Tom, "I'VE A BROKEN WING, you KNOW!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever, coward," replied one of his captors without a care for his injured wing and with that, he and his sister continued to carry Gladion along by his feet through the canopy, Gladion's upper body, head and wings continuously striking against more branches and other obstacles on the go and erupting more cries of pain from the little toucan chick's colourful beak. behind Gladion, Poppy, Castor and Pollux continued to be hauled by the feet as well an d Pollux's head made contact with something thorny amongst one of the branches, making the little blue-and-gold macaw chick cry in pain as the needles dug into the skin of his head and upper body. However, his carriers did not care about the pain they just put him through either.

"Please PUT US DOOOOOWN!" cried Poppy, her eyes spewing tears of terror and dripping upward and over her forehead rather than down her cheeks since she was upside down.

"Oh don't be such a scaredy-macaw," tittered one of her carriers spitefully. Alongside Poppy and her brothers, Adenine, Thymine, Guanine, Cytosine, Einstein, Miles, Lillie and Aurora, some also carried by the feet and Miles by the throat, also continued to spit protests of desperation and terror and threats of pure rage at their toucan captors as they continued to haul them through the dark canopy.

"LET US GO!" shouted Adenine as he was carried by the wings, tail and head feathers.

"Shut up, little wimp," crooned his captor who had his head feathers.

"Where are you TAKING US!?" shouted Einstein in terror who was also carried by the feet, as he examined the surrounding dark jungle.

"You'll have to wait and see, smarty-feathers," crooned his captor. This added more oil to the flames of terror within the chicks and Acerola and they continued to desperately beg and plead with their captors to release them but the only responses they kept receiving were mocking comments and 'Shut up name!' and so on.

Moments later, the group was deep in the jungle and the toucan chicks had sank deeper through the canopy and were now above the forest floor, heading for somewhere.

"LET US GO!" screeched Acerola again.

"Shut up, little Cicatriz bat," retorted one of her captors spitefully.

"Just WAIT till our parents and grandparents GET HOLD OF YOU!" screeched Adenine at the top of his voice. At this, one of the nasty toucan chicks flew up to him and retorted with, " _Just WAIT till our parents and grandparents GET HOLD OF YOU!"_ in a high-pitched voice to imitate the Catalina macaw and oldest son of Ganymede and Mimas's demand, much to Adenine's sheer outrage. Then the toucan chick's orange and black beak formed a devilish smile.

"You sure like to irritate us, don't ya, rainbow-feathered eagle-face," he crooned.

"Over there," shouted the toucan chick at the front, the ringleader. At this, his comrades followed and hauled Acerola and the others with her in their clutches in that direction. Acerola continued screeching and writhing, unaware that the group was now very close to the forest floor but then the next thing she knew, she was thrown hard by her captors into some sort of hole where she landed on her front on a rough, earthy surface. Adenine, Thymine, Guanine, Thymine, Sirius, Einstein and Miles followed shortly afterward and they landed in a shower of dirt, some of the beads of it flying into Acerola's face. Then a moment later, several more slams of feathers against earth sounded as Poppy, Castor, Pollux, Lillie, Aurora and Gladion who screeched in pain as he landed on his casted wing, were tossed in after Acerola, the Catalina chicks and Bia and Virgil's sons. As the fourteen began to sort themselves out, their ears picked up the sound of something hard being moved against the earth. Acerola shot terrified glances this way and that and examined the earthy walls and saw that the group had been thrown into some sort of burrow. A pile of used sticks and twigs lay untidily at the back of the burrow, indicating a nest that had fallen into disuse. As all this came together for the macaw and good toucan chicks as well, Lillie shot a horrified look at the entrance to the burrow and saw a massive shadowy circle slowly cover the circular entrance, like the moon eclipsing the sun. The scraping of the circle (which was making the hard scraping noise against the earth) was accompanied by the sounds of struggling as the toucan chicks were pushing it across the entrance. Alarm tearing through her and also Acerola and Gladion, the three rushed over to the burrow entrance. Sirius, Einstein, Miles and the others also surged forward but by the time Acerola, Gladion and Lille were at the entrance, the entire hole was completely sealed save for a few slivers of moonlight shining through the gaps left by the seal. As the auburn flying fox pup, the two chicks of Diantha and Tom and the others made contact with the circle which turned out to be a sphere with a rough and hard feel, to which Sirius realised was a small boulder, alarm and immense fear tore through them. Outside, the toucan chicks stood back, wicked and diabolical glares lacing their faces as they admired their work and began to hear the desperate cries of their victims erupt from behind the rock, accompanied by the sounds of knocking against its stony surface, the thing they had just pushed, altogether for it was heavy, over the entrance to trap them inside the burrow.

"LET US OUT!" screeched Lillie desperately. The others also shouted to be let out. However, the toucan chicks, whose mischief has finally developed into a massive and wicked garden of thorny malice and villainy, just stood there and refused to budge.

"I'm afraid you're gonna have to spend the night in there, little wimps," crooned the ringleader spitefully.

"Spend the night?" said one of his female comrades, "More like the rest of their LIVES!"

This was followed up by cackles from the ringleader and the other comrades, much to the immense horror of Acerola and the others with her in the sealed burrow. Then Gladion began to erupt with extreme fury.

"You're gonna PAY FOR THIS, YOU LOT!" he screeched, bashing the stone with his other wing, "LET US OUUUUT!"

The others also screeched the same thing and continued banging against the stone but it was no use. Their cries and desperate pleas to be let out all but fell on deaf ears. Then the toucan chicks began to leave, crow-like cackles escaping their beaks. Three of them remained behind to issue Acerola's group one last taunt as a parting gift.

"Don't let the thorns jab you in there," crooned one of them, a female.

"And certainly don't let the snakes and any bugs in there bite ya," added the second one, a male. Then the third one, also a male, finished with, "Night, night, you little worms! Sleep well!"

And with that, the three retreated after their comrades, leaving Acerola and the others to continue screeching and begging the toucan chicks in vain to be let out. However, their efforts slowed as they realised that there was no-one outside. Acerola then called together the other thirteen and together, they began to push against the boulder to shift it from the entrance. The burrow air was filled with "UNNNNNNNGGGGHHH! UNNNNGGGGGHHHH!"

However, the boulder did not budge an inch, much to the immense despair of the group. Einstein then gazed at the others.

"Guys," he said in a low voice, "By my calculations, this lump of stone is too heavy for the fourteen of us to move."

"It's gonna require at least _triple_ our number to move this seal even an inch," put in Miles. As these words sank into the brains of Sirius, Acerola and the others' heads, the group gave up pushing against the boulder and backed away. Despair then began to boil within them as they examined the walls of the burrow. Then a minute later, sobs began to escape some of the kids' throats. Acerola retreated over to the nest material and sat down, immense tears of terror and distress oozing from her eyes while Sirius, Einstein and Miles sat down with Poppy, Castor, Pollux, Adenine, Thymine, Guanine and Cytosine. Against the opposite wall, Gladion, Lillie and Aurora also sat down together, tears of extreme despair, disbelief and fright falling heavily down their cheeks. These three chicks were gripped the hardest by disbelief, especially at the fact that their own _cousins_ would do something like this to them and their friends. As this realisation dawned upon poor Gladion, Lillie and Aurora, as well as the worry for the other chicks, Sandalwood and Ferdinand at the clutches of the rest of their countless cousins and also their equally deranged parents (who would be Gladion and his sisters' aunts and uncles) and what they might do to them which also welled within them, their heart fractured like a broken bone. Like the bone in Gladion's wing when Dalek threw Gladion hard into that tree at the fraudulent Paradise Sanctuary place. Sadly, the three chicks of Tom and Diantha sat close together and began to break down and sob hard with the macaw chicks and Acerola, their sobs filtering through the slivers of the gaps in the seal at the burrow's entrance.

 **Somewhere else**

Another group of the toucans, among them Marco and Anastasia and some of the other adults, had touched down by a rushing stream with some more of the chicks from Carla, Bia and Tiago and company, among them Bartholomew and Bellatrix, in their clutches. The other chicks from Carla and the others' group were Regulus, Denebola, Oceano, Carmen, Altair, Bambi, Olivia, Sylvester, Achilles, Alegria, Pitaya, Aldebaran, Perdita and Cecil. All but Aldebaran were tied to a tree trunk withy vines by Marco and company including the adult toucan who had threatened to slash Triton over the right side of his face and blind him only to be attacked by Aldebaran during the skirmish with Bia's group and the stream the group was close to was the same stream Nigel had fallen into when Stella and Soren lured him into that predicament by stealing his tattered vest. Regulus and the others glared and gazed at their toucan captors from their binds with either terror of fury, or both, saturated faces as the toucans continued to examine them. Anastasia gazed at Pitaya, Alegria, Achilles, Sylvester and Olivia and also at Bambi and Altair.

"I'm thinking about giving these seven ultra-rare chicks to a poacher again, folks," said she to the other adult toucans and their chicks, "What do you think?"

"Um… I think that idea's already been used, Anastasia," said one of the adult toucans, the one with the scratched face caused by Aldebaran, "We should consider something else entirely."

"No, I think giving those seven rare birds to the poachers IS a good idea," said his mate, "Those poachers could do with some rare and should-be-extinct birds in their catch…"

Anastasia's beak formed a snide grin. She relished the idea very well and as she did this, she gazed back at Altair and the others, some of them simmering in extreme fury and that fury was about to erupt. Bellatrix and Bartholomew, however, were too timid to speak.

"Just WAIT until our PARENTS AND GRANDPARENTS get a hold of you," snarled Pitaya furiously. Although she was terrified of the toucans, her immense fury was overriding her terror.

"They are SURELY GONNA be STEAMED!" added Achilles.

"YEAH!" shouted Alegria and Olivia in agreement.

"Steamed, Achilles!?" snapped Sylvester, a brief glance at his foster Dominican green-and-yellow brother, before redirecting his fiery glare at Anastasia and her comrades, "More like go off like DYNAMYTE!"

"Especially Mrs Jewel, Mr Blu and YOUR OWN PARENTS, Mr Rafael and Mrs Eva!" put in Regulus.

"They may even EVICT YOU FROM THE SANCTUARY!" added Carmen. Cecil, Perdita, Bambi, Altair, Bellatrix, Bartholomew, Denebola and Oceano all nodded in agreement. In response, Anastasia glared at the chicks.

"I'm afraid it'll be YOU lot that will be evicted, my dears, not us," she crooned wickedly.

"Don't you DARE call us your dears, you big-nosed HAG!" spat Regulus angrily.

"Yeah, Mrs Tremaine," put in Denebola. These words from the two glaucous macaw chicks hit a nerve inside Anastasia and set off a chain reaction resulting in her fury boiling dangerously inside her.

"What did you two JUST CALL ME!?" snarled the toucan wrathfully and with that, she began to let loose a scream of pure rage that carried and echoed through the dark, partially moonlit jungle, startling some nocturnal animals within earshot of the cry. The comrades of Marco and Anastasia, especially the chicks, recoiled in extreme fear.

"I think Anastasia's just CAUGHT FIRE!" cried one of the adult toucans. At this, Anastasia shot him an outraged look, making him flinch.

"Don't just stand there," she bellowed, "Go and GET SOME MORE VINES AND prepare to TIE UP THESE CHICKS SO THAT WE COULD TAKE THEM AWAY TO SOME POACHERS!"

"Marco's not finished teaching Aldebaran a lesson over there," said another of the adult toucans, a point to Marco as he had Aldebaran near the stream. Anastasia, at this, rolled her eyes impatiently but that impatience continued to boil dangerously by the heat of the insults that flew from the chicks, and those insults continued to fly.

"YOU certainly DO SCREAM like a BANSHEE, you foul WITCH!" screeched Bellatrix scornfully, her anger finally erupting through her fear of the toucans. The others soon joined in.

"You're EXTREMELY UGLY and VILE!" cried Bartholomew, "Just like that IRACEBETH FROM THE FLYING FOX COLONY!"

"And I'm pretty sure Mr Augustus and his family could agree to that as WELL!" bellowed Perdita. Anastasia shot the chicks a volcanic look but before she could spew acid at them, the insults of the chicks continued to fly at her like streams of venom.

"When Mrs Jewel and the others get HOLD OF YOU, they AREN'T HALF GONNA GO BALLISTIC!" screeched Cecil. Then Altair and Bambi shouted the same threats at Anastasia regarding what Spyro, Marella, Eragon and Andromeda would do to her and her comrades as well, followed by Bellatrix, Bartholomew, Perdita, Regulus, Denebola, Oceano, Carmen and then Pitaya, Sylvester, Achilles, Alegria and Olivia. As the constant torrent of threats and insults continued to fly out of Bellatrix and company's beaks and batter Anastasia and make her begin to sway in shock at the names the chicks were branding her, such as 'witch' and 'hag', the comrades looked on in extreme flabbergast.

"They're as bad as their parents," murmured one of the female adults. Finally, the chicks' outraged words began to take their toll on poor Anastasia which ended with Bellatrix landing the final blow.

"And very barbaric, ugly, and downright DISGUSTING, JUST LIKE NIGEL!" shouted Bellatrix. That did it. Anastasia's insides churned and she began to feel very unstable. She only had enough energy to issue this command: "Get some vines, tie up those chicks from their binds and prepare to take them to some poachers…"

As she said this, Oceano added the finishing touch by heaving himself up in his binds and hurling a glob of saliva with enough force to send it flying right at Anastasia's eyes. As this act pushed Anastasia's tree trunk of pride past its critical angle, it finally toppled and Anastasia fell like one, forcing some of her comrades to catch her.

"She's going," said one of the toucans, "She's _going!"_

Bellatrix, Bartholomew and the others continued shouting and screeching their caustic concoction of threats at the toucans as well as watch Anastasia with no sympathy or remorse whatsoever as she was gently lowered to the ground by her comrades. Then one of the comrades turned to Marco and said, "Come on, we don't have all night, those stupid chicks are getting out of control in their behaviour…"

"Your mate has fainted!" called another.

"Er, just a minute!" snapped Marco as he held Aldebaran in one talon. When the sight of Aldebaran was picked up by the eyes of Bellatrix and the others, their rage turned to horror.

"Aldebaran!" cried Bellatrix. Cecil and Perdita also shuddered as they gazed at their brother as he writhed in Marco's talon. Then Marco hopped from the bank and onto a rock by the surface of the water, Aldebaran furiously writhing in his talon. As he held the struggling great green/scarlet macaw chick over the rippling water surface, Marco began to taunt him.

"Would you like a little bath before we take you away, little tyke?" asked he meanly and with that, he dipped his wing in the water and sent some small droplets flying at Aldebaran's face. Aldebaran writhed and struggled in the toucan's talon as the small dots of water flew at his face, whimpers of fear escaping his beak. He then eyed Marco.

"What are you gonna do!?" asked Aldebaran timidly and angrily at the same time.

"I'm gonna wash your dirty little feathers clean for attackin' one of my friends over there earlier," replied Marco casually, a nod to the toucan Aldebaran had attacked. At the tree trunk, Bellatrix and the others began to struggle but the other toucans yelled at them to stop moving and to shut up.

"L-l-look, h-h-he was threatening Uncle Triton…" protested Aldebaran timidly but Marco pulled him close to his face.

"Well, that's still no excuse for attackin' your elders, isn't it?" he crooned slightly mockingly.

"No excuse!?" spat Aldebaran in retort, "H-h-he was g-g-gonna slash him over the right side of his face a-a-and blind him…" Marco hissed in bitter hatred as Aldebaran said this, "How c-c-can he d-d-deal with g-g-g-going blind altogether a-a-after he had already sacrificed s-s-sight in his left eye to save Mr Sebastian and h-h-his sisters…"

"Oh, you mean those cute lil' three Cicatriz bats who are the proud parents of those three little bat puppies, eh?" crooned Marco mockingly and with indifference to the seriousness of the subject. As he spoke, Aldebaran opened his beak and let loose an ear-piercing screech Marco slammed him against the dirt of the bank, cutting off his cry.

"Er, I wouldn't scream and shout if I were you," said Marco, his foot on the poor chick, "There could be night-time predators prowling around looking for a meal in the form of a tasty bird, and I don't want any of us becoming THAT!"

He tittered and lifted Aldebaran back into the air and over the water once again. However, Aldebaran's scream, despite it being short, had carried and had reached a certain hollow. In the tree in which that hollow resided, two toucans were enjoying the moonlight. One of them had an orange and black-tipped beak and the other had a lime green beak with a magenta tip.

"Oooh, it sure is a beautiful night, eh, Rafael?" said the lime green and magenta beaked toucan, obviously Eva, who was Marco, and also Diantha's mother, as she admired the star-0studded sky and the moon that bathed the upper levels of the jungle in its silver light.

"It sure is my sweet mango," said Rafael lovingly, "It seems that Gylfie and Aurum have enjoyed this romantic night as well."

Eva smiled and leaned onto her toco mate's shoulder. However, her ears picked up the sounds of a short scream, making her raise her head and gaze into the distance.

"What in the world?" she murmured.

"What is it, my sweet guava?" asked Rafael. Eva, at this, gazed at her toco mate with worry.

Back with Marco's group and their victims, Aldebaran's breathing had begun to spiral out of control as panic began to take hold. From the tree trunk, Bellatrix and the others writhed, especially Cecil and Perdita as they continued to watch the dramas unfold but the toucans still yelled at them to keep quiet. Then some of those chicks tried to scream but toucan wings appeared and slammed over their beaks to prevent them from screaming as well. Aldebaran then whimpered and breathed rapidly as he gazed at the rippling silver surface glaring at him from below as Marco suspended him over it.

"Hmmm, I believe this brings to mind a few similar incidents," crooned Marco as he saw the panic boil dangerously within Aldebaran, "Didn't your scarlet great-uncle plunge into a river with that deranged cockatoo and almost drown?" his beak creased into a wicked smile, "And didn't that murderous daughter of Tiago and Matilda dive into that lake to save the flying fox pup she had tied up and deliberately knocked off the end of that branch some days ago?"

"She wasn't the one who knocked Sandalwood off that branch," retorted Aldebaran, "Your DAUGHTER ISABELLA AND HER COMRADES WERE!"

At this, Marco yanked him back close to his face.

"No, our Isabella wasn't the one, kid," he said, "Your little friend Bellatrix was."

"Why do you BELIEVE THOSE STUPID LIES your kids MAKE!?" shouted Aldebaran, his eyes beginning to ooze tears of terror and his breathing speeding up.

"Bellatrix was the one who told those lies, just to get our Isabella and our sweet little kids into trouble," snapped Marco, "Do you remember what your own green macaw mother said about troublesome kids at some point?" Aldebaran shot Marco a look at the mentioning of Umbriel, "She said that such kids are incredibly crafty in escaping trouble and punishment by fabricating a story and directing the blame on the kids who hadn't done anything wrong, and that's exactly what your little friend Bellatrix had done."

Aldebaran shook his head in disbelief. "That's a LIE," he snapped, "ISABELLA WAS the one who made up that story."

Bellatrix who was tied at the tree trunk with a toucan wing over her beak struggled as she watched Marco then harden his glare at the struggling chick.

"You sure are as stubborn as a coconut shell, ain't ya," said the toucan casually. Then with a diabolical smile, the toucan chick plunged Aldebaran right through the cold water. The tied-up chicks tried to scream but could not with the toucans clamping their beaks shut with their wings. Aldebaran struggled under the water in Marco's grasp, a stream of bubbles escaping his beak as he struggled to try and surface but Marco kept him underwater. Then Marco yanked Aldebaran out of the water, water droplets flying everywhere and the little Verde macaw chick gasping and inhaling large lungfuls of air and his colourful plumage sodden and waterlogged, more droplets dripping from the feathers in his wings, tail and crest that greatly resembled his scarlet grandfather Felipe.

"I wonder if this is how that deranged cockatoo tried to drown your scarlet great-uncle," said Marco flatly, referring to the incident where Jupiter was almost drowned by Nigel.

"Please, LET ME GO!" cried Aldebaran but Marco plunged him back into the cold water of the stream again such that the chick was completely submerged. A stream of bubbles and garbled screams erupted from his beak as the chick struggled and tried to surface but Marco once again refused to let him surface. Then Marco withdrew Aldebaran from the water and glared at him.

"P-p-please," cried the distraught and sodden chick desperately. In the background, Marco's comrades except the fainted Anastasia laughed out loud while Bellatrix's group looked on, fear for Aldebaran boiling within them.

"Not until I have taught you a good lesson about attackin' ya elders an' bein' violent," said Marco as Aldebaran continued to gasp heavily.

"V-v-violent!?" snapped a distressed Aldebaran.

"You heard me," said Marco flatly and with that, he plunged the distraught chick right back into the water again. As he did it, the toucan whom Aldebaran had attacked earlier said, "His father's a violent eagle as well. Must run in the family, I suppose."

The other toucans tittered after this. Marco then heaved Aldebaran, who was shaking, gasping and dripping wet, and held him in the air, an unsympathetic glare on the frightened chick.

"Quite right," he said casually. He then gazed sadistically at Aldebaran.

"Are you learnin' your lesson, little chick?" he crooned.

"W-w-what lesson!?" snapped Aldebaran timidly and between his rapid gasps, "I did nothing WRONG!"

"Not the answer I was lookin' for," said Marco flatly and with that, he plunged Aldebaran back into the water for the fourth time. The water around Aldebaran churned with the bubbles and garbled cries escaping his beak and Aldebaran thought he saw a flash of silver, implying a fish swim by. The chick's kicks then caused a disturbance of sediment on the wall, forming a small cloud. Marco then yanked a heavily breathing, sodden and trembling Aldebaran out of the water.

"Please, LET ME GOOOO!" screamed the chick in extreme desperation now, "YOU COULD DROWN ME IF YOU KEEP THIS GOING!"

Marco, at this, formed a devilish smile.

"Good," he said, "And I hope this traumatised you for life for almost blinding my friend."

And with that, he plunged Aldebaran back into the water again. The other toucans cheered as they watched Marco hold Aldebaran under the water.

"Yeah, go for it, Marco!" shouted one.

"Drown him, drown him!" cried another. From their binds, Bellatrix **,** Bartholomew, Bambi, Altair, Regulus, Denebola, Oceano, Carmen, Olivia, Sylvester, Achilles, Alegria, Pitaya, Perdita and Cecil, especially the latter two, continued to emit muffled screams under their captors' feathers and shout Aldebaran's name.

"Aldebaran!" cried Cecil and Perdita in a muffled voice. Then Sylvester glared bitterly at the toucan, one of Marco's brothers covering his and Olivia's beaks and felt hot rage tear through him. He began to struggle to free his beak to try and bite the toucan's wing but he could not due to how tight the toucan had his wing on his beak. But before things could get out of control with Marco continuously holding Aldebaran under the water as he struggled and released garbled cries of help, the sounds of wing-flaps reached the group's ears, followed by a, "What the- WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"

At this, all the toucans jumped into the air and shot terrified looks in the direction of the speaker, while Marco, startle stinging him like a bee, also jumped and followed his comrades' gazes and accidentally tossed Aldebaran, who was sopping wet, gasping uncontrollably and shaking, into a patch of ferns.

Hovering in the air, a beautiful golden bird of prey-like creature with a yellow head and golden face markings was flapping kestrel-still with a bunch of some fruit in his talons. Its falcon-like eyes saturated with surprise and astonishment bore into Marco and his group and vice versa. Bellatrix and the others also gazed at the hovering gold and yellow bird of prey with immense astonishment. There was a moment of awkward silence hanging over Marco and his group and the newcomer until finally, the newcomer spoke again, especially as his bulbous eyes travelled from the sopping wet Aldebaran who was gasping and coughing in the ferns to Marco, and then darted to the tied up Bellatrix and company to Marco's comrades.

"What… are you guys… doing?" asked the gold and yellow bird of prey who Bellatrix, Regulus, Denebola, Sylvester, Alegria, Pitaya, Altair and Carmen had identified was the male golden fruithawk for they had seen him more often than the others.

"Aurum," whispered Bellatrix. Then Aldebaran found the strength to look up at Aurum as he continued to hover there, his talons full of fruit. He had obviously been out on a night-time foraging trip. Shakily and utterly dripping wet, Aldebaran held his upper body off the ground with his wings.

"Marco was trying to drown me," he blurted out. At this, shock tore through Aurum.

"What?" he replied confused. At this, Marco rushed over to Aldebaran and pretended to light-heartedly pick him up, but Aldebaran hissed and lashed his tiny talons and beak at him.

"Oh, don't believe this little chick, gold and yellow falcon," said the toucan, "He's just fabricating a stupid story."

"Yeah, you know what kids are like these days," said another toucan just as Anastasia was coming round, "They always make up little fruities and tell 'em just to escape trouble."

At this, Aurum continued to gaze at Aldebaran as he continued to hiss and bite at Marco as he tried to pick him up. Bellatrix and the others with her gazed at the fruithawk, hoping that he would see through the toucans' lies and intervene while Marco and the other toucans hoped that Aurum would just butt out and continue his flight back to his hollow. However, the tide turned in the former group's favour when one of the toucans saw something, or someone, approach the group through the moonlit trees.

"(Gasp), Mom and Dad are coming!" she called to the others, "FLEEEE!"

And with that, the air above Bellatrix and company erupted with toucan wing-flaps as Marco's group began to scarper. The toucan chicks were seized and Anastasia was carried away. Amidst the chaos, Aldebaran was thrown upward a few inches and landed back in the ferns. Then within moments, Marco's group was gone, just before two more toucans, which Bellatrix and the others recognised as Rafael and Eva came in.

When the toco/keel-billed couple saw Bellatrix and the others tied to a tree, immense horror tore through them so they immediately flew over to them while Aurum descended towards Aldebaran as he continued to shudder and gasp, putting down the fruit he had foraged as he did.

"Good grief, what happened?" demanded Rafael as he examined Bellatrix, Bartholomew, Bambi, Altair, Regulus, Denebola, Oceano, Carmen, Olivia, Sylvester, Achilles, Alegria, Pitaya, Perdita and Cecil's predicament, while Eva began to look around for a sharp stone to cut through the vines. But nothing could prepare the two toucans for what Bartholomew said next.

"Marco and his group did this," murmured he. At this, Rafael and his mate flinched harshly.

"You WHAT, son!?" snapped Rafael.

"We were supposed to be stargazing but Marco and the others happened to be there and…" began Bellatrix but then Aurum called Rafael and Eva.

"You two, I think one of the macaw chicks has been for a swim in that stream over there," said the fruithawk as he held a trembling bundle of feathers in his silky golden wings. At this, Rafael ran over to Aurum.

"You take care of the others, my dear," called he to Eva who nodded. Rafael then stopped by Aurum and began to examine the bundle of sodden green, red, yellow and blue feathers that formed Aldebaran.

"Oh, no, Aldebaran," cried the toco toucan when he saw the state of the chick, "You're sopping wet."

"And very cold," said Aurum. Aldebaran, as he continued to shake with cold, then gazed up at Rafael.

"Marco tried to drown me," he managed to say.

"He WHAT!?" snapped Rafael incredulously. At this, Aurum gazed at the toco toucan.

"While I was flying back to our hollow with the fruit, I saw one of those toucans hold a chick underwater in that stream from its bank…" then Aurum felt the memory of seeing that toucan and what chick he had plunged underwater flash in his head, before his eyes gazed down at Aldebaran, "I think it was this chick he was holding underwater…"

As he said this, Bellatrix, having been freed by Eva who had finally found a sharp stone to break the vines binding her and the other chicks to the tree trunk, appeared, a scowl on her face.

"Marco was attempting to drown Aldebaran for scratching one of his friends who had almost blinded Triton," she said. This rooted Rafael to the spot as his brain registered these words. Nearby, Eva managed to break the vines and free the rest of the chicks with little time. She then brushed the remains of the green snakes off them and checked them over for any injuries. Then as soon as Rafael had absorbed the information given to him by Bellatrix, he felt his fury begin to boil dangerously within him. However, he managed to contain it. Turning to Eva, he said, "Eva, take those chicks back to our hollow but make sure that they don't disturb Gylfie and our last remaining chicks. I wanna talk about this back there but not here as it's not safe."

Eva nodded and commanded Bellatrix and the others to follow her. Turning to Aurum, Rafael said, "You carry Aldebaran back with us. We've gotta get him dry and wrapped up warm before he catches a chill."

Aurum nodded and moved the still-trembling and sopping wet Aldebaran gently to his talons and took off after Rafael and also Eva and the other chicks of Bellatrix's group. On the way, Rafael took some of the fruit Aurum had foraged. Though Rafael and Eva still had some young chicks who were under the age of leaving the nest, the couple had managed to discipline those chicks so that they would not fall into over-the-top and destructive mischievous habits, especially after learning what had become of so many of their older children like Marco and Sofia despite all the discipline Rafael and Eva had given them before they had left the nest.

 **Somewhere else again in the forest**

A small group of nocturnal marmosets were foraging on the forest floor and looking for small insects that crawled under the foliage, leafage, sticks and other material on the ground. Their eyes glowed like light bulbs in the partially moonlit ground level for most of the moonlight shafts had been absorbed by the upper levels of the forest, leaving only a few slivers of silvery moonlight to reach down to the ground level. However, those silvery slivers as well as the peaceful environment of the dark forest floor, was about to be disturbed, in a very bad way. As the marmoset clan continued to forage for insects, mothers carrying their babies on their backs or breasts, several of them jolted in the direction of another light emerging through the trees nearby. However, unlike the small shafts of moonlight, that light was orange and was spreading in the direction of the marmoset group. Then before the marmosets could deduce what was causing the light, the dark air above them was suddenly thrown into a bright orange light as the sources rocketed over them. The sources of light were the orange comet-like orbs on the branches and those branches were being carried by small toucan chicks as they laughed excitedly at the deformation of the orbs into comets as they continued to fly with them. However, all of them were completely unaware of the danger of these orbs and that they were spreading up the branches and vines of the surrounding trees, leading to those branches getting consumed by the orange orbs as they transformed into orange streams as they climbed up the wood of the branches and onto the leaf clusters at the end of them. The marmoset clan all squeaked in terror as some of the orange orbs rained down on them and landed gently amongst some foliage near where they were foraging. There, the orange orbs began to dance and spread amongst the leaf litter and other materials on the ground, and the marmosets could feel the orbs radiate large amounts of heat and black, char-smelling billows of puffs from their triangular tips. Alarmed, and disturbed by the heat of the orbs and the smell of the puffs emanating from their tips, the marmoset clan abandoned their foraging trip and darted off into the trees that were still intact, followed by some more nocturnal animals as they began to escape the orange orbs left in the wake of the naïve and excitement-blinded toucan chicks as they continued to surge through the trees with their orange orb-bearing branches in their talons, completely unaware of the destruction they were inadvertently spreading through the forest.

While this was happening, a group of greyhounds were walking through the path built for tourists through the Blu Bird Sanctuary. Dash and Ginger were accompanied by James, Avellana, Rusty and Ebony but also the other three pups of Dash and Ginger's first litter: Esperanza, Danny and Eduarda and the latter's mate, a male white greyhound with black patches named Worf, and Eduarda's belly was swollen for she was pregnant with her and Worf's litter of pups, and Avellana and Rusty's puppies, Cleo and Fido, were under the care of Inky and Elsa the King Charles spaniels back in Susan and Lucy's neighbourhood.

"Thomas, the younger brother of Broccoli, Daisy and Collette who is living in the United States with one of Linda's childhood friends, has been asking after Blu and company over the phone lately," said James as he proudly walked alongside Ebony.

"We haven't heard from him in _ages_ ," said Eduarda as she walked alongside Worf, "Broccoli, Daisy and Collette will be pleased that he is doing fine over there."

"His mate has recently had kittens, too," said Dash, "Which we are proud to hear as well."

"And has taken up cat ecology for Linda's friend is a big cat biologist," added Ginger. Avellana, as she walked alongside Rusty, smiled for she was also into ecology as well, albeit more diverse than that of just big cats.

"Veggie and Catina would have been so proud of him if they were still alive to hear of his progress," said Dash in a slightly sombre voice. The other greyhounds including Worf and Ebony all lowered their heads in mourning over their best cat friends. Ebony and Worf had met Veggie and Catina at some point during their pup-hood and had been amazed by Catina's converting from then life as a smuggler's cat to that of a housecat and a mother to the four kitten friends of James, Avellana, Danny, Esperanza and Eduarda.

"It's often a very rare thing that cats can get along well with birds," said Worf, "They often don't mix and the end result is often when the bird becomes a meal for the cat. I remember a small canary getting eaten by a pet cat once but it was not Nevada from Ebony and James's club."

"True, Worf," said Dash, "That's why caution must be taken when keeping cats and birds together as pets. Fortunately Veggie and his family are among the exceptions."

The other greyhounds nodded in agreement. As the group walked along, Worf spotted something in the distance, struggling in the moonlight on the path.

"Hey, look over there," he said to the other greyhounds delightfully and excitedly, and pointed to the thing he had spotted. The other greyhounds followed his paw point.

"Looks like a baby bird," said Worf. Eduarda, Danny and Esperanza gazed at the little bird and saw more emerge from the bushes from the side and onto the path.

"Two of them," said Esperanza.

"More than two," said Danny.

"Are they jungle quail chicks?" asked Eduarda to Avellana, "Their mother should be emerging with the chicks in a minute."

Avellana was about to speak when James, Rusty and Ebony examined the little birds more carefully. However, they had arrived to a very different conclusion to that of Worf.

"Aren't they…" began James. Dash and Ginger came in and also gazed at the birds and saw that they were not quail chicks, but _macaw chicks_. EIGHTEEN of them in fact. As Dash and Ginger examined the macaw chicks more carefully, they saw that five of the chicks had cerulean feathers and black beaks though one of them appeared lilac-tinted and Ginger saw that another of the cerulean macaws bore a crest like that of Roberto; four of the chicks were red with two sporting green wing contours and the other two yellow and green; one of the chicks appeared larger and had aqua blue, navy blue, dark emerald and yellow plumage; two more chicks had aqua blue backs, green foreheads and yellow fronts; two more looked like they had a blend of blue, yellow and green while the remaining four were green with red foreheads, blue wings, blue and red tails and yellow fronts. Ebony immediately recognised some of them. She had seen these chicks countless times before.

"I think they're some of _Carla, Bia, Tiago and their friends chicks_!" she shouted. The moment the other greyhounds' ears picked up this key information, the pattering of paws sounded on the stone and concrete surface of the path as Dash and the other greyhounds rushed over to the macaw chicks.

As the greyhounds skidded to a halt, they began to examine the chicks, which were indeed macaw chicks and some of Carla and company's kids: the five cerulean chicks were Spix macaws Austin, Diego, Deneb, Lilac and Polaris, the chicks of Felix, Turquesa, Lavender and Garrett who Ginger remembered where two of Brisa and Roberto's children and their mates; the four red macaws were Canopus, Katniss, Xander and Kayley and they were chicks of Callisto and Athos, and Alexandre and Estelle; the strange looking chick that bore the emerald, yellow and navy blue plumage was Mira, the hybrid daughter of Enceladus and his hyacinth mate Trixie; the two blue-and-gold macaw chicks were Dione and Porthos's sons Peter and Procyon; the four green macaws were Achernar, Capella, Basil and Antares, the chicks of Miranda, Aramis, Titania and Ash; and the two other strange chicks with a combination of green, yellow and blue in their plumage were Fomalhaut and Cressida, the chicks of Tethys and Oberon. All eighteen of the chicks looked badly shaken, exhausted and traumatised and the greyhounds could see that they were all trembling, their feathers bristled, especially the crest of Austin whose cerulean-tipped head feathers were spiked out all over the place, a trait he shared with his father Felix and grandfather Roberto whenever they were frightened or angry.

"You lot look like you've just escaped a predator," said Worf.

"No, we haven't escaped from a predator," said Fomalhaut who was the first to find the strength to speak, "We had managed to escape a flock of nasty DERANGED toucans."

At this, the greyhounds felt disbelief tear through them.

"Toucans?" repeated Dash with shock.

"We had managed to slip away from the bunch of toucans while they were discussing something, along with Jason, Winona, Vega, Petunia, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka, and also Ferdinand, one of the flying fox pups," added Austin.

"We split up to confuse the toucans but those seven macaw chicks and Ferdinand were spotted and our toucan pursuers chased after them," put in Diego. He then felt a wave of guilt come over him and he began to release a few sobs. The greyhounds exchanged glances.

"Sounds like more toucan trouble," muttered Ebony with a suspicious frown.

"We were supposed to be stargazing with our parents and some of our grandparents," continued Canopus as he helped Katniss, Xander and Kayley to their feet, "But a bunch of those toucans had to be there in our selected spot and they attacked us."

"Swiping us out from the grownups' noses and split away from each other," said Mira.

"We have no idea where the other kids are but I presume they are scattered throughout the forest…" said Procyon as he and Peter struggled to stand, prompting Avellana to assist them. Peter then gazed into the wall of dark trees and shuddered while Fomalhaut and Cressida who had also been with the others at the time of the attack from the toucans began to weep tears of terror and trauma.

"Our parents will be worried SICK about us by now," said Capella in a fragile voice, "This is the SECOND TIME we have been torn from them by those horrible toucans…"

Worf gazed at Esperanza, Eduarda and Danny and mouthed the word 'toucans'. He had once been a victim of some of the gangster-like toucans before and that incident had involved him being dunked into a stream where he had almost drowned. Then James came in, a severe look on his face. He gently picked up Basil and Antares.

"We MUST get you to Tulio's Aviary ASAP," he said in an equally severe voice tone, "And hopefully devise a plan of rescue for the other missing kids…"

At this, relief flowed through Deneb, Lilac and Polaris and the others and they allowed themselves to be picked up by the greyhounds and placed onto their backs. This done, the greyhounds began to carry the chicks in the direction of Tulio's Aviary.

"I had a hunch that a large majority of the toucan kids and their parents' behaviour would eventually venture beyond into the realm of sheer villainy and insanity like how Nigel had done," muttered Ginger, "and that malicious pitfall trap in which Ebony, James, Broccoli, Daisy, Collette, Pelusa and Nevada had fallen I believe is one of the many warning bells of how bad those big nosed birds' behaviour is becoming."

"It's spread throughout the sanctuary as well, just like their population," said Dash, "Anyway, let's get these chicks to Tulio's Aviary."

Then the greyhounds disappeared down the path to Tulio's Aviary with the chicks on their backs.


	75. Chapter 74

**Chapter 74- incredibly dire situations**

 **Somewhere else in Tujica Forest once again**

Two pairs of small birds were flying through the shafts of moonlight illuminating the upper levels of the trees, especially the treetop level. The two pairs of small birds were Nico and Sparkle the canaries and Pedro and Rose the cardinals and they were taking some time out from their club 'Welcome to Paradise'.

"Boy it sure is a beautiful night, eh me friends and me sweet Rose," said Pedro in his usual cheeky and amusing gangster/rapper-like voice.

"I'm wonderin' how those two love-hawks Aurum and Gylfie are doin' since they had warmed up to each other and put aside their aggression towards humans," said Nico as he spun his bottle cap hat in his orange feet before placing it on his head again.

"They certainly did steal the show form the rest of our clubbers when they danced," said Rose with a smile, "Gylfie was E-P-I-C… EPIC when she hovered in the spotlight!"

"Like how Jewel and Zephyr did durin' their first dance with Blu and Venus," said Nico.

"And Aurum was practically in awe of Gylfie's wonderful and beautiful golden plumage as it shone in that spotlight," said Sparkle. She then stopped to admire a moth as it flitted past, its bright yellow wings gleaming in the moonlight for a moment before continuing with the other three.

"She was practically like Jewel and Zephyr and also Charlotte when she danced to our song with her then-boyfriend Músculo at Skyla's club in the Sanctuary de Amazon when we went to perform there as special guests," said Pedro, remembering the time when he and Nico sung 'Hot Wings' at Skyla's club, "Charlotte was honestly like Jewel to a very great extent."

"Despite the fact that she ain't one of Blu and Jewel's daughters," said Nico. He then widened his orange beak in a smile, "I suppose Jewel must have that effect on other macaws and birds."

"Possibly," said Sparkle. The cardinal couple nodded in agreement before the quartet resumed their flight through the peaceful, moonlit forest, movement in the trees indicating the presence of nocturnal animal activity. However, that peace was about to be shattered. As the quartet of cardinals and canaries continued their flight through the upper canopy, a strange smell wafted through the branches and entered the quatet's nostrils.

"I wonder how Dino and the other evacuated birds are…" began Sparkle but Nico raised a wing at her to tell her to be quiet, cutting her off. Then Sparkle was made aware of the strange smell. The moment her nostrils picked up that smell, the female red sparkly bow-wearing canary stifled a gag and pinched her beak with a talon.

"What… is… that… STENCH!?" she hissed through the gagging.

"Smells like the smoke from the exhaust fumes of those city cars," said Nico as he also smelt the smell. This was met with three sceptical gazes from Sparkle and the cardinals.

"Out here in the forest, Nico?" asked Pedro. Then a dreadful look came upon Nico's face. It was then that Rose and Sparkle saw something through the trees. An orange glow accompanied by a faint crackling sound and a pillar of black puffs snaking up towards the moonlit and star-studded sky. Then dread tore through the two girls and their respective partners.

"WE NEED TO ALERT DINO AND THE OTHERS RIGHT NOW!" Pedro's voice ripped through the dread. And with that, Nico, Sparkle and Rose whirled round and shot off like little comets into the trees, Pedro not too far behind.

 **Meanwhile**

Jason, Petunia, Vega, Winona, Ferdinand, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka flew straight into an empty hollow where they hid. The four Spix and, three scarlet chicks and flying fox pup and Acerola's younger brother then cowered in the empty hole of the trunk as they heard the sounds of wing-flaps belonging to the flapping wings of their pursuers increase in loudness. The eight then stifled the urge to puff and pant from exhaustion and terror to try and keep quiet as their pursuers, which were more toucans, some of them adults and many of them kids, began to scour the night-time trees for any flash of colour.

"Can any of you find them?" asked one.

"No, they've well and truly vanished!" said another.

"Let's check further into the trees," said a third and with that, Vega and the others heard the wing-flap noises recede into the distance. Slowly, Ferdinand, who resembled Acerola but had brown eyes and lacked the reddish tint in his brown fur and had no front markings, crept towards the entrance to the hollow and peered out through the hole in the wood.

"Are they leaving, Ferdinand?" asked Vega as she huddled in the back of the hollow with Jason, Petunia, Winona, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka who shuddered. Ferdinand turned his head to the left and saw the black shapes of the toucans recede into the distance.

"I think they are," he said. However, no sooner than these words had left his moth when suddenly, several pairs of toucan talons, all of them small, appeared and seized Ferdinand by the head and shoulders, making him scream. The macaw chicks then all screamed as they watched their flying fox pup friend get yanked out of the hollow and within moments, Ferdinand was at the focal point of around two dozen devilish glares from an equal number of toucan chicks.

"Gotchya, you sly Cicatriz bat," crooned one of them, a male "Did you think you could outsmart us?"

"And I believe that your little feathered friends are in that hollow too," said another, a female. Ferdinand's tongue was glued to the bottom of his mouth by extreme fear. At the hollow, Jason, Petunia, Vega, Winona, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka slowly crept out of the hollow but they, too, were seized by more toucan chick talons and yanked out.

"Here they are," said one of the toucans, the one that had seized Vega by her long Roberto-like head feathers. Vega, in response, shot her captor a fierce glare, raised a talon and clawed the toucan chick across the face, sending the toucan chick's head recoiling in the direction of the swipe and making him drop Vega's head feathers.

"LET ME GO THIS INSTANT, you VILE BRAT!" she bellowed as she did it. Then suddenly, another toucan chick leaped upon her from behind and began to pull on her long head feathers as hard as she could, making the Spix macaw chick scream in pain.

"Don't ya DARE claw my brother across the face, you VINE-HEAD!" she bellowed as she continued to yank on Vega's head feathers. Then Jason, Petunia, Winona and the triplet offspring of Europa and Byron sprang into action and lashed at their captors and within seconds, a brawl erupted between the toucan chicks and Vega's group. While the macaw chicks fought against their captors, the toucan chicks of the other group had Ferdinand while some of them left to get some vines. Then before Ferdinand could register what was happening, he soon found his wings and feet bound tightly by the vines, the toucan chicks having tied him up.

"WHAT ARE YOU DO…!?" barked the brown bat pup but his speech was cut off as one of the toucan chicks tightened a vine around his mouth to stop him from talking. Then the ringleader shot the bound Ferdinand a menacing glare.

"You'll have to see, Cicatriz bat," she crooned wickedly. At first, Ferdinand whimpered in timid confusion but then the dreadful reality dawned upon him. From the brawl cloud between the other group of toucan chicks and the macaw chicks, Alnitak, while he had one of the toucan chicks pinned by the throat against the tree's trunk with a talon, saw Ferdinand's captors then carry the bound brown bat pup to an outstretched branch and place him on there. At this, terror tore through him.

"Guys," he called, "Those CHICKS ARE GONNA DO TO FERDINAND WHAT ISABELLA HAD DONE TO SANDALWOOD!"

At this, Alnilam, Mintaka, Vega, Winona, Jason and Petunia all struggled against the toucan chicks and gazed at Ferdinand as he was placed on the end of a branch before a large drop. Then Jason finally exploded: with an enraged screech, he clawed his toucan opponents across the faces and charged towards the toucan chicks that had bound and placed Ferdinand on the end of the branch. Due to the adrenaline rush of the chaos, the group was completely unaware that an orange glow was approaching them through the trees.

Jason rocketed towards the toucan chicks and bowled right into them like a burly cerulean and blue-white comet. Toucan chicks were sent flying everywhere while Petunia and Winona charged towards Ferdinand and seized him before any of the toucan chicks could knock him off the branch end like what happened to Sandalwood. The two Spix girls then took the terrified flying fox pup to a safe place with Vega to untie him while Jason, along with Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka, began to furiously and mercilessly pursue the toucan chicks in the direction of the orange glow.

"SCREEEECH! That was SANDALWOOD'S COUSIN you ALMOST THREW OFF THE END OF THAT BRANCH, you bunch of BIG-NOSED NUMSKULLS!" bellowed Jason as he and the scarlet triplets chased the toucan chicks through the branches. Vega, Winona and Petunia frantically untied the trembling Ferdinand from the vines binding him and threw away the green tendrils. Then Ferdinand was pulled into a relieved hug by the three Spix girls.

"That was what happened to Sandalwood wasn't it?" sobbed the brown bat pup as he relished the hug with his three feathered friends until the four finally broke it.

"Yes, and you were almost shoved down that path after him," said Vega with rage in her voice against the toucan chicks and what they had almost done to him. She could not believe that this was deliberate and that those toucan chicks were inspired by what Isabella and her group had done to Sandalwood as well as how they wanted to traumatise Ferdinand by replicating the accident. As these facts played in her mind, Vega's urge to give those chicks a piece of her mind began to boil dangerously inside her but she, along with Winona and Petunia, were glad that Ferdinand was safe and pulled out of that incident in time. However, the moment of relief was immediately shattered when the quartet heard the sounds of screeching through the trees, but the screeching was not saturated with anger, but with _terror and panic_. Vega, Winona, Ferdinand and Petunia all turned round in time to see a number of comets zoom back towards them, the orange glow brightening behind them. At the front were Jason, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka and their faces were laced with unspeakable terror, their eyes practically inflated as far as they would go. At this, Vega, Winona, Petunia and Ferdinand lofted, or dropped in Ferdinand's case due to him being a bat, into flight and gazed in alarm at the four incoming macaw chicks as they screamed.

"FLY FOR IIIIIT!" yelled Jason.

"What's going on?" demanded Winona, but nothing could prepare her, or Vega, Ferdinand and Petunia for what came out of Alnitak and his two siblings' beaks.

"THERE ARE SOME TOUCAN CHICKS ARMED WITH BRANCHES OF FIRE!" bellowed the three triplets in unison as they and Jason shot past Vega, Winona, Ferdinand and Petunia. The quartet shot the other four a surprised and confused gaze but then Ferdinand turned round and let loose a massive scream, prompting the three Spix macaw girls to turn round but the moment their eyes landed on orange glow behind the flock of toucan chicks (those that had assaulted Winona and the others), and the dancing orange triangles that spread through the branches ahead of them accompanied by the crackling noise of burning wood and columns of black puffs, those eyes, all three pairs of them, were inflated out of their sockets with fear just like those of Jason, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka.

"FLY FOR IT!" screamed Vega and with that, Petunia seized Ferdinand and she, Vega and Winona tore after Jason and the scarlet triplets. The toucan chicks (not those armed with those branches), along with the adults, were also racing through the forest with fear after Vega's group.

The orange triangles continued to spreads amongst the branches of the trees, consuming everything that was burnable in their path and when one tree was ablaze, the adjacent ones kindled. Below the kindling trees, burning branches and cinders rained down like flaming fireballs and fiery red snowflakes hail from a volcanic eruption and the branches made a fiery 'splash' as they crashed onto the forest floor, sending bits of burning wood, as well as a splash of orange, glowing flames, flying everywhere and sprawling out. In the orange inferno, the toucan chicks that had the flaming branches were struggling to put out the fire after realising that the 'new fascination' introduced to them by the stranger earlier turned out to be extremely hot and dangerous, but their realisation had come upon them far too late. Saturated with panic, the terrified toucans tried waving the branches to put out the flames but it was no use; the flames kept running down the branches and towards their talons holding them. Then as soon as the burning triangles made contact with their talons and feathers, the toucan chicks began to screech and squawk in pain, especially as their feathers caught fire. Stricken by extreme pandemonium and the agony of the fire, those toucan chicks screamed, dropped the still-burning branches, and dove to the forest floor to try and find a way to put out the fire consuming their feathers. While this happened, some more toucans, among them a few adults dived into some hollows in the hopes of escaping the flames. Big mistake, the moment the toucans entered the hollows, they soon found themselves trapped by the flames as they sealed off the entrances, locking them inside where they began to suffer from the extreme heat and menacing orange monsters.

Winona, Vega, Petunia, Jason, Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka and Ferdinand were well aware of the dangers of fire and had been taught about its dangers, along with the other kids including Sandalwood, Acerola, Sirius, Spica, Bellatrix and the rest. The majority of the birds and animals living on the Blu Bird Sanctuary, including some of Rafael and Eva's massive family such as Diantha, Tom, Aurora, Gladion and Lillie and also Rafael and Eva themselves, were also aware of how dangerous fire was, and these animals always, ALWAYS avoided ANYTHING that could ignite other things on fire, such as matches and flint stones. Even Andromeda, Eragon, Spyro and Marella and their archaeobird clan were aware of the dangers of fire and had warned the kids of them, especially if fire got into the wrong or careless hands which could lead it from escaping its confines like a wild animal and the resulting destruction it could wreak. Examples of this included the devastation of the two previous fires that tore through the Amazon, the one that separated Jewel and Zephyr, Brisa and their parents Tornado and Gael and some other birds from their tribes and clans that was the result of logging activity and the most recent one presumed by most humans and animals to be the result of some natural disaster or careless handling of fire-related things by humans (the latter was true for the previous fire had been caused by a discarded and still-burning cigarette end, but no-one was aware of this). The archaeobirds knew how to contain fire very well and they never took it out of their territory. They sometimes carried flaming branches and used them as torches to navigate at night but they know very well how to keep the flames from burning their wing fingers and feathers and knew how to safely put them out once they were done with those torches, and young archaeobirds were given special training in the careful handling and containment of fire. The archaeobirds almost never used flaming branches for other things, though they did use them as a deterrent against the intruding flying foxes when Cicatriz and his colony threatened the Sanctuary de Amazon who, like most of the other animals of the Amazon, despised fire. Fire was useful under the right conditions, such as cooking and keeping warm as used by humans, among other things but if handled wrongly or carelessly, as Andromeda and her clan had said and pointed out time and time again, fire can become very destructive with DIRE consequences indeed. However, it seemed that the majority of Rafael and Eva's offspring had not bothered to learn about the dangers of fire despite Rafael and Eva having taught them from a young age. It was clear that the foolish toucans had not bothered to take in and store the knowledge of fire to pass on to their own children when they had them, and the consequences of the toucan chicks' resulting naiveté regarding fire was showing themselves here and now.

"How in the world did those toucan chicks figure out to SET THOSE BRANCHES ON FIRE!?" shouted Winona, flashing a glance behind her at the spreading orange glow of fire as she flew through the unlit branches after Petunia, who carried Ferdinand, Vega, Jason, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka.

"I have NO IDEA!" cried Jason, "But I daren't FIGURE OUT THE REASON BEHIND THEIR IDEAS!"

"Look OUT!" cried Alnitak. At this, Jason looked up and saw an outstretched arm of a branch head his way. Suddenly, a dark grey talon appeared and grabbed Jason by the wing, pulling him out of the arm's way just in time. Jason thanked Vega as she released his wing.

"This is gonna cause sheer panic for everyone in the jungle," murmured Ferdinand worriedly as he clung onto Petunia's talons. None of the macaw chicks replied to this, however. Under the terror of seeing the fire, confusion as to how the toucans had got hold of the destructive force in the first place boiled within their minds. However, they did not want to worry about this for their top priority was to escape the fast-spreading flames and get to safety as well as warn anyone they came across of the impending disaster.

While the flames continued to spread through the trees of the jungle, Sofia and her comrades were flying through another part of the jungle with Betelgeuse and Rigel in their clutches. Like every other kid of Bia's group, the daughters of Sheldon and Io were bellowing and screeching at their captors to let them go but to their dismay, their pleas to be released only fell on deaf ears. Sofia then glared at the two three-quarter scarlet sisters and uttered a scornful hiss.

"I can't believe that Io would be stupid enough to have kids," she muttered, "I'd never thought that she'd become a mother."

"She is a pathetic parrot with a volcanic temper, I can tell you," said Marcel, Sofia's mate, equally scornfully. The other toucans murmured in agreement. However, Betelgeuse and Rigel only replied to these scathing comments with volcanic scowls on their faces mixed in with terror and fear.

"Mom and Dad are gonna go BERSERK if they find out what you're doing to us," shouted Betelgeuse as she writhed in the talons of one adult toucan. Rigel also writhed in the talons of another adult toucan.

"As will Mr Blu, Mrs Jewel and EVERYONE ELSE!" shouted she. At this, the two sisters flinched and stifled a startled gasp when they found themselves on the receiving end of a bitter brown-eyed glare above a large orange and black beak.

"Well, I'M steamed that my nemesis Io would find a mate and have YOU TWO, you little BRATS!" retorted Sofia bitterly, spittle flying from her beak as she spoke, "She SHOULDN'T HAVE HAD YOU TWO IN THE FIRST PLACE!"

"We WERE wanted," retorted Betelgeuse, "At least Mom doesn't have the desire to breed like insects like HOW YOU DO!"

"Where do you want to put these two annoying chicks, Sofia?" asked the toucan that carried Betelgeuse, "Their squabbling is starting to irritate us."

Sofia turned to Betelgeuse's carrier to speak but before she could get any words out, a foul smell wafted into the nostrils of the group. This brought the little flock of toucans to a hover.

"What's that smell?" asked Sofia in a distaste-laced voice, a talon pinching her nostrils shut. Marcel then began to sniff at the polluted air. However, as the identification of the smell's source took hold, a dreadful look emerged on his face.

"Smells like… burning… wood… and vegetation…" he murmured to the other toucans. At this, horror tore through Sofia and her comrades and also Betelgeuse and Rigel.

"Burning…" began Rigel in confusion but before the realisation dawned upon her and Betelgeuse, a piercing scream erupted from one of the female adult toucans nearby.

"FIRE!" she yelled. This prompted the rest of Sofia's group in looking in her direction and soon enough, all eyes were on the incoming orange glow and ahead of the glow were some orange fireballs. In their immense shock, the two toucans carrying Betelgeuse and Rigel dropped the two chicks. Betelgeuse and Rigel screamed as they were sent plummeting through the canopy and as they fell, the two were separated. Betelgeuse tried to flap her wings to slow her fall but with her still-tattered wing thanks to Dalek's deed in grounding her to make her an easier target to catch by Carnassial and his gang back at the Paradise Sanctuary place; her attempts at trying to slow her fall were futile. Betelgeuse continued flailing like a fish as she continued to hurtle through space until the foliage of the trees, branches and leaves began to strike and scratch at her as she approached the forest floor. Betelgeuse covered her face with her wings to protect her eyes and beak from the cruel claws of the twigs as they pummelled her face and body and rotating her on the way down. Then within moments, Betelgeuse landed like a stone onto the forest floor in a shower of dirt. After this, the dazed older daughter of Sheldon and Io struggled to her feet and shook her head to eliminate the dizziness caused by the chaotic fall but then she realised that Rigel was missing. Alarmed, Betelgeuse began to shoot terrified gazes at every direction of the dark forest.

"Rigel!?" she called, "Rigel, where ARE YOU!?"

As she continued to shout her younger sister's name, an acrid smell and a polluting cloud of mist drifted her way and began to irritate Betelgeuse's lungs, eyes and nose. Betelgeuse began to enter a fit of coughing and spluttering as her mucous membranes became irritated by the mist. Her eyes began to water and she began to try and escape to the clean air, for behind the mist was an orange glow and with it, extreme heat and its appetite for anything organic and burnable. Worries for her sister Rigel continued to plague her mind and she knew she had to find her. However, as Betelgeuse began to struggle through the foliage, her eyes continuously weeping and blinding her as the mist continued to irritate them and more coughs escaping her irritated throat, she heard chaos and commotion in the above canopy.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH THOSE FLAMING BRANCHES, KIDS!? WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH THEM!?"

Sofia's voice and Betelgeuse could hear the immense horror, distress and flabbergast saturating it. Then she heard the voices of the other adult toucans.

"PUT THOSE FLAMES OUT! PUT THOSE FLAMES OUT!"

"PUT 'EM OUT, NOW!"

The shouts were accompanied by the screams agony erupting from the baby toucans which chilled Betelgeuse all the way to the bone but before she could lay a talon toe on what was causing those toucan chicks to scream with extreme agony, she suddenly found herself bathed in an orange glow. Terror flaring within her, the little red chick shot a horrified gaze into the above canopy ands to her extreme alarm, an orange fireball was plummeting towards the forest floor, heading straight towards her. Letting loose a terrified scream, Betelgeuse leaped out of the way as the fiery comet landed and splashed like liquid fire onto the forest floor, sending small flames spreading outward and kindling everything around them, such as ferns, within their reach. Betelgeuse then gazed with terrified eyes at the pool of flames as they stood taller and thinner from their burning substrate and realised that the substrate was a set of branches. Then another fiery comet plummeted from the above canopy and crash-landed not too far away from the chick, pulling her horrified gaze in its direction. A third and a fourth fireball also plummeted from the above canopy and slammed in a fiery splash onto the forest floor, and Betelgeuse watched these in extreme horror. It was then that Betelgeuse saw several smaller fireballs, this time with screams of agony exploding from them, as they dived down into the dirt and began to roll about to put out the flames, and Betelgeuse inspected the living fireballs closely, she realised that they had orange and black beaks. This realisation sent frosty chills of terror coursing down her spine, through her nerves and skin and turned her blood to ice. Several more of these screaming fireballs then descended from the above canopy and began to do the same in the dirt, the black and colourful beaked forms of the adult toucans flying down after them and shouting at the blazing and screaming toucan chicks to put out the fire consuming their feathers. Betelgeuse could see the terrified and panic-stricken look on each of the toucans' faces and she managed to pick out Sofia as she wailed over three of the small fireballs which the red macaw chick deduced were three of her chicks but despite all that Sofia had done to her and her family and relatives, Betelgeuse shuddered with sympathy at Sofia as she continued yelling and screaming hysterically at her burning toucan chicks.

Not wanting to see this disturbing and frightening scene any longer, and the instinct to flee the fire beginning to violently take control, Betelgeuse yanked her gaze from the horrific scene of the panicking toucans and began to resume her search for Rigel.

"RIGEL!" she screamed hoarsely; the crackling and roaring blaze of the fire attempting to drown out her voice and the smoke rising from it affecting her voice box, "RIIIGEEEEL!"

Betelgeuse then began to hop and run through the forest floor and jumping over any foliage that was in her way. She screamed again as a blast of fire erupted behind her and Betelgeuse suddenly felt something burning on her left tattered wing. With a series of shrieks of agony and realising that a cinder had landed on that wing and had set its remaining feathers on fire, smoke rising from the small flames as they climbed up her feathers, Betelgeuse immediately glanced this way and that until her eyes landed on a puddle of water. Without hesitation, the red macaw chick dove for the pool and landed left side first to extinguish the fire on her wing. Betelgeuse relished the relief of the coolness of the water as well as the relief of putting out the fire before it could do her anymore damage but the small flames had left a painful aftereffect on her left wing where the fire had managed to reach her skin. As Betelgeuse rose to her feet in the puddle as soon as she was sure that the fire had been put out, her plumage that had been submerged in the water dripping wet, she thought she heard a familiar voice call through the roar of the burning fire. Stopping to listen, Betelgeuse heard the voice again and wondered if it were real or not, but when recognition finally took hold, she realised that it was INDEED real.

"Rigel!" she cried hoarsely followed by a sequence of coughs as the smoke irritated her lungs. Coughing and struggling, Betelgeuse began to hurry through the kindling leafage and other forest floor material in the direction of her sister's voice. Then as soon as a familiar red form with blue, yellow and green feathers appeared through some ferns, Betelgeuse immediately accelerated towards it.

"RIGEL!" she cried in a splintered, smoke irritated voice. The form, which was indeed Rigel, looked up and when she saw her sister run over to her, she was flooded with relief and joy. The two sisters then met but before Betelgeuse could bring Rigel into a hug, Rigel shouted, "STOP!"

At this, Betelgeuse stopped and backed away, confusion in her amber eyes. However, when she saw that Rigel's face was twisted in agony and her left wing gripping her right, Betelgeuse immediately knew that something was wrong.

"What is it?" she demanded. At first, Rigel did not reply, the extreme pain from her right wing twisting her face and gritting her beak and a panicked rapid breathing was filtering in and out of that beak. Then Rigel relented and slowly moved the wing clasping the painful one to reveal to Betelgeuse the cause of the extreme pain. The moment the cause became visible; Betelgeuse let loose a horrified cry and covered her beak in horror. A short, stiff twig jutted out from Rigel's shoulder where the wing joined her body, and that twig went right into Rigel's skin just near the shoulder joint. It was clear that the twig, which appeared to be a splinter, was embedded in Rigel's skin, apparently the result of her fall through the canopy when her and Betelgeuse's toucan carriers dropped them. Betelgeuse then went forward to take hold of the twig to pull it out of Rigel's shoulder but then she remembered something important that Blu told her about injuries like this when a similar incident happened with one of the Spix macaws and a friend of Blu, Jewel, Zephyr, Venus, Roberto and Brisa in the Spix tribe: splinters must NOT be removed or it could result in massive blood loss. As this memory played in her mind, Betelgeuse immediately began to look around for some unkindled leaves and moss.

"Hang in there while I search for the materials to make a makeshift sling for your shoulder," she told Rigel and with that, she began her search. As she did that, Betelgeuse and Rigel heard the sounds of wing-flaps above them. At this, Betelgeuse turned her head upward and saw a small flock of black and red-cream fronted birds with large orange and black or lime green and magenta beaks fly past, some of them carrying the toucan chicks, many of which had been badly injured by the fire. At this, Betelgeuse began to scream at the toucans at the top of her lungs in the hopes that she would alert them.

"HEEELLLP! PLEASE HELP! THIS MACAW CHICK HERE IS GREATLY INJURED!" however, to Betelgeuse's utter dismay, the toucans did not appear to hear her. Betelgeuse's instinct to keep trying and yelling took hold and she continued to call at the toucans. Rigel did the same but as the toucans receded into the distance, despair came crashing down on the two sisters. Betelgeuse fell on her front and began to weep tears as hopelessness consumed her like the fire consuming the vegetation around her and Rigel. After one last hopeless call, Betelgeuse finally gave up and eventually broke down. The two chicks of Sheldon and Io were left to find their own way out of the fire… on the ground… for the two could not fly at all; Rigel due to the splinter in her shoulder and Betelgeuse due to her tattered and slightly singed wing. Then before Betelgeuse had all but given up, Rigel pulled her back to her senses.

"We've gotta get outa here, NOW!" she shouted. At this, Betelgeuse's teary despair-saturated gaze examined the environment and saw that the fire had almost surrounded them. Orange and black cinders from charred leaves rained down around the two chicks like charcoaled snowflakes. Then as soon as Betelgeuse was brought back to reality, she let loose a terrified cry and began to help Rigel out of the inferno. However, it was not going to be easy for both chicks could not fly and with a splinter embedded in Rigel's shoulder with the threat of getting dislodged and causing a potentially life-threatening blood-loss, as well as Betelgeuse's inability to fly due to her tattered left wing still missing its primary flight feathers and the fact that the two chicks had no idea of where they were in the forest, the odds of survival seemed greatly stacked against the pair.

 **Meanwhile**

Jewel and Blu had set up the rescue group which consisted of Carla, Bia, Charlotte, Jojo, Zephyr, Venus, Io, Sheldon, Titan, Brooke, Rhea, Aramis, Triton, Iris, Wilbur, Diantha, Tom, Augustus, Stella, Luna, Melissa, Sebastian, Soren and Anabelle, Eragon, Andromeda and their bat-birds; Travis and Sunset, and Broccoli, Daisy and Collette. Despite the healing minor injuries some still had from the previous toucan attacks, they were still determined to rescue Sandalwood and the others from the toucans. As Jewel talked with the group, Sardonyx and Greg stood nearby with Mumble, Atreyu, Ginny, Balthazar, Finnick the macaroni penguin and Sugilite the galah, worried looks lacing their faces.

"Going out into the dark jungle to find and rescue well over fifty kids is gonna be easier said than done," murmured Greg.

"This cannot be happening," muttered Sardonyx, her head in her wings, "Especially based on what those two Spix macaws have told us regarding those toucan mobsters…"

"Their mobster-like behaviour has gotten worse over the years," said a voice which belonged to Eustace as he walked in with Milo, Rosa, Clemont, Serena and young Vincent, Oscar, Bruno, Yolanda and Peach. These cockatoos had been forbidden from joining the rescue group by Travis and Sunset and had been commanded to stay behind with the flightless casualties, among them Tiago, Matilda, Mimas and Ganymede.

"And as many of those toucans have been breeding like rabbits," added Clemont, "Many of their chicks have become naughty and beyond that as well."

"Really?" said Greg.

"If you had been with us the entire time, you'd understand," said Rosa. Then Sardonyx stood up and walked away, a frustrated sigh leaving her beak.

"Well, one thing's certain," she muttered, "There's NO WAY we're gonna live in a jungle that's riddled with troublemaking toucans, that's for sure."

"Never mind a gang of them behaving like psychos!" put in Greg angrily. Sugilite and the penguins just said nothing, exchanged glances and shrugged. Then Sardonyx returned.

"I just hope Steven, Kevin and Connie are alright," she said, "and that those guys," she nodded to Jewel's group, "Would find and bring them safely back here. We've already lost one of our sons at that fraudulent Paradise Sanctuary place, and we can't bear to lose Connie and our other two sons."

"You lost one son already?" asked Serena.

"His name was Lars and he was eaten by a group of nasty caracals and servals," said Greg, sombreness in his voice as the tragedy of losing Lars returned, "He apparently sacrificed himself to save Sandalwood and Sirius from being eaten…"

"That was very brave of him," said Milo. Vincent and the other four young cockatoos shuddered however. They couldn't bear the thought of what Sirius, Sandalwood and the others had been through over there and they simply exchanged glances, shrugged and said nothing. As they did this, an excitement and relief-laced voice shouted, "Look, it's a MIRACLE!" outside.

This sparked curiosity within Greg, Sardonyx and the others and they exchanged glances.

"That's our mother," said Eustace, "Sounds like she's seen something."

With that, he left with Serena, Clemont, Milo and Rosa and the cockatoo chicks in tow. Sardonyx and Greg also followed but Mumble, Sugilite and the others stayed behind.

"I hope it's who I think it is," said Atreyu hopefully.

Outside, Blu and the others including Augustus, Melissa, Stella, Luna, Sebastian, Soren and Anabelle and also Greg and Sardonyx as they arrived outside all followed Sunset's surprised gaze and the moment their eyes landed on some incoming forms, the names of those forms were shouted in extreme, overwhelming relief, especially by Greg, Sardonyx, Blu, Jewel, Carla, Zephyr and Venus as the forms, which were three Spix macaw chicks Sonia, Spica and Melody, the two scarlet macaw chicks Steven and Kevin, the flying fox pup Connie and glaucous macaw chick Saiph, melted out of the darkness and towards Tulio's Aviary. Then when Carla, Greg and Sardonyx could not wait any longer, they charged off toward the seven kids and as soon as they collided with them, Sardonyx and Greg swept Connie, Steven and Kevin into a group hug as did Carla with Sonia, Melody, Saiph and Spica. Blu and the others soon joined them and within moments, the grounded group members, among them Justin, Pluto, Blueberry and Aiden, emerged from the entrance to Tulio's Aviary, much to the surprise of the humans, and rushed towards the commotion.

"Oh, my three daughters, I'm so glad you're alright!" cried Carla as she hugged her three daughters. Spica, Sonia and Melody struggled to breathe as their mother's wings were wrapped tightly around them. Then as Carla broke the hug with her daughters, Jewel and Venus took their turn in hugging their granddaughters. Saiph then broke the hug with Io and Sheldon when he heard a familiar voice shout his name, "SAIPH!"

At this, Saiph whirled round and saw eight familiar glaucous macaws run towards him. Recognising them as his parents Blueberry and Aiden accompanied by Pluto, Lapis Lazuli, Neytiri, Charon, Quincy and Flor, Saiph charged off to meet them.

"Mom, Dad!" he cried, "Granddad, Grandma, Aunt Neytiri, Uncle Charon, Aunt Flor, Uncle Quincy!"

As soon as he met Aiden and Blueberry, he was swept into a family hug by them with Pluto and the other glaucous macaws joining. Among the joyful commotion, Stella, Soren, Luna, Anabelle and Sebastian kept checking the dark background for any signs of Sandalwood, Acerola, Ferdinand and the others but to their dismay, there was no-one else. Saddened, they returned to the seven returned kids.

"How did you manage to escape those toucan kidnappers?" asked Blu. At this, Sonia, Spica, Melody and Saiph remained silent. Not caring, Blu pulled the four chicks into a hug again, tears of joy falling from his eyes.

"At least you're safe, along with the other three," he said. As he broke the hug with the four chicks, Augustus came in with Melissa and also Stella, Soren, Luna, Anabelle and Sebastian.

"Have any of you guys seen Sandalwood or any of the others?" asked Augustus. At this, Saiph and Carla and Justin's daughters who had just been joined by Justin who swept the sisters into a hug before putting them down again, exchanged glances. In the background with Greg and Sardonyx, Steven, Kevin and Connie flew over. However, the latter felt a flash of extreme guilt course through her like a jolt of electricity when she heard Augustus mention Sandalwood. As the grey-headed flying fox pup and two scarlet chicks touched down with Saiph, Sonia, Melody and Spica, Spica said, "No but we have been with Sandalwood, Gertie and Arcturus."

Murmurs rolled through the crowd and at the mentioning of the latter two's names, Indigo, Victor, Phoebe and Squaw'tagnan came forward with Triton, Iris, Neptune, Ultramarine and Mercury, Sapphire, Jasmine and Annette.

"Where did they go?" asked Indigo. That was when Connie's guilt finally reached breaking point and a sob escaped her throat and a tear leaked from her eye. When they saw Connie behave this way, Saiph turned to her. However, as he did so, a flash of disgust coursed through him.

"I believe you have something to say," he said in a low voice. Connie began to cry. When Spica saw the hardening and demanding gazes in Blu, Augustus and the others, especially Augustus and the other flying foxes, she said, "Well come on, tell them!"

Connie at first hesitated but when she saw the demanding looks on Augustus and the other flying foxes, especially Stella and Soren, she finally relented.

"I got into an argument with him," she said in a low and guilt-laced voice. As she said this her eyes began to ooze more tears. Glances were exchanged amongst the listeners.

"You what?" demanded Stella. Connie gave her a guilt-saturated, tear-filled look.

"I got into a heated row with Sandalwood over his ability to fly and made him storm off into the jungle," she finally admitted. As Stella, Soren and the other flying foxes' brains absorbed these words, they began to sway in disbelief. Then Spica said, "And Arcturus and Gertie have gone after him."

Then it was Mercury, Neptune and their family's turn to gasp. As Stella and Soren continued to remain silent and speechless, disbelief keeping down their choice of words, Augustus stepped in and glared at Connie. He had kept his anger against the toucans under control but until now, all restraints had been snapped.

"Are you meaning to say THAT YOU'VE DRIVEN MY GRANDSON AWAY IN TO THE FOREST!?" he yelled, sending Connie leaping into the air in fright.

"By insulting his FEAR OF HEIGHTS AND FLYING!?" put in Melissa. Connie, fear and guilt now boiling dangerously within her, nodded rapidly. That did it. The stress within Augustus and the other flying foxes, especially Stella and Soren, finally reached breaking point.

"CONNIE!" barked Greg and Sardonyx together. Then Stella began to yell at Connie.

"HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO OUR ONLY SON!" screeched the albino flying fox, "How DARE you pick on him over his INABILITY TO FLY!"

As she yelled at Connie, Sonia, Spica, Melody and Saiph backed away and cowered behind Justin. They had never seen Stella so angry but it was understandable. Sandalwood had been put through enough hellish nightmares as it is and now Connie had just added more fuel to the fire.

"I-I-I-I-I'm sorry," stammered Connie timidly but Soren came forward and cut her off.

"You're honestly as BAD AS THEM TOUCAN MOBSTERS!" he shouted. Blu and Jewel just looked on, outrage also plastering their faces but they said nothing. Then Connie tried to protest as she backed away towards Sardonyx and Greg.

"I-I-I-I can h-h-help you f-f-f-find him and…" she tried to say but Stella cut her off.

"There's nothing you can do to help make things any better, young lady," she retorted, "We were gonna go out into that forest to look of him and the other kids anyway but if Sandalwood has landed in trouble, any at all, you will NOT be allowed to associate with our family again!"

Connie flinched at this. She only came to Rio because she had befriended Sirius and the other kids, especially Sandalwood and Acerola and had just befriended Ferdinand as well but now what she had done to Sandalwood had put her relationship with his family on a lifeline. As Stella, Soren, Augustus and Melissa continued yelling at Connie; commotion erupted back at Tulio's Aviary.

"Now WHAT!?" demanded Blu and with that, everyone began to make their way back to Tulio's Aviary. Justin and Carla took Sonia, Spica and Melody with them while Saiph went along with Blueberry and Aiden.

As the large group of animals arrived near the entrance of Tulio's Aviary, they were greeted by a massive "You WHAT!?" obviously from Tulio.

"What now?" asked Zephyr with a disgruntled frown as he walked with Venus, Brisa, Roberto, Justin, Carla and Sonia, Spica and Melody.

"Another theft in the artificial habitat?" asked Brisa. The group then began to listen in on the conversation between Tulio and the group of humans led by a man Mercury, Sapphire, Pluto, Lapis Lazuli, Venus and Zephyr recognised as Francisco and based on the looks of his and his colleagues' faces which were saturated with immense dread, worry began to well within the group. However, nothing could prepare the group, and certainly not Tulio who was accompanied by Linda, Fernando, Jack, Jill and Susan and Lucy who went over to the group of animals with Jupiter and Ruby alongside them, for what Francisco said next.

"There's a FIRE in the Blu Bird Sanctuary, and it's spreading at an alarming rate," said he. The colour drained from the skins under the facial feathers of the birds and the fur of the flying foxes, and Jewel began to enter a seizure-like state, her pyrophobia or irrational fear of fire, set in. At the mentioning of the 'f' word, Andromeda, Eragon, Spyro and Marella rushed to the front and Connie who was stood with Steven, Greg, Sardonyx and Kevin flinched harshly. Then the air above all of Blu's group was fissured by Tulio's voice as he shouted at the top of his lungs in extreme horror and worry, particularly for the birds of the sanctuary.

"Set up your RESCUE GROUP AS FAST AS YOU CAN! LINDA, you, JACK, JILL, SUSAN, LUCY AND FERNANDO HURRY TO THE LINDA'S ORANGE BATS' CAVE AND RESCUE THEM BEFORE THE FIRE REACHES THEIR HABITAT, while THE REST OF US PREPARE THE MEDICAL ROOM FOR ANY CASUALTIES FRANCISCO AND HIS TEAM RESCUES!"

And with that, the pounding of human feet sounded as Francisco's group dashed off to set up a rescue group for the birds while the rest of Tulio's team scattered to throw their hands on their assigned emergency tasks. Susan and Lucy then began to usher Blu's group back into Tulio's Aviary but Blu, Jewel, Carla, Bia, Charlotte, Jojo, Zephyr, Venus, Io, Sheldon, Titan, Brooke, Rhea, Aramis, Triton, Iris, Wilbur, Diantha, Tom, Augustus, Stella, Luna, Melissa, Sebastian, Soren and Anabelle, together with Travis and Sunset, sneaked away from the group, but not before Carla, Charlotte and Bia gave their respective mates Justin,Músculo and Virgil a kiss and a hug as well as Matilda and the others a hug (and in some cases such as Aramis with Miranda and Jojo and Kira a kiss as well) before leaving.

"You stay with the others, Jupiter, Ruby, Eragon and Andromeda," commanded Blu, "While we fly into the forest and help our human friends as well as find and rescue our kids before the fire gets to them!"

"And if we EVER run into ANY OF those toucans, we're gonna INTERROGATE THEM WITHOUT QUESTYION!" bellowed Jewel, her wrath against the toucans flaring through her distress of the kids' endangerment and the toucans' potential part in this.

"Okay, you be careful," said Andromeda. Then Broccoli came in with Daisy and Collette.

"Can we come?" asked he.

"No, Broccoli," said Blu.

"It's too dangerous," said Jewel despite her fear of fire. However, she knew that the missing kids, especially Sandalwood were in grave danger and in need of rescuing.

"You stay with the other birds," said Zephyr. At this, Broccoli, Daisy and Collette let loose disgruntled screeches and obeyed. As the three cats returned to the group, they saw some of the macaws have a meltdown. Ruby was weeping in Jupiter's wing, immense worry for all her grandchildren storming her mind while nearby, Europa, Byron, Ganymede, Mimas, Callisto and Athos were trembling violently. Nearby, Virgil, Justin, Kira, Lavender and the rest of the group were having a meltdown with frustrated and despairing comments flying from their beaks.

"If only things couldn't GET ANY WORSE!" shouted Kira.

"Those toucans are GONNA PAY FOR THIS IF ANYTHING HAPPENS TO OUR KIDS!" put in Lavender wrathfully.

"Please, RESCUE OUR KIDS!" cried Miranda, tears of distress falling from her eyes. As the macaws began to have a meltdown, Mercury, Sapphire, Mars, Chiquitita, Saturn, Orquidea, Uranus, Esmeralda, Neptune, Ultramarine, Pluto, Lapis Lazuli, Ceres and Cobalto, together with Eustace, Milo and Rosa, Clemont and Serena having taken Vincent, Peach, Bruno, Oscar and Yolanda out of the scene, began to go round and comfort them despite the extreme worry for the kids who could be out in the jungle burdening their minds. Atreyu watched the immense commotion worriedly.

"Well, I've never heard of a 'fire' but based on the serious distraught of those skuas, it is clear that the situation is indeed dire, Mom, Dad and Uncle Mumble," he said to Mumble, Balthazar and Ginny. Mumble was about to reply when suddenly, the sound of a scarlet macaw shouted, "Hey, where's Connie?"

At this, the four emperor penguins all looked up and saw Greg and Sardonyx call Connie's name and search under the tables and around the other birds in the main medical room. Then another stone was added to the heavy burden of the group, especially Sardonyx, Greg, Kevin and Steven and also Sonia, Melody, Spica and Saiph who remained in the care of Justin as they also feared for the other kids' lives, especially Sandalwood.

Connie had disappeared.


	76. Chapter 75

**Chapter 75- something afoot, Mauro and his marmoset gang help out**

 **A few minutes later**

Dash, Ginger, James, Esperanza, Eduarda, Danny, Avellana, Rusty, Worf and Ebony eventually arrived on the outskirts of Tulio's Aviary with the eighteen macaw chicks they had found and rescued on the tourists' footpath leading through the forest riding on their backs. James carried Austin, Diego, Deneb, Lilac and Polaris; Dash carried Capella, Achernar, Basil and Antares; Ebony carried Mira; Esperanza carried Procyon and Peter; Eduarda carried Fomalhaut and Cressida; Danny carried Canopus and Katniss and Avellana carried Xander and Kayley. All eighteen chicks had either dozed off or had fallen asleep altogether due to the exhaustion that had built up from the trauma of getting kidnapped by the horrible toucans and escaping their kidnappers. As the eight younger greyhounds trotted ahead, Dash and Ginger with the former carrying the green macaws struggled to keep up. As soon as the eight greyhounds had stopped, Dash and Ginger walked wearily up behind them, puffing and panting.

"(Puffs, pants), you seriously need to slow down, my sons and daughters and the other three of you," puffed the ageing light grey greyhound as he plodded towards the side of Rusty and Avellana, his ageing legs struggling from fatigue.

"Yes," said Ginger as she stopped to regain her breath, "Your mother and father cannot trot as energetically as they used to when they were younger…"

She then entered an episode of puffing and panting. Dash then flashed a glance at Capella, Achernar, Basil and Antares as they slowly began to wake up on his back to make sure that none of them had fallen off. Then Ginger came up to the eight younger greyhounds but when she saw that all eight of them were staring ahead with agape mouths and gawking eyes, she became confused.

"Something wrong?" asked she.

"There's commotion at Tulio's Aviary," said Avellana as she stood gawking at the building with Rusty. On Avellana's back, Xander and Kayley were beginning to wake up.

"Has something happened?" asked James as he and Ebony also gazed in horror and dread at Tulio's Aviary. At this, Dash and Ginger followed James, Esperanza, Eduarda, Danny, Avellana, Rusty, Worf and Ebony's gazes and saw that Tulio's Aviary's entrance was blocked by a small crowd of humans when Worf noticed something else parked close to the building. At this, horror flared within him.

"Guys, LOOOK!" he cried and pointed a paw to what he had seen. The other greyhounds followed Worf's point and to their immense surprise, they saw a large red truck with blue flashing lights and bright fluorescent colours marking its sides parked outside the building. Then the urge to investigate, along with dread, sparked within the eight young greyhounds and without warning, the air above the group was flooded with the pattering of greyhound paws as James, Esperanza, Eduarda, Danny, Avellana, Rusty, Worf and Ebony, on the way yelling at the chicks on their backs to hang on, jolting them awake, dashed off. Dash and Ginger were forced to follow as they were left behind again.

"Hang on," barked Dash, "WAIT FOR US!"

He then turned to the four green macaw chicks on his back and said, "Hold on!" and rushed off with Ginger. At this, Capella, Achernar, Basil and Antares all woke up but before they could ask, they felt Dash's body jerk as he launched into a hasty rush after the other eight greyhounds with Ginger, making them shriek with surprise and hang on.

"What's going on!?" shouted Capella as she, her brother and her half great green cousins hung on. Dash and Ginger did not answer and continued rushing after James, Ebony and the other six younger greyhounds towards Tulio's Aviary.

As the ten greyhounds approached the small crowd of humans gathered outside Tulio's Aviary, small groups of people breaking away from it as those groups climbed into their jeeps and cars and drove off, they all screeched to a halt. James managed to stop Austin and Diego, who were at the front nearest to his head, from flying off by raising his head as he braked abruptly and blocked their fall. By this time, all eighteen chicks were awake, having been jolted awake by the greyhounds' sudden movements.

"What's going on?" asked Austin tiredly as he, Diego, Deneb, Lilac and Polaris let loose some yawns.

"I don't know, you five," said James as he examined the splintering crowd of humans, "But by the look of things, it's not good."

"Especially with that fire truck parked outside the building," said Worf worriedly. This was met by dreaded looks from the other greyhounds including Dash and Ginger as they plodded along and caught up with the younger eight, Dash carrying the green macaw chicks on his back.

"I hope Tulio's Aviary hasn't caught…" began Dash but before her could say the 'f' word, a shout erupted from nearby. At this, all ten greyhounds' gazes were yanked in the direction of the shouter and to their surprise; they saw a group of small birds, many of them covered in bandages and plasters, struggle past the crowd of humans and rush towards the group. Dash recognised the few macaws at the front but as they melted into view as they came closer, he and the other greyhounds were horror-stricken when they saw the state of the macaws. As the macaws at the front which were Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Chiquitita, Roberto and Brisa accompanied by Felix, Turquesa, Lavender, Garrett and Kira, were within a few metres of the greyhounds, Austin, Diego, Deneb, Lilac and Polaris immediately spotted the seven blue macaws. At this, joy exploded within them and they cried out, "MOM, DAD, UNCLES, AUNTS, GRANDPA, GRANDMA!" took off from James's back and rushed straight towards them. Capella, Achernar, Basil and Antares did the same when they saw Miranda, Titania and Ash and leaped off of Dash's back, much to his surprise. Mira also took off from Ebony's back and rushed towards Enceladus and Trixie; Procyon and Peter took off from Esperanza's back and rushed straight towards Dione and Porthos, Peter accidentally kicking Esperanza in the face as he leaped into the air; Fomalhaut and Cressida jumped off of Eduarda's back to meet Tethys and Oberon; and Canopus, Katniss, Xander and Kayley jumped off of Danny and Avellana's backs and took off to meet Callisto, Athos, Alexandre and Estelle together with Mars, Chiquitita, Phobos and Deimos.

The greyhounds then looked on as the eighteen chicks were reunited with their parents and relatives. Saturn especially hugged his grandkids Mira, Procyon, Peter, Fomalhaut and Cressida while Brisa and Roberto were hugging Austin, Diego, Lilac, Deneb and Polaris along with Kira, Felix, Turquesa, Lavender and Garrett. Uranus and Esmeralda hugged Capella, Basil, Achernar and Antares and also Fomalhaut and Cressida for they were also their grandkids and Jupiter shared a one-winged hug with Canopus and Katniss while Mars and Chiquitita hugged Xander and Kayley before the chicks were hugged by their other relatives and family friends. While this went on, Dash examined the state of the macaws and found that all of them were covered in bandages and plasters and bald patches where feathers had been ripped out, and that either one or both of their wings were missing their fought feathers. As he examined the macaws with horror, Neptune and Ultramarine came in and gave him and the other greyhounds a big hug of thanks.

"Oh, well done, my greyhound friends for bringing back some more of our missing kids," said Neptune jubilantly. Roberto also came in and hugged Ginger and also some of her first-brood offspring and also Ebony while the other macaws issued them massive thanks. As Roberto broke the hug with Ebony, Ginger began to ask the most important questions.

"What's going on?" she asked, "And what has happened to you lot?"

"And where are Blu and Jewel?" put in James. Dash, Esperanza, Eduarda, Danny, Avellana, Rusty, Worf and Ebony also looked on worriedly. At this, Roberto gave them a dreaded look.

"There's a fire spreading in the sanctuary," he said. This sent disbelief tearing through the greyhounds.

"WHAT!?" shouted all ten of them at once.

"A FIRE!?" blurted out Dash incredulously. As he yelled this, Broccoli, Daisy and Collette, also covered in bandages and plasters and bald patches where fur had been torn out, came in. Worf examined the macaws' state.

"You look like you've been in a fight," he said.

"This was the toucans' work," snapped Saturn as he gazed at himself, his wings and the plumages of the other macaws.

"We were supposed to be stargazing when all of a sudden, a group of those toucans attacked us and stole our kids," added Roberto who was missing some feathers from his signature crest.

"Yes," snarled Broccoli as he, Collette and Daisy stopped, outraged scowls on their faces, "Marco, Anastasia, Sofia and their other equally spiteful siblings and in-laws and kids were among them. They attacked us, stole the kids and left many of these poor birds," he nodded to the macaws, "in a right state."

"They cannot fly due to torn out primary wing feathers thanks to those toucans," added Collette furiously and with that, Felix, Turquesa and Kira came forward and showed the greyhounds their tattered wings to back up the caliby (tabby calico mix) cat's point. Dash gazed at the tattered wings of the three macaws.

"I see what you mean," he said worriedly. Then Felix, Turquesa and Kira returned to the group.

"And now we are stuck here with extreme worry for our other missing kids now that a fire is spreading through the sanctuary," muttered Kira distressfully, her voice threatening to break.

"And Blu and the others with them have gone into the forest to find and rescue them," put in Roberto. He worried for Jewel, Venus, Zephyr and Blu especially for they were like his closest friends and two of them were the brother and sister-in-law of Brisa, and she shuddered at the thought of losing them along with the missing kids as well. The greyhounds flinched in disbelief.

"Blu and the others have left to find those kids in THAT INFERNO!?" blurted out Ginger.

"B-b-but what if they end up caught in that fire?" asked Avellana.

"It's a dangerous risk they are taking," added James. The other greyhounds nodded in agreement. As Avellana said this, Eragon and Andromeda came in, severe frowns on their faces.

"It IS a dangerous risk," said Andromeda in a low voice, pulling the greyhounds' attention to her and her mate, "but those other kids are amongst our most precious treasures."

"We've lost over half of the kids once," said Eragon in an equally stern tone, "thanks to those toucans and if we lose any of them again, it's gonna cause a severe heartbreak."

Then Andromeda's wing claws went to her face and she began to shudder.

"And as to how that fire had started in the first place, I'll never know," she cried in a splintered voice, "but one thing is certain: something or rather SOMEONE must have mishandled that dangerous force and allowed it to run wild," she lowered her wings and gazed at the greyhounds and the macaws, "and THAT is gonna spell devastating and DIRE consequences for the sanctuary and everyone in it."

"It's not any of those humans, is it?" asked Danny timidly and worriedly. He flinched as a number of angry glares from the macaws were directed at the humans.

"I hope not," growled Roberto, the remains of his crest flaring out as his scowl bore into the talking humans, among them Tulio, "As this will be the last time I'll be visiting a human city along with my offspring and grandkids, I can tell you."

"Absolutely," put in Brisa in agreement. Felix, Turquesa, Lavender, Garrett and Kira nodded in agreement. Andromeda and Eragon also shot the humans a suspicious glare and wore agreeing faces. At this, Dash darted in.

"Now wait a minute before we jump to any conclusions…" he began but Brisa cut him off.

"I'm sorry Dash, but we can't risk facing another fiery catastrophe," she snapped, "We were almost killed in the previous fire in the Sanctuary de Amazon and we can't endanger ourselves or our friends and relatives again."

"And in the fire before that, Jewel, Zephyr, my mother Gael, father Tornado and I were torn from the Spix tribe," put in Brisa, "as were Ruby, Esmeralda and several other macaws. We actually assumed our tribes to have DIED in that fire until we were alerted that they were alive and well, along with Tornado and Gael but that's another story altogether."

"Fire is DEADLY and ABSOLUTELY DESTRUCTIVE if allowed to escape its containment," said Eragon with emphasis on the negative words, "And if you end up trapped in a burning forest, your chances of survival are often slim."

"That's right," said Roberto in agreement, "And that is what we want to avoid in future," his gaze then turned to Tulio and his team, and hostility boiled within it, "Especially if any of THAT lot are responsible for this fire's start, either carelessly or deliberately."

As Roberto said this, Uranus and Esmeralda came in with Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Benjamin, Titania, Oberon, Ash and Tethys. By their sides stood Capella, Achernar, Cressida, Fomalhaut, Antares and Basil.

"Er, about that," said Uranus, "I don't believe any of those humans are responsible for this fire."

All eyes turned to Uranus.

"How do you know?" asked Brisa. The greyhounds exchanged glances and shrugged.

"One of the humans had packed a box of matches," said Miranda, "and he was going straight to his daughter's place to celebrate her… wedding anniversary I think it was with a barbeque from his shift…"

"Barbeque?" repeated Andromeda curiously for it was another human term she and Eragon were unfamiliar with.

"It's an event when humans gather and some of them cook meat over a special cooking device called a grill to either celebrate something or to meet together," explained Miranda before resuming her explanation, "and he wanted to avoid rushing back home to get those matches and ten rush to his daughter's place…"

"He needed those matches to start up the fire in the barbeque grill," put in Ariel.

"But while we were at the Vista Chinesa," continued Umbriel, "One of our sons Cecil removed the box of matches from his bag but we scolded him to leave them alone."

"And that human did return that box of matches to his bag as Aramis has witnessed," said Benjamin. As he said this, Capella, Achernar, Cressida, Fomalhaut, Antares and Basil exchanged worried glances.

"But the next thing we and that group of humans knew, especially that man," added Titania, "the box of matches had mysteriously disappeared from the bag."

At this, glances were exchanged between the listeners but before Roberto could ask, Oberon said, "We don't know how those matches had gone missing but we know that something, or rather someone had snaffled them somehow while all our backs were turned…"

"(Do you remember Aldebaran's hunch of seeing movement out the corner of his eye)?" Capella asked the other five in a low voice.

"It wasn't some group of toucans, was it?" asked Ebony in a suspicious voice. The others also hardened their glares but Uranus and his family shrugged their shoulders.

"We don't know," said Esmeralda, "We weren't looking when it happened."

"And Bill, which is the name of the human who had the matches, had begun to panic after finding that box missing," said Uranus, "and him and his group are just as befuddled as we are over how that box of matches had vanished…"

This was replied by speechlessness from the listeners including Roberto and Brisa and also Andromeda and Eragon. However, the silence was broken when the group heard Tulio bark orders to a group of vets to prepare the medical room for potential casualties. Uranus felt it was time to return to the room.

"Well, we need to be back inside," he said, "We shouldn't be out here, anyway and I can see Tulio's getting more and more flustered by the minute," he turned to Dash and the other greyhounds, "We'd like to thank you ten for finding some of our missing kids and bringing them back to us and I sure hope Blu and the others will manage to find the others before the fire gets to them…"

"We'll keep you informed," said Dash. Ginger, James, Esperanza, Eduarda, Danny, Avellana, Rusty, Worf and Ebony nodded in agreement.

"Yes, please do," said Roberto in a flustered voice and with that, the macaws, Andromeda and Eragon prepared to return inside with the other casualties and the birds still present, taking the eighteen chicks Dash and the other greyhounds had managed to find with them. Broccoli, Daisy and Collette also flashed the greyhounds a stern look and followed the birds. As the group left, Ginger shot the other greyhounds a worried look.

"It's obvious that something or someone has stolen that human called Bill's matches, folks," she said, "but I know for a fact that it can't be one or some of the Blu Bird Sanctuary residents for they would NEVER play with fire or anything that start fires anyway…"

"I reckon some of those wretched toucans excluding Rafael, Eva, Tom, Diantha and the other toucans who have a great amount of sense might have got hold of those matches somehow," said Ebony in a growl.

"How can you tell?" asked James. Ebony hardened her scowl.

"I just have the feeling that some of those naughty toucans might be behind the starting of the fire," said the black greyhound.

"Look, Ebony, we don't know how the fire got its start and we certainly cannot jump to conclusions," replied Dash, but the suspicious scowl never left Ebony's face. Dash rolled his eyes, "Let's just keep an eye on things and provide Roberto and the others updates of what's happening, okay?"

Ebony nodded and with that, the greyhounds left to the side of Tulio's Aviary and began to watch Tulio's group as it continued to fissure away in small groups as more humans left to carry out their duties in stopping the fire or search for any animal casualties to bring back to Tulio's Aviary.

 **Meanwhile**

Sandalwood continued rushing through the forest; a part that had not been kindled by the fire that Sandalwood was unaware was spreading through the forest, tears flying from his eyes like a water sprinkler and his mouth emitting distraught sobs.

"Sandalwood!" cried two voices behind him, obviously Gertie and Arcturus's. However, Sandalwood was too blinded by distress to hear them. He then went over to the base of a large boulder, ran into it and turned round so that his back was to the stone's face and slid down it, his eyes continuously weeping tears like a waterfall.

"Sandalwood!" cried Arcturus and Gertie's voices and within moments, the two navy blue macaw chicks with eye rings and beak lappets, one smaller with the dark teal markings and orange tint to her lappet and eye rings of characteristic her species, the Lear's macaw, appeared through some ferns and touched down before Sandalwood as he began to really cry his eyes out.

"Sandalwood!" said Gertie and Arcturus but as they approached him, Sandalwood blurted at them to stay back.

"Go AWAY!" wailed the amber flying fox pup tearfully, "I'm NOTHING BUT A USELESS FLIGHTLESS COWARDLY BRAT OF A BAT… and a BURDEN TO EVERYONE ELSE!"

This pulled on the heartstrings of Arcturus and Gertie and they tried to console the pup.

"That's NOT TRUE," snapped Arcturus. She then felt a flash of outrage against Connie for calling Sandalwood a brat and chiding his fear of heights and flying. Arcturus and Gertie planned on shunning the grey-headed flying fox pup for a while for burning Sandalwood with those offensive remarks and hopped that she would be disciplined. However, that aside, they began to focus on patching up Sandalwood's opened wounds.

"You're NOT a brat at all," said Gertie pleadingly, "And you're certainly NOT A BURDEN, OR USELESS, OR A COWARD!"

"YES I AAAAAAM!" bellowed Sandalwood and with that, he entered another uncontrollable episode of hard sobbing.

"Look, you've been brave countless times," begged Arcturus, her face twisted as Sandalwood released an ear-piercing, glass-shattering wail, "You've managed to rescue Betelgeuse from… getting eaten by those caracals and servals at that so-called Paradise Sanctuary place…"

"And you've helped to uncover the ugly truth under the Paradise Sanctuary's appearance of being a conservation group!" put in Gertie.

"Not to mention help rescue Mr BLU from that savage caracal leader," added Arcturus. However, still Sandalwood continued to sob loud and uncontrollably. Gertie and Arcturus glared at each other, scowls on their faces.

"I'm gonna _throttle_ that Connie when we reunite," snarled Gertie bitterly.

"Same here," said Arcturus equally angrily. The two macaw girls then continued to watch Sandalwood helplessly as he continued to cry and wail like a newborn flying fox pup. Tears continued to fly everywhere from his eyes and he kept burying his face in his black membranous wings. Arcturus and Gertie then tried to console the bat pup but he refused their comfort, yelling at them to go away, leaving the Lear's and hyacinth macaw chicks no choice but to wait until Sandalwood's eruption of emotions calmed down, but to watch and hear him have a meltdown really tore their hearts into two and their desire to give Connie a piece of their mind to flare up even more. However, Sandalwood's constant wailing which carried and echoed through the dark jungle had attracted the attention of something; something sinister. As the two macaw chicks continued to wait for Sandalwood to calm down, Arcturus said, "Where in the forest are we?"

At this, Gertie felt dread well within her but then she gazed skyward through the canopy, an idea having entered her head.

"Wait here with Sandalwood while I fly through the canopy to determine our location, Arcturus," said the hyacinth chick, "I'll not be long."

And with that, Gertie's wings spread out and she took off upward through the canopy, leaving Arcturus to look after the still-sobbing Sandalwood.

Gertie ascended through the trees until she finally reached the open air above the treetops. Movement in the trees indicated the presence of nocturnal animals and their business but Gertie was not interested in stopping and watching them. Her focus was on gauging her, Arcturus and Sandalwood's location. As soon as she was above the treetops, the starry and moonlit sky hanging over her like a curtain with the moonlight bathing the treetops in a silvery ocean, Gertie began to do a full-circle scan. A faint flow hovered above the treeline in one direction. This glow was yellow and Gertie saw that it was emanating from the city of Rio but then the hyacinth macaw thought she saw another glow out of the corner of her eye. At this, the hyacinth chick turned her gaze in that glow's direction. This glow seemed unusual for Gertie could not see any city lights. Furthermore, the glow was orange and Gertie noticed some strange columns of clouds rise from the orange light, which she assumed were just sky clouds but then perplex hit her. Clouds, all the way down to the treetops? That didn't seem right at all and Gertie saw that the clouds were completely opaque and blotted out the moon like a screen.

While Gertie continued examining the treetops above, Arcturus waited anxiously on the forest floor while Sandalwood's sobbing began to die down, the pressure of emotions finally having eased off, much to Arcturus's gladness. However, her worry was now on Gertie.

"What's taking her so long?" asked the Lear's macaw chick to herself in a low voice. As she continued to wait, Arcturus then turned to Sandalwood whose eyes were red and bloodshot from crying so much.

"You alright now, Sandalwood?" asked she. Sandalwood, the tiredness from crying so much gripping him, shook his head for the hurt from Connie's scathing remarks had stabbed him deep like splinters or porcupine vines.

"No," murmured the flying fox pup in a fragile voice, "I've really caused everyone trouble."

"Sandy, you haven't," said Arcturus but Sandalwood swept on.

"Yes I have," he said, "First I follow those stupid toucan chicks who tied me up and threw me off the end of the branch, then I land everyone in trouble with the poachers by wandering away from the rest of the group by following a butterfly, and now I burden everyone with my inability to fly… I'm HONESTLY the worst flying fox to have around…"

"You are NOT!" snapped Arcturus irritably, masking Sandalwood flinch and shoot her a surprised gaze, "Think about all the brave things you've done, Sandalwood. You've saved Betelgeuse and Blu from those caracals and servals like we've said before; you've stood up to that fiendish chameleon, and you've unravelled the Paradise Sanctuary's heinously true aims…

Sandalwood just gazed at Arcturus with tear-stained red eyes as the Lear's macaw chick continued.

"You come from an AWESOME family of flying foxes, Sandy," continued she, "According to what Mr Augustus, your grandpa told us, they have done some AMAZING things!"

Sandalwood continued to gaze at Arcturus as she launched into a recap of the heroic things his family had done especially during the reign of the flying fox colony with the bird tribes and clans living under the dark cloud of its threat.

"Your granddad, grandma, mom, aunt and uncle have kept the bird tribes and clans informed of their colony's plans to drive them out of their homes as well as help them in the Great War for the Sanctuary while your grandmother's cousin, along with your dad and other aunt, Mrs Anabelle, had helped to keep many other birds safe and hidden from the evil colony with some other flying foxes who had been against the colony's false teachings about birds."

As Arcturus mentioned Lily, who had been Sandalwood's first cousin, twice removed, and her heroic efforts in protecting a lot of birds from bloody slaughter from the rest of the flying fox colony, as well as Soren and Anabelle, the former who was Sandalwood's own father who had been a pup at the time, had assisted in those daring efforts along with several other flying foxes who had been against the colony's teachings about the birds of the Amazon, Sandalwood's emotional storm began to slowly die down and he began to listen to the story. Arcturus continued until she finally finished with, "And so if your grandparents, mother, aunt and uncle, as well as Mrs Lily and also your dad and Mrs Anabelle ad done all that, then that means you have the potential to do something heroic as well."

Sandalwood tipped his head to one side. "But what about my ability to fly?" he asked.

"That will come eventually," said Arcturus with encouragement, "But you must have courage."

Suddenly, she spotted something odd though the trees.

"B-b-but," began Sandalwood but Arcturus cut him off by putting up a wing in a 'Shh' gesture. "Arcturus?" asked Sandalwood confused. Arcturus didn't reply but went off to investigate wat she had seen. Wondering what had caught Arcturus's attention, Sandalwood followed. As the pair left, Gertie had returned, but she wore a look of dread on her face.

"I don't like the looks of that cluster of thick black columns but…" she began but when she saw that Arcturus and Sandalwood had disappeared upon touchdown, Gertie was gripped by confusion.

"Arcturus, Sandalwood?" asked the hyacinth macaw chick, shooting confused looks about the area. Suddenly, a pair of loud screams erupted from nearby, making Gertie launch herself a good metre in the air. As she landed back on the soil, she shot a horrified gaze in the direction of the screams.

"Sandalwood, Arcturus!?" she called even more nervously. As she gazed in the screams' direction, a few small figures appeared. Gertie turned round just in time to be greeted by the figures but before she could act, the figures were upon her and she let loose a scream as well.

 **Somewhere else, not too far away from Connie's location**

Connie continued flapping like mad through the moonlit treetops. She had left Tulio's Aviary behind everyone else's backs, including Sardonyx and Greg and had returned to the spot where Sandalwood had last been. However, when she saw that Sandalwood had gone missing, she ventured further into the trees to look for him. Her eyes were weeping tears like rain much like Sandalwood's eyes had been doing but it was not from hurt, but from extreme guilt. Connie knew it was all her fault for causing Sandalwood to flee into the forest and it continued to boil within her mind, especially the yelling she had received from Sandalwood's parents Stella and Soren and also his grandparents Augustus and Melissa and the angry glares from Anabelle, Sebastian and Luna and she was practically trembling with severe worries for Sandalwood and had hoped that he hadn't run into any danger, especially with the fire spreading.

As Connie continued flying as fast as she could through the treetops, she was stopped by immense horror when her terrified and guilt tear-saturated eyes spotted an orange glow in the distance, massive black puffs of clouds ascending from the glow and into the sky. Connie then flew upward to get a better view of the glow and when she saw some shaking orange shapes dance on the treetops and belching the clouds, Connie shuddered violently. Though she had never seen fire in person, she had got a glimpse of it on the screen of the thing humans called a TV before back at the Paradise Sanctuary place. Timidly and fearing the worst, the little grey-headed flying fox pup resumed her frantic search for Sandalwood and also Gertie and Arcturus who had pursued him, despite the fatigue setting in her flight muscles.

As Connie continued rocketing through the forest, back in their burrow prison, Acerola, Sirius, Einstein, Miles, Adenine, Cytosine, Thymine, Guanine, Castor, Pollux, Poppy, Gladion, Lillie and Aurora continued to push against the boulder sealing them in the burrow. They had been at it for a while now but to their despairing dismay, the boulder wouldn't budge. The fourteen kids then gave up as fatigue set in and stopped to rest against the burrow walls. Gladion grasped his casted wing.

"It's no use," said Sirius, stopping to puff and pant, "That rock's too heavy."

"We've GOT to get outa here somehow," said Acerola timidly.

"I think we should all screech and shout together for help," said Lillie. This was met with looks of "What!?" from the others.

"But how can anyone pick up our cries from behind this massive lump of rock?" snapped Gladion.

"Not to mention the clutter of forest out there," put in Aurora.

"No-one would hear us," added Adenine. As he said this, Guanine, Cytosine, Thymine, Castor, Pollux, Poppy, Einstein and Miles all uttered moans of despair.

"We'll NEVER get out," moaned Castor.

"We're stuck here forever," wailed Guanine.

"Quiet, the lot of you," shouted Sirius, "I mean it!"

As he said this to the moaners to silence them, Acerola stood up and went over to Lillie.

"Can you repeat what you've just said, Lillie," she said.

"I think we should all screech and shout together for help," said Lillie. At this, an idea popped into Acerola's head. However, the other kids responded with sceptical looks.

"But will it work?" asked Gladion. Acerola glared at him.

"Well, we have no other option," she said, "This rock's too heavy and won't budge regardless of how much we try to move it. If there's any chance of us getting out of this trap at all, I think we should go with Lillie's suggestion and rally together and scream and shout and yell as loud as we could. Hopefully some animal will pick up are distress calls and help let us out."

Gladion, at this, gazed at Lillie, Aurora, Adenine, Sirius, Guanine, Cytosine, Thymine, Castor, Pollux, Poppy, Einstein and Miles as they put on determined and agreeing looks.

"We'll do it," said Sirius.

"After all, birds of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, brown, purple, white, black, pink, metallic and other coloured feathers," said Einstein.

"And flying foxes of brown, red, orange and white fur," put in Acerola.

"HAVE TO STICK TOGETHER," said all fourteen kids in unison. After this, the group took up their positions behind the boulder, a new hope boiling within them but the idea was their only chance of survival.

"Right, you guys ready," said Acerola to which the chicks nodded, "Then let's start screaming and screeching like we have NEVER screamed before."

However, before the group could begin, a new, but foul, smell, wafted into the sealed burrow, seeping through the slivers between the burrow entrance and the rock.

"Oh, what's… that… smell?" gagged Sirius.

"It doesn't smell good at all…" said Einstein.

"Look just focus on screeching for help," said Acerola and with that, the entire burrow air was flooded with the immense sounds of Spix, Catalina (scarlet/blue-and-gold hybrid), blue-and-gold and toco/keel-billed toucan screams and squawks and the flying fox pup screeches from Acerola. All fourteen kids directed their screams through the gaps in their seal.

"HEEELLLP! HEEELLP US!"

"WE'RE TRAPPED IN HERE AND WE NEED HELP TO BE FREED!"

"IS THERE ANYONE OUT THERE!?"

The fourteen kids then began to really go mad with their screeching and yelling, all of them giving it their all as if their lives depended on it, but that will eventually become true for the foul smell was drifting through the trees from an orange glow and that orange glow, along with its suffocating mist, was drifting and spreading in the direction of the burrow in which Acerola and the other thirteen were trapped, engulfing and eating away any burnable thing in its path.

While Acerola and her group continued to shout, scream and yell at the top of their lungs in their prison, Connie continued to fly through the forest and as she did so, her nose picked up the smell of burning. At this, the grey-headed bat stopped and gagged, before looking up to see a semi-transparent mist drift through the trees, behind it the orange glow. The sound of wood crackling and being set alight accompanied the disturbing scene and Connie's eyes inflated out of their sockets in horror. However, putting aside the immense horror of seeing the fire and its smoke, Connie continued her risky flight into the mist. The mist then began to irritate her eyes and respiratory tract and she began coughing and spluttering while her eyes began to spew tears, and soon she was forced to fly closer to the forest floor where the air was clearer and not as polluted. As Connie descended to the floor and began to fly at a lower level, she heard the sounds of something over the distant burning sound of the fire as it continued to consume the forest. At this, she stopped to listen. The sounds seemed to be distressed shouting but it sounded muffled and distant but Connie knew that the shouter was in distress based on the cries, and at first assumed them to be the cries of panicked animals as they continued to scurry from the fire but then hope burst through that assumption. She hoped that it was Sandalwood.

"Sandalwood?" she called, "SANDALWOOD!?"

And with that, she rocketed in the direction of the shouts, ignoring the pain in her eyes and the tears streaming from them caused by the irritation from the smoke.

"I'M COMING SANDALWOOD!" shouted Connie as she continued to fly as low as she could to the forest floor to keep out of the thickening mist. She also released some coughs and splutters as the polluting mist irritated her lungs.

Back in their burrow prison, Acerola and the others continued screaming and yelling, their throats becoming raw and parched but they continued to force more extremely loud shouts from their throats, especially as the smell and some of the polluting mist began to drift into the burrow through the narrow gaps. Acerola and several others began to cough and splutter as the burrow air began to fill with the mist of the smoke.

"Keep going, guys!" spluttered Acerola and with that, Sirius, Einstein, Miles, Adenine, Cytosine, Thymine, Guanine, Castor, Pollux, Poppy, Gladion, Lillie and Aurora continued to scream as loud as they could. Then Lillie and Aurora began to emit the most ear-piercing screams they had ever mustered in their lives for they seemed to have inherited their grandmother Eva's screechy voice. As loud as they could, they screamed and practically shook the air in the burrow. The screams were so ear-splitting that Gladion, Acerola and the others were forced to cover their ears, but they continued to scream and shout as well. Connie continued flying through the forest above the forest floor, tracing the sounds of the screams but as the screams melted into clear earshot, she realised that there wasn't just one screamer, but MANY. This prompted her to continue for she assumed that there could be other kids beside Sandalwood.

"Hang on, Sandalwood!" cried she and with that, she continued to trace the screams to their source. Back in the sealed burrow, Lillie and Aurora stopped and took a break, their throats raw from all that screeching, allowing Acerola and the others to continue shouting and screaming, until at last, the sounds of someone outside reached their ears. This ignited hope within the group.

"Do you guys hear that?" asked Sirius when he heard the voice. Acerola, Einstein, Miles, Adenine, Cytosine, Thymine, Guanine, Castor, Pollux, Poppy, Gladion, and Lillie and Aurora stopped to listen and realised that Sirius was right.

"Continue to scream!" commanded Acerola, the mist of the smoke seeping into the burrow continuing to thicken and with that, all but Lillie and Aurora, who were too exhausted from screaming their Eva-like yells, continued to scream and shout as loud as they could. Finally, Gladion's sisters resumed screaming with the others.

Connie continued tracing the screams to their sources until at last, the sounds were loud enough for her to hone in on the screamers, which turned out to be emanating from underground. At this, she flew down to investigate. Above her, the smoke was thickening and the fire's flickering and menacing fingers were creeping ever closer.

"Sandalwood?" shouted Connie. At this, Acerola and the others stopped to listen to the shouter as her voice was louder, indicating that she was closer. Sirius immediately recognised the voice.

"Connie?" he said. The others excluding Einstein, Miles, Poppy and Aurora gazed at the older son of Bia and Virgil in surprise and realised that the shouter was indeed Connie. At this, Acerola began to shout at Connie through the sliver gaps between the burrow entrance and the rock.

"Connie! We're in HERE!" she called, stopping to cough the polluting mist from her lungs for a minute. Connie continued to hone in on the underground screams until at last, she spotted a burrow entrance that was sealed off by a rock. However, the shouter hadn't been Sandalwood but one of his cousins, the one whom she had also met alongside Sandalwood and the other kids at the fraudulent Paradise Sanctuary place.

"Acerola?" she said as she flew over to the stone-sealed burrow and touched down before it, "Acerola?"

She peered through the gaps between the rock and the burrow entrance's lips and sure enough, she saw a flash of auburn fur and a sliver of her blue eyes. Behind the flash of auburn was a flash of vivid electric blue and orange-red, indicative of a Spix macaw and a Catalina macaw. at this, horror tore through Connie.

"How did you guys end up in there?" she demanded.

"Never mind about that," retorted Acerola as she and some of the chicks coughed as the mist continued to thicken.

"And if we stay in here any longer, the thickening smoke will eventually SUFFOCATE US!" cried Einstein, one of the chicks Connie didn't know very well.

"GET US OUTA HERE!" cried Gladion, Lillie and the others desperately. Connie immediately knew that she had to get Acerola and the others out of that burrow pronto for the fire was creeping ever closer, its polluting and suffocating smoke approaching at an alarming rate. Then she tried bracing herself against the boulder to push it aside to widen one of the slits for Acerola and the others inside. She emitted a long grunt as she forced herself against the boulder but to her dismay, the rock was too heavy to budge. Inside, Acerola saw the grey-headed flying fox pup struggle to move the rock in a futile attempt to open the burrow's entrance.

"It's no use, Connie, that rock's too heavy," she said.

"Even with the combined efforts of all of us," said Adenine, "That rock won't budge."

Connie gave one last push until her fatiguing body finally told her to stop. At this, she stood back and gazed at the rock sealing Acerola and the others inside in horror but then she heard the sounds of animal calls echo through the forest. At this, she shot a glance in the direction of the fire and saw moving shapes through the trees. Those shapes were some of the animals that lived in the jungle and they were in a desperate hurry to escape the spreading fire. An idea entered Connie's head.

"Hang in there, I'll get help!" cried Connie through the slivers to Acerola and the others and with that, she rushed off to shout for help.

"HEEELLLP!" she screamed into the forest at the moving animals as the fire continued to approach, "HEELLP! THERE ARE YOUNG ANIMALS TRAPPED IN A BURROW!"

As she continued to yell for help, Connie began to intercept some of the animals in hopes of stopping them to enlist their assistance in moving the boulder to Acerola and the others' burrow prison. She first tried to stop a ground quail with a line of chicks as they bumped into her.

"Please help," she pleaded to the large quail which was the mother, "There is a young bat and some chicks trapped in a sealed burrow behind a boulder that is too heavy to move…"

However, the mother quail was too engrossed in getting her own chicks to safety and simply barged past Connie and fled into the forest, her chicks following her. Frustrated, Connie turned to another animal, a moustached tamarin but to her further frustration, the little monkey just darted by her and did not answer.

"There are some young animals trapped in a burrow…" called Connie but the tamarin was gone. More animals shot by her and ignored her protests, much to Connie's increasing frustration and waning hope for help as the situation got more and more dire. As another quail just rocketed past her and disappeared through the trees away from the fire and ignored her cries for help, Connie watched after it in despair.

"HELLOOOO!?" she cried at more passing panicking animals and continued to beg them to stop and help her free Acerola and the others, and the situation became more and more desperate as the fire crept ever closer and the smoke thickened and soon, the smoke will be so thick that it would be difficult to breathe. As Connie tried calling after more fleeing animals, she was unaware that a small group of certain marmosets were running towards her and that she was right in their path. Then before Connie knew it, she was bowled over by an ageing marmoset with greying brown fur, green eyes and with a couple of sparkly things on his head and around his waist, followed by some more marmosets with grey fur. Connie shrieked as she then tumbled with the monkeys down a small slope and came to rest at the bottom. As Connie shook her head to deal with the dizziness from the collision and tumble, the brown marmoset which was wearing a silvery clip in a tuft of hair on its head and a thick ring with a face marked with numbers and two sticks pointing out from the centre stood up and shot Connie a furious glare before seizing her and shaking her while the other marmosets rose to their feet with assistance from some more grey marmosets.

"What's the big idea of standin' in our way and sending us into a violent tumble in a life-threatening situation, you GROUND HOG!?" the brown marmoset bellowed. However, Connie did not flinch and only replied with, "I'm sorry but there is a group of bird chicks and a flying fox pup trapped in a burrow..."

At this, the marmoset dropped Connie and stood back, a suspicious frown on his face. Then one of his grey underlings came forward as soon as he had helped one of the dazed marmosets to his feet.

"Are we gonna leg it Mauro?" he said, "The fire's coming our way."

"We need to get that bat outa here too," said another. Then the brown marmoset named Mauro seized Connie by the wing and began to drag her along as he got moving again, the other grey marmosets, his underlings, running after him.

"You shouldn't be messin' around here, little bat," said Mauro as he continued to drag Connie along, "That fire's spreading fast and we NEED to get to safety…"

"B-b-b-but… I need your help!" protested Connie as she struggled to free her wing from Mauro's grasp, "There are some young birds and a bat trapped behind a rock in a burrow and they cannot the rock sealing them in there…"

However, at first, Mauro was too busy and focussed on getting himself and his group of marmosets to safety and continued dragging Connie along.

"We don't have time to talk, bat," said he, "We MUST get outa here."

Connie continued pleading with him until she finally snapped when she saw that her protests were falling on deaf ears. Hissing through her teeth, the grey-headed flying fox yanked her wing from Mauro's hand, pounced onto the marmoset and slammed him hard against a tree trunk, much to the shock of Mauro and his underlings.

"Now LISTEN HERE, MONKEY!" snarled Connie furiously right into Mauro's face, "Which is more important: your gang of little monkeys or other animals, especially kids; that are trapped in DIRE need of helping?"

Mauro tried to protest but Connie swept on.

"Would you like to face the wrath of Mr Blu and Mrs Jewel if you don't help those trapped chicks, especially if any of them are their grandkids?" continued the furious grey-headed flying fox. At this, Mauro and his gang members all stiffened at the mentioning of the two Spix macaws they had been forced in capturing for a certain exotic bird-detesting cockatoo under the threat of falling to their deaths at his clutches years ago. Since that incident, Mauro and his marmoset gang and Blu and Jewel had developed a rather thorny relationship, especially Jewel who was still very hostile towards them for attempting to kidnap them for Nigel even though the two Spix macaws had eventually learned that the marmosets had been forcibly coerced by Nigel into seizing them, and Mauro and his gang and many of their descendants had avoided causing them trouble or including them in their thieving and mischief-making antics, which fortunately was not as bad as the many, many toucans that had been ravaging the sanctuary.

As these thoughts churned in Mauro's mind, Connie continued glaring furiously into his face, the brown marmoset's more and more desperate underlings protesting to him that they should leave for the fire was getting closer. At first, Mauro was hesitant and reluctant until finally, he relented, especially at the thought of potentially facing the wrath of Blu and Jewel if he didn't help rescue those kids; among them some of Blu and Jewel's grandkids.

"Okay, we'll help you free those chicks," he said, much to the shock of his underlings.

"But Mauro," began one of them, a female but Mauro shot her a glare.

"Just go along with this bat's request," snapped he, making the female marmoset member flinch, "You guys remember what happened when we confronted Blu and Jewel last time?"

The marmoset underlings did not reply. Rolling his eyes, Mauro turned to Connie and said, "Show us the burrow in which these young animals are trapped."

Connie nodded and left to lead the way, the group of marmosets following.

Back in the burrow, Acerola, Sirius, Einstein, Miles, Adenine, Cytosine, Thymine, Guanine, Castor, Pollux, Poppy, Gladion, Aurora and Lillie continued to wait anxiously for Connie to return with help, especially as the burrow continued to fill with the polluting mist of smoke, causing them to weep tears and cough and splutter as the smoke irritated their eyes, noses and throats. Acerola was practically gasping for breath, her wings on her throat as she struggled to draw in clean air. Sirius tried to console her.

"Connie should be back anytime now," he said.

"I HOPE she is, Sirius," snapped Adenine, "This smoke is starting to suffocate us."

He then burst into a coughing episode and lay down on his belly to keep his beak out of the building smoke. Acerola and Sirius and the others did the same but as they did that, they heard a shout from the entrance.

"Acerola, Guys," called Connie's voice. At this, the fourteen kids stood up and peered through the slit between the rock and the burrow entrance to see the sliver of grey from Connie's head on the outside.

"I've got help!" called Connie, Mauro and his gang of marmosets behind her, "But these helpers may require your assistance in shoving this boulder out of the way."

At this, Acerola and the others nodded and prepared to move the boulder on its inner side. Mauro, Connie and the other marmosets then prepared to brace themselves and each other in a line on the outer side of the boulder. Not too far away, the fire continued to approach the burrow, flooding the air with its polluting and suffocating clouds of black-brown smoke.

"Ready, boys and girls; PUSH!" called Mauro and altogether, the group of marmosets and Connie began to push against the boulder with all their might. Inside, Acerola and the thirteen chicks did the same with Gladion only using the wing not in a cast. With a massive growl, the animals began to shove at the heavy boulder with all their might. The boulder began to move to one side and Acerola saw the gap between one side of it and the burrow entrance's lip get wider.

"Just a little more so that the gap is wide enough for us to escape through," she called. Mauro, his gang, Connie and Acerola's group nodded and gave one final push on the boulder until at last, the gap reached a large enough size for Acerola and her group to exit the burrow. However, the pushing of the boulder had exhausted the last of Acerola and company's energy and they all collapsed from exhaustion. As soon as they had widened the gap enough, Mauro wiped his forehead and puffed and panted.

"That rock is certainly a HEAVY ONE," he muttered, his astonished gaze on the stone, "I wonder how you lot had managed to move this thing over the burrow entrance."

Connie did not reply and poked her head through the gap and into the burrow.

"Okay, the gap's wide enough," she said. As she said this, Acerola's group struggled to their feet and vegan to make a break for it.

"Hurry," called one of Mauro's underlings, "The fire's getting closer!"

The fire was not far from Connie and the others' location now and flakes of blackened wood, their edges still lit with a line of red, had begun to rain down around the group like dark snowflakes. Quickly, Acerola's group began to squeeze through the gap and out of the burrow. Sirius, Einstein and Miles went first, then Adenine, Cytosine, Thymine and Guanine followed by Castor, Pollux and Poppy last of all, Aurora, Gladion and Lillie, the male toucan chick being careful with his casted wing as he climbed through the gap. Acerola was the last to crawl out but as the auburn flying fox pup squeezed through the gap and made it to outside, the flying fox pup collapsed, the polluting smoke taking its toll on her young body. Alarmed, Connie seized her and began to shake her awake.

"Acerola!" cried she, "ACEROLA!"

However, Acerola did not stir. Then Einstein came in and felt her pulse. It was still beating much to everyone else's relief.

"She's unconscious but still alive," he said, "We need to get her out of here as soon as possible."

"Allow us," said Mauro and with that, he commanded his underlings to pick up the chicks while he picked up the limp Acerola. Then as soon as the marmosets had had the fourteen kids including Gladion, Lillie and Aurora after some reluctance for they were toucan chicks but at Sirius's persuasion that the three were not like the majority of the other toucan chicks, the marmosets prepared to carry Acerola's group.

"Alright, you take that lot to safety while I continue to search for anyone else," said Connie and with that, the grey-headed flying fox rushed toward a nearby tree trunk, scarpered up it and dropped into flight. Sirius watched her leave in horror.

"Connie, get back here, it's too DANGEROUS!" he called, "Connie? Connie? CONNIE!"

However, Connie was soon out of earshot and Mauro and his marmoset group and Acerola's group saw that the fire's dancing fingers were not too far away from them now, the heat emanating from the flames bathing them in an unbearable furnace-like atmosphere and the smoke flooding the air increasing to unbreathable levels. Mauro immediately knew it was time to scarper.

"Okay, boys and girls, let's run for it," he said.

"NOOOO!" cried Sirius as worries for Connie boiled within his mind. Einstein, Miles, Adenine, Cytosine, Thymine, Guanine, Castor, Pollux, Poppy, Gladion and Lillie also protested for Connie but the marmosets did not listen and began to carry them away from the fire.

"Hold on, little birds," commanded Mauro as his underlings carried them while he carried the unconscious Acerola and with that, the marmosets deftly carried the group through the dense vegetation of the forest floor. Sirius and the others then went along with Mauro's command and clung desperately to their carriers as they fled with the other distressed animals in the direction of safety.


	77. Chapter 76

**Chapter 76- an attack and kidnapping, a selfless sacrifice and more rescued kids are returned**

 **In the fruithawks' hollow**

Rafael stood before Bellatrix, Bartholomew, Perdita, Cecil, Bambi, Altair, Oceano, Carmen, Olivia, Sylvester, Achilles, Alegria, Pitaya, Regulus and Denebola in utter disbelief after they had finished explaining everything to him and Eva that had happened, from when the group was supposed to be stargazing through the toucan attack and kidnap and Marco's attempted drowning of Aldebaran for attacking one of the other toucans who had threatened to attack Triton and damage his other eye and blind him completely, extreme disbelief marking his face. Eva had frantically dried Aldebaran and had kept him warm for his dunking into the cold water of the stream had chilled him by wrapping her wings around the Verde macaw as he shook and breathed uncontrollably, while Aurum tended to the sleeping Gylfie and the youngest, and possibly final, additions to Rafael and Eva's massive number of offspring. These chicks, fifteen of them, were thankfully not as naughty or as aggressive as their countless older brothers and sisters and were far more respectable towards others, as well as sensible and willing to learn through discipline from their parents and other elders, which Rafael and Eva were glad for. These traits were something the majority of the other offspring of Rafael and Eva lacked, or refused to develop, contributing to their increasingly bad behaviour regardless of the amount of discipline Rafael and Eva had bestowed upon them much to the toco/keel-billed toucan couple's chagrin. And those traits had been passed onto the naughty toucans' offspring and the parents themselves had refused or had been unbothered to discipline their own chicks whenever they got up to serious naughtiness. All this had led to the mass problem existing now and Rafael was reluctant to admit that he and Eva had partly contributed to their offspring's mass reproducing for they had been on having one brood after another themselves and had felt genuinely guilty about it for their older offspring had taken it as an excuse to breed like rabbits as well. However, Rafael and his keel-billed mate had to focus on looking after Bellatrix and the others for the time being. Aurum had also stocked up on some fruit for Gylfie who was now his mate for she was to be expecting a clutch of eggs soon, and will need plenty of food until those eggs were laid in the nest.

"I don't believe this," muttered Rafael to Bellatrix and the others, struggling to keep his voice down for Gylfie and the young kids were sleeping. Then a scowl came upon his face, "Well, it seems that Marco, Anastasia and the others with them have crossed the point of no return based on what they've been doing," his glare then turned to Aldebaran in Eva's wings, "especially Marco if he's gonna attempt to drown a young chick."

"Mr Benjamin and Mrs Umbriel will NOT be pleased, I can tell you," said Bambi, her wing claws on her hips.

"In fact, they will be volcanically _steamed,"_ said her brother Altair.

"They're gonna kill Marco and his group for sure," put in Cecil and Perdita together. They were well aware of Benjamin's fiery temper whenever something unfair and the endangerment of his family and friends happened. He was practically like his father Felipe and it is likely that he will explode into a fiery rage at Marco and the others if he ever heard what had happened to Aldebaran. Umbriel was not as short tempered but even she could harbour a volcanic temper which could transform her from a usually calm great green macaw into a totally aggressive eagle-like bird. Those two, or any of the others of Blu's group going berserk over any endangerment of the offspring, was enough to even make the final fifteen young chicks of Rafael and Eva shudder and hide and dare to mess with them.

While Bellatrix and the others continued to murmur their fears of the reaction of their parents and grandparents, Aurum turned to walk outside to take a break after sorting the fruit and checking on the fifteen young (and well-behaved) toucan chicks but as he passed Eva who continued to keep Aldebaran wrapped up in her wings, he asked, "How's that little green macaw?"

"He's a green/scarlet hybrid," replied Eva, "and he's alright. I've managed to dry his sodden feathers and keep him warm," she gazed at Aldebaran as he managed to slow his breathing worriedly, "I sure hope that he doesn't catch a chill after being dunked in that stream over and over again…"

"When I was returning from my foraging trip," explained Aurum, "I heard commotion through the trees and when I went to investigate, I saw this group of toucans with one of them standing at the stream's edge with that chick completely submerged in the water."

"Well, you've timed your arrival perfectly, Aurum," said Eva, "and in the process, you've saved his life," she then gazed at Aldebaran again, "But we have also heard screaming through the trees as well and went to investigate, and when we found this poor chick shivering in the ferns sopping wet and the rest of the group," she turned to Bellatrix and the others, "tied up, we were beyond flabbergasted," she breathed a sigh, "It is clear that those toucans have crossed the line, I can tell you."

Aurum also breathed a sigh and turned to leave the hollow. "I'm gonna get some fresh air for a bit and take a break from my night-time foraging trips," he said as he left though the hollow entrance/exit, "Tell Rafael I'm outside, okay?"

Eva nodded as the beautifully gold and yellow fruithawk disappeared out of the hollow.

After Aurum had left, Rafael came in with Bellatrix and the others, a scowl on his face.

"We've gotta get these chicks back to Tulio's Aviary, my Eva," he said, "Their parents will be totally worried about them by now," his gaze turned to Aldebaran in Eva's wings, "And he might want checking up by our human doctor friends to make sure that he doesn't catch a potentially serious chill."

Bellatrix shuddered as she looked at Aldebaran as he gazed at Rafael from Eva's wings, remembering the time when she plunged into the pond to rescue the bound Sandalwood after one of the careless toucan chicks in Isabella's group had knocked him of him off the end of that branch, resulting in the two of them almost drowning and she had hoped that Aldebaran would not develop a chill, or worse, a serious fear of water later in his life after the ordeal Marco had fiendishly put him through. As Rafael also gazed at Aldebaran and asked him if he was alright, there was frantic flapping at the entrance to the hollow. At this, all eyes accept the sleepers were brought to the hollow entrance as Aurum crash-landed through the mouth and into a heap on the floor.

"Aurum?" asked Rafael with concern and with that, he and some of the chicks went over to help the golden fruithawk to his feet. However, when all of them got a glimpse of the terrified look on Aurum's face, the concern for him within them boiled more.

"You look like you've seen a monster," said Bellatrix as she stood with Bartholomew.

"What's brought you back in here so soon?" asked Rafael. As he said this, Aurum shot him and the others an alarmed look but nothing could prepare them for what the fruithawk said next.

"We need to evacuate NOW!" he shouted, "There's FIRE spreading this way!"

The moment these words were picked up by Rafael, Bellatrix and the others, for a moment everything seemed to stop and become muted but that silence was immediately broken by Eva's terrified cries, especially as the polluting smell of smoke began to seep into the hollow.

"I'll wake GYLFIE AND THE KIDS!" she shouted, putting Aldebaran down with the other macaw chicks and the two archaeobird kids, "Rafael, you get Bellatrix and the others OUTA HERE NOW!"

Rafael nodded and with that, he commanded all sixteen chicks to prepare to evacuate while Aurum and Eva went to wake Gylfie and the fifteen well-behaved toucan chicks. As Bellatrix and the others prepared to fly with Bambi and Altair the archaeobird chicks preparing to ride on Rafael's back for they could only glide, Bellatrix and Bartholomew, together with Carmen, Sylvester, Alegria, Pitaya, Regulus and Denebola, went to the hollow and peered out. Sure enough, their terrified eyes landed on the sea of dancing orange fingers, all of them belching smoke upward towards the starry sky and blocking it out like thick cloud. And that sea of flickering orange fingers was dangerously close to the hollow in which Rafael, Eva, Gylfie and Aurum had settled for Gylfie and Aurum to start their family and for Rafael and Eva to keep their well-behaved kids away from their countless cousins, aunts and uncles. At this, Bellatrix and the other eight chicks shuddered as Bambi, Altair, Perdita, Cecil, Oceano, Achilles, Olivia and Aldebaran also came in to witness the fire spreading their way.

Behind Bellatrix's group, Gylfie and the well-behaved toucan chicks were jolted awake by Aurum, Rafael and Eva and as soon as everyone was awake, the hollow was immediately emptied of its occupants. Rafael, Eva, Gylfie and Aurum then began to shepherd both the fifteen toucan chicks and Bellatrix's group in the direction of the unlit forest, away from the fire. The well-behaved toucan chicks were terrified and released screams of terror when they saw the fire approach them at an alarming rate, and because the smoke was flooding the air above the treetops and turning it into an unbreathable atmosphere, Rafael and company were forced to descend through the treetops and into the canopy to keep the children and the only known pair of fruithawks out of the polluting smoke that would make them cough and splutter. Then as soon as the group was at the level of the canopy, Rafael commanded, "Okay, kids, STAY TOGETHER AND DON'T WANDER OFF!"

All the fourteen flying kids including Aldebaran for his feathers were dry enough to allow him to fly nodded and kept together like sheep in a field while Bambi and Altair rode on Eva's back. As the group began to fly through the canopy, they were greeted by the terrified cries of various tree animals such as monkeys as they scurried through the branches around them by leaping from branch to branch. Rafael was wary of these leapers.

"Careful not to fly in the paths of those tree animals!" he commanded the kids. Bellatrix, Bartholomew, Perdita, Aldebaran, Cecil, Oceano, Carmen, Olivia, Sylvester, Achilles, Alegria, Pitaya, Regulus and Denebola and the well-behaved toucan chicks all obeyed and kept close together, but they all shuddered at the distressed and terrified looks plastering the faces of the arboreal animals as they continued to flee the fire. Then Rafael and company began to raise their flight speed but before they could launch into a full-blown escape flight, a blast of fire erupted from some nearby branches to the left of the group, sending terror through the kids and making them all scream. Bambi and Altair nearly fell off Eva's back while Bellatrix, Bartholomew and some of the toucan chicks and Gylfie was almost singed. Bellatrix had latched her claws onto one of the toucan chicks' wings and yanked him back in time, much to the chick's gratefulness.

"We wish our cousins are caring like you," he squeaked. Bellatrix simply nodded in approval and darted off after the others with Bartholomew and Gylfie in tow. However, the flare from the fire has startled the group of toucans, macaw chicks and two golden fruithawks, and the two archaeobird chicks on the keel-billed toucan's back into flying full throttle for Rafael and Aurum had ushered the group to fly for it.

All 35 birds continued to fly through the canopy and flew lower down to the forest floor as the canopy's air became saturated with chocking smoke. The fire blazed right behind them and rose like a living orange monster spewing the smoke and heat above the treeline, continuously and hungrily consuming everything in its path. Another flash of fire erupted from a cluster of leaves as Rafael and company flew past, the former shouting and barking orders to the kids to stay together. Then as Rafael and Eva passed another tree, its branches also erupted in flames as they were kindled. Rafael, Eva with Bambi and Altair clinging onto her back, the fifteen toucan kids, Bellatrix and the other macaw chicks, Aurum and Gylfie then stopped and looked up. To their horror, they saw flaming logs crash down through the canopy like volcanic fireballs; some of the flaming branches had become detached from the higher trees and were plummeting towards earth.

"GOOO!" screeched Rafael and with that, the whole flock rushed off as the flaming logs continued to tumble through the trees and crash-land onto the igniting forest floor. More fiery logs and also fruit plummeted around Rafael and company as they continued to escape, while thin fiery snake, ignited vines, also careered down from the above canopy, one of the blazing tendrils almost whipping Oceano, Carmen, Regulus, Denebola, Pitaya and Achilles only for some of the well-behaved toucan chicks and Eva to come in and seize them to pull them out of the tendrils' way. However, one of the small cinders from the falling burning vine tendril had landed on onto Regulus's back and left wing, setting the feathers on fire. At this, Regulus began to stall and scream in agony as the fire consumed his dark turquoise wing feathers. Rafael and the others gazed in alarm as the son of Charon and Neytiri was separated from the group.

"REGULUS!" cried Denebola in extreme horror. Then Aurum folded his wings and dived down towards the stalling Regulus. As soon as the fruithawk had wrapped his talons around the distressed glaucous macaw, he immediately dived down to the forest floor, forcing the others to follow.

"AURUM!" cried Rafael in alarm. However, Aurum did not reply and as soon as he had touched down onto the forest floor with Regulus in one talon, he immediately began to look for a puddle or other body of water. Then as Rafael and the others touched down, Aurum's eyes spotted a stream of rushing water. Without wasting another second, the male fruithawk darted off towards it and dunked Regulus right into the water of the stream, extinguishing the flames climbing up the chick's wing and back feathers. As soon as he was sure that the fire was completely out, Aurum raised the relieved Regulus out of the water as Rafael and the others turned up.

"Good thinking, Aurum," said Rafael as Regulus was held in Aurum's, his face twisted in pain as he clasped his left wing, now missing some of its primary and secondary flight feathers and also partially burned, with his right.

"I'm afraid he's gonna have to be carried," said Aurum, "He's been hurt."

"We need to take him to Tulio's Aviary for treatment RIGHT AWAY," said Eva, Bambi and Altair clinging onto her back.

"Then that's where we're headed," said Rafael with determination. However, before any of the flyers could open their wings and take off to resume the escape out of the fire, some of the well-behaved toucan chicks emitted terrified screams when they saw something approach the group. At this, Rafael, Eva, Aurum, Gylfie, and also Bellatrix, Bartholomew, Perdita, Aldebaran and Cecil; Altair and Bambi on Eva's back; Oceano, Sylvester, Achilles, Alegria, Pitaya, Denebola and Regulus in Aurum's talon all shot alarmed gazes in the toucan chicks' direction and the moment their eyes landed on whatever was coming for them, Rafael's group was suddenly swallowed up by an inferno of fighting and struggling. However, at the same time, Eva had managed to get Bambi, Altair, all fifteen well-behaved toucan chicks and Gylfie out of the way in time but the rest of the group was caught in the brawl cloud. As Eva took her group to a safe distance, she gazed in horror and to her extreme outrage and destress, she realised that the ambushers were some of her own grandchildren and her final fifteen chick' cousins… those that completely lacked discipline, and there were about forty of them as they began to mercilessly attack Rafael's group. Even worse, Eva saw that some of them were armed with sticks and dressed like pirates.

"AURUM!" cried Gylfie and was about to throw herself into the inferno but Eva stopped her.

"DON'T!" she cried, "You'll get hurt!"

"But Aurum's getting PUMMELLED!" protested Gylfie and continued to try and barge past Eva to help Rafael and the others deal with the attacking toucan chicks which were indeed some of the badly behaved ones.

Rafael struggled to shift five toucan chicks, all armed with sticks and dressed with leaf bandanas over their eyes and heads, off his face as they covered his eyes with their wings, crow-like cackles escaping his beak while another six were tearing at Aurum's golden feathers. While this was happening, Bellatrix, Bartholomew, Perdita, Aldebaran, Cecil, Oceano, Carmen, Olivia, Sylvester, Achilles, Alegria, Pitaya, Regulus and Denebola were chased by more toucan chicks in a certain direction, terror lacing their eyes. When they saw these macaw chicks get herded by the badly-behaved toucan chicks, the well-behaved toucan chicks dived in to help, much to Eva's alarm for Eva was about to hand Gylfie Bambi and Altair and throw herself into the inferno to help her mate and Bellatrix's group.

"Kids, COME BACK!" shouted the keel-billed mother but all fifteen chicks ignored her and continued to surge towards their badly-behaved cousins and Bellatrix and company. However, before the well-behaved toucan chicks could intercept their cousins and rescue Bellatrix and the others, several feathered missiles with colourful beaks rushed in and tackled them away, and with those missiles, a long, pinkish thing shot out and struck two or three of the toucan chicks and sent them flying into a patch of nearby ferns right at the edge of the fire. Bellatrix saw the pink harpoon knock away some of the well-behaved toucan chicks and gasped in horror but she was soon seized and carried off by one of the armed evil toucan chicks. Eva let loose a horrified scream as she watched three of her babies careen towards the fire, prompting Gylfie to rush towards them and seize them before they could hit the igniting ferns. Then one of the evil toucan chick let loose a screech to its comrades and soon, all its comrades stopped attacking Rafael and Aurum and retreated. However, some of the good toucan chicks had managed to pluck Bartholomew, Cecil and Olivia from the evil toucan chicks in time and haul them back to Eva and Gylfie. After the chaos had subsided and the stunned good toucan chicks who had been tackled or struck by the pink harpoon had recovered themselves, they, Eva with Bambi and Altair on her back, and Gylfie gathered around the dazed Rafael and Aurum, the latter who had some of his flight feathers torn out.

"The other kids?" asked Eva, "WHERE ARE THE OTHER KIDS OF BELLATRIX'S GROUP!?"

At this, Rafael and Aurum shot horrified glances this way and that. The good toucan chicks did the same when Gylfie saw three splashes of colour among the sea of fifteen black and reddish feathers with orange, black or lime green and magenta beaks.

"One of the Spix chicks, the colourful green chicks and the scarlet-like chick are here," she said. At this, Rafael and Eva turned and saw Bartholomew, Cecil and Olivia in the clutches of their behaved kids but worries for the others gripped them.

"We were unable to save the others," said one of the chicks who had Cecil who was terrified, guiltily. Rafael was about to congratulate his fifteen kids for rescuing three of Bellatrix's group when suddenly, a massive crack sounded above the group. At this, and with dread flaring with them, all heads were raised to the source of the sound, but the moment all eyes landed on it, which revealed itself to be a massive fireball of plummeting flaming branches careening towards them, terror flared within them. Screaming, Eva, with Bambi and Altair clinging to her back, rushed round and herded her kids, Cecil, Bartholomew and Olivia to safety by flying them to a safe spot but Rafael, Gylfie and Aurum struggled, the former still dazed with some cuts and bruises from the wicked toucan attack, and the male golden fruithawk with his tattered wing. Eva whirled round with terror flooding her gaze while the kids screamed.

"RAFAEEEL, AURUM, GYLGIIIEEE!" she screamed. Rafael, Aurum and Gylfie both looked up and saw that the fiery fireball of branches was seconds away from them. Then Aurum made a split-second, life-or-death decision.

"GOOO!" he barked to Rafael and Gylfie and with that, the male golden fruithawk surged forward and barged as hard as he could into Rafael and Gylfie's backs. Rafael and Gylfie both cried with surprise as they were both thrown forward, before tumbling along the ground and coming to rest near a rock jutting from the ground. During this, a massive, fiery CRASH sounded and echoed through the igniting forest around Rafael's group as the burning branches smashed into the floor. As Gylfie and Rafael struggled to their feet, Eva, the good toucan chicks, Bambi, Altair and Cecil, Bartholomew and Olivia all rushed over and helped the two to their feet. After this, both the toco toucan and the female golden fruithawk turned to face the spot where Aurum was. Eva and the others did the same, hoping that Aurum had also jumped out of the way of the plummeting burning branches, but to their immense dismay, there was no fruithawk with golden feathers and yellow head. All they saw was a pile of crashed burning branches. Then it dawned upon the group and as it did so, devastation came upon them and tore open a fissure in their hearts, especially that of Gylfie and she let loose a scream of anguish, tears beginning to well in her eyes. Eva and Rafael bowed their heads with tears seeping through their closed eyelids while Bartholomew, Cecil, Olivia, and the fifteen good toucan chicks shuddered violently. Then Rafael was pulled back to reality as he saw the fire begin to consume the vegetation around them. At this, the toco toucan barked to the others and said, "We have to get moving, NOW!"

When he saw that he was getting no response from any of the others, especially Gylfie, Rafael went round and began to usher everyone into flight. Eva and the others, despite the enormous devastation over the loss of Aurum who had obviously sacrificed himself to save Rafael and Gylfie from the flaming branches, as well as the loss of Bellatrix and the others to the gang of wicked toucan chicks which had also carved a deep fissure of horror and devastation in Rafael and Eva's hearts, were immediately brought to their senses and felt the urge to flee to safety flare up within them again as the fire spread around them. If they didn't move now, they'd likely be trapped with little hope of escaping. Despite the grief weighing them down, Rafael's group lofted into flight and began to follow every other animal of the forest in the direction of safety and away from the fire as it continued to spread and consume every combustible thing in its path. It was clear that they had no choice but to do so, and also get Cecil, Bartholomew and Olivia back in the safety of Blu and company, but Rafael planned on returning to the forest to search for Bellatrix and the others despite the risks, as soon as he had got those with him to safety first.

 **Meanwhile**

As the fire continued to spread and engulf the Blu Bird Sanctuary jungle, action was taking place in Rio. Fire brigade crews had driven to the burning forest and had begun to dowse the flames with their hoses while Tulio's team and bird doctors from other groups in Rio had begun a massive search-and-rescue operation to find and save any animal from the burning sanctuary. while this happened, Nico, Pedro, Sparkle and Rose had managed to evacuate Dino, his family and all the other bird residents of the sanctuary including Kipo, Orton and their families, from their temporary place of stay to escape the toucan chicks' antics and had moved them all to the area at the foot of the Christ the Redeemer statue with the help of the Control de Plagas Squad, Cometa, Lightning, Velocity and her new boyfriend Riker helping, along with Orion and Hermione who had moved their eggs to the foot of the iconic statue of Rio so that they could help in the evacuation of all the avian Blu Bird Sanctuary residents as well and, if necessary, take aby of them to Tulio's Aviary. Spike, the younger brother of Velocity and Orion, was also with them. The avian residents of the Blu Bird Sanctuary, many of them perched on the head, the arms and the shoulders of the Christ the Redeemer statue, along with Cometa and her family and the Control de Plagas Squad, and Nico, Pedro, Sparkle and Rose as well, all watched in immense horror at the burning trees they called home in the distance, the orange monster of the fire clawing at the starry night sky sinisterly. Chicks huddled against their parents' chest feathers as they shuddered at the massive orange monster. While this happened, the colony of the Linda's orange bats from which Basil the bat was from had also been rescued by some of Tulio's team members and moved to a makeshift cave in the city as the trees around their cave home also became engulfed in flames. It truly was a terrifying time for everyone both in Rio and the animals.

Throughout Rio, televisions were broadcasting the events of the fire, calling it the 'Most Devastating Disaster to Ever Hit Blu Bird Sanctuary', and many of the citizens of Rio had stopped to watch the news, both in their houses and in their streets. In Linda's bookstore where Tommy had been taken by his biological parents Linda and Tulio to be babysat by a friend of theirs who had been tasked by Linda to look after the bookstore while she was at work with her husband and adopted son, a certain red-tailed black cockatoo, along with his owner who looked after Tulio and Linda's biological son and Fernando's adoptive brother, continued to watch the news on the TV set in the bookstore as it continued to broadcast the fire on the sanctuary. Ónix was sat perched on a T-shaped perch set up in the middle of the room which Linda sometimes used for her animal friend Blu and his friends when they came to visit, eating an apple given to him by his owner.

"Countless birds have gathered at the Christ the Redeemer statue apparently to escape their burning homes," said the woman in the studio, to Ónix's surprise and relief, "at least they are safe but there are still; concerns over the majority of the other animals still trapped in the blazing forest of the Blu Bird Sanctuary. The firefighter crews are trying their best to get the fire under control but it still continues to spread at a rapidly alarming rate throughout the sanctuary…"

Ónix shuddered as his owner came by with a bag of used nappies which she had changed from Tommy to replace them with fresh nappies, a worried look at the screen.

"I hope Blu and the others are not caught in that fire," murmured the red-tailed black cockatoo worriedly as thoughts of his friends flashed in his mind.

 **Back at Tulio's Aviary**

Dash, Ginger, Eduarda, Esperanza, Avellana, James, Danny, Ebony, Worf and Rusty also continued to watch the orange claws of the fire as it scratched the starry night sky and polluting it with thick smoke, shuddering as they did. Inside Tulio's Aviary, some of Tulio's team members were keeping an eye on the birds, among them much of Blu and company's group members, and trying to calm them down. One man stood outside the entrance to Tulio's Aviary, worries for the last pair of golden fruithawks plaguing his mind as his eyes continued to watch the fire blaze menacingly in the sky. While the group of ten greyhounds continued to watch the fire in worry, Ceres and Cobalto came in with Azul, Aurelio and Fernanda. These five blue-throated macaws had tattered wings and they could not fly and the worry for the missing kids, especially for Azul and Fernanda's two chicks Oceano and Carmen, and also Wilbur who had left with Blu and the others still able to fly to look for the kids, was preying on their minds.

"Anything, Dash and folks?" asked Ceres, her eyes red and bloodshot for she had been crying a lot after hearing about the fire spreading through the sanctuary. Cobalto, Azul, Aurelio and Fernanda also had bloodshot eyes for they had been weeping a lot as well. Dash and the other greyhounds turned round and sadly shook their heads, their ears drooping.

"Nothing I'm afraid," said the ageing light grey greyhound, "We haven't seen any positive news since we brought Mira and the others back here."

"How are they doing?" asked Eduarda, the other seven younger greyhounds surrounding her and asking the same question with concerned looks, along with Ginger.

"They're still traumatised but they're okay," replied Cobalto wearily, "but horribly worried for the still-missing kids," his gaze then turned to the flickering orange monster creeping above the sea of burning trees, "especially for Sandalwood who still cannot fly…"

"This is honestly the worst nightmare in our lives," murmured Azul, his wing slung around the still-depressed Fernanda, "we'd never thought that those toucans would do something as WICKED as this…"

A sniffle then escaped his nose and he bowed his head further. Fernanda and Aurelio did not say anything and continued to stare down at their feet. The greyhounds could only look on with sympathy for they had nothing to say at all. While the other greyhounds and the blue-throated macaws continued to mourn the situation, Eduarda and Worf decided to take a walk a short distance away from the group to take a break from the crisis and focus on the future of their litter of pups.

"Well, a few weeks from now, my dear Worf and we're gonna be _parents_!" squeaked Eduarda in excitement, the sadness of the crisis briefly forgotten. Worf lovingly nuzzled his head against his mates and nodded in agreement.

"I can't wait to see what traits our puppies will have inherited from us," he said, "I'm wondering if any of them will have inherited my white and black patched coat."

"We'll have to see," replied Eduarda with a smile. Worf nodded in agreement again. However, as he did that, his eyes, which were coloured brown, detected movement out of their corner. At this, the white and black greyhound turned his head in the direction of their movement and when his eyes registered the cause of the movement, they widened in astonishment.

"Worf?" asked Eduarda but then she followed Worf's gaze. Then a suspicious frown formed on Worf's face.

"Are those creatures that pesky group of…" growled he but then Eduarda saw something else in the hands of the one at the front. As the creature entered a shaft of moonlight, revealing his grey fur-strewn brown striped fur, the wristwatch around his waist and paperclip in his head hair which Worf angrily identified as Mauro, the leader of the group of marmosets Worf knew to be highly mischievous thieves who loved to nab valuables from tourists, the thing in his hands was revealed to be a bundle of reddish fur with black leaves sprawled out from the bundle, one hanging down the side of Mauro's hands. Behind Mauro, more marmosets came in, some of them with more bundles but of colourful feathers. As Eduarda and Worf continued to gaze at the approaching group of marmosets, Broccoli, Daisy and Collette happened to come by. Their eyes also picked out the bundles in the hands of the marmosets, and Dash and the others also came in for they had seen the marmosets too.

"Hey, isn't that…" began Broccoli but Ceres cut him off.

"ACEROLA," cried the hysterical blue-throated macaw, tears, this time tears of immense joy, welling within her already bloodshot eyes, before they turned to the bundles of bright blue feathers in three of Mauro's underlings' hands, "SIRIUS, EINSTEIN, MILES!"

"And ADENINE, GUANINE, THYMINE, CYTOSINE!" put in Cobalto when he saw the four colourful bundles of feathers. He whirled round to Azul and Fernanda and said, "Get Ganymede and Mimas and some of the others IMMEDIATELY!"

Azul and Fernanda nodded, turned tail and darted off for Tulio's Aviary's entrance to bring in the said macaws. Then Aurelio, Dash, Ginger, Eduarda, Esperanza, Avellana, James, Danny, Ebony, Worf and Rusty, and Collette, Daisy and Broccoli identified the three aqua blue and yellow bundles of feathers with green foreheads as Castor, Pollux and Poppy, Titan and Brooke's chicks and the three black and red-white feather bundles with large colourful beaks as Gladion, Lillie and Diantha, also carried by the underlings of Mauro. However, the cats and greyhounds immediately recognised that both pairs of parents of these six chicks had gone out with Blu and the others to rescue the other missing kids, along with Acerola's parents Anabelle and Sebastian, aunts Stella and Luna, uncle Soren and grandparents Augustus and Melissa. Dash and the others went to intercept the marmosets as Mauro commanded his underlings, all of who were exhausted with soot from charred wood from the fire strewing their fur to put down the chicks while he gently placed Acerola onto the floor. After this, the marmosets hastily stood back and allowed Dash and the other greyhounds, and also Collette, Broccoli and Daisy, Ceres, Cobalto, Aurelio and eventually Fernanda and Azul, who had returned out with some of the birds inside, among them Mars, Chiquitita, Ganymede, Mimas, Jupiter, Ruby and Virgil. The moment they saw the fourteen kids as they slowly came round, including Acerola who had just come out of the blackness of unconsciousness caused by smoke inhalation, hysterical screeches erupted from the macaws' beaks and they immediately surged forward to sweep up the sixteen kids in hugs. Adenine, Thymine, Guanine and Cytosine were swept up into a hug by Ganymede and Mimas and also Jupiter and Ruby while Sirius, Einstein and Miles found themselves in the wings of Virgil and also Justin, Músculo,Tiago, Matilda, Brisa and Roberto, much to their surprise. Acerola, Gladion, Lillie and Aurora were also swept up into a group hug by their relatives' family and friends as were Castor, Pollux and Poppy by Enceladus, Trixie, Saturn, Orquidea, Mimas, Ganymede, Dione, Porthos, Rhea, Tethys, Oberon and Iapetus.

While the reunion continued, accompanied by cries of joy and relief, Dash stood back with Ginger, Eduarda, Esperanza, Avellana, James, Danny, Ebony, Worf, Rusty, Collette, Broccoli and Daisy with small smiles, the first they had had since the former ten had returned Deneb and company to the Aviary.

"Looks like another massive reunion," said Dash to the others, "Hopefully it will be the same for the remaining kids when Blu and the others find them."

The others nodded in agreement. Then Broccoli turned and saw Mauro and his marmoset gang attempt to sneak away, timid eyes on the colourful crowd of birds, especially the Spix macaws. As Mauro and his gang continued to try and creep away, they were suddenly stopped by, "Mauro; did you and your gang find and bring these kids back?"

A gulp sounded from Mauro and his underlings felt their nerves jolt hotly as the speaker, Saturn, stopped them all mid-step. At this, Mauro timidly turned and connected his wary gaze with that of Saturn's slight frown. Then the other macaws came round and gazed at Mauro and his gang, gratitude in their eyes. However, Mauro's urge to flee with his gang took hold for he remembered the bad reputation he and his gang had gained since their attempted capture of Blu and Jewel thanks to Nigel. In a few quick moments, he said, "Um… yes, we helped to rescue them from a sealed burrow as the fire was spreadin'. H-h-hopefully Blu and Jewel will be impressed with us for savin' some of their grandkids. Thank you, and see ya!" and before any of the macaws, cats or greyhounds could ask a single question, the group of marmosets had disappeared in a cloud of dust, leaving a group of dumbfounded animals staring after them. Broccoli frowned.

"Well, that was abrupt!" he muttered flatly and left for Tulio's Aviary. Saturn also breathed a sigh.

"Let's just return to Tulio's Aviary and wait for Blu and the others to return with the missing kids."

And with that, the group of animals left for the building, taking Acerola and the others with them to be checked over by the human doctors, especially Acerola for she looked somewhat unwell, while the greyhounds resumed their area. However, on the way to Tulio's Aviary, Saturn had flashed a glance back at Mauro and his gang as they continued to recede rapidly into the distance, a look of suspicious thunder on his face along with bristled feathers, something Mauro had mentioned in his rapid explanation in how he and his underlings had rescued Acerola and company from the fire. 'Sealed burrow?' he thought. Then his body began to tremble with fury as his mind reached a possible conclusion as to what Mauro had meant.

"If any of those toucans have done this to Acerola and the thirteen chicks including Diantha and Tom's three, returned by those marmosets," hissed the blue-and-gold macaw under his breath, "Then the consequences are gonna be DIRE!"

He bellowed the final word as he said this. simmering in silence and hopping on his one foot for his other one, the one that had been slashed by the glass shard of the broken window during the toucans' attack on Tulio's cottage still in its bandage, Saturn followed the others back to Tulio's Aviary.


	78. Chapter 77

**Chapter 77- worsening situations, two more kids are saved**

 **Meanwhile**

Zephyr, Venus, Blu and Jewel, together with Carla, Bia, Charlotte and Jojo, Io, Sheldon, Titan, Brooke, Rhea, Aramis, Triton, Iris, Wilbur, Diantha and Tom and also Augustus, Stella, Luna, Melissa, Sebastian, Soren and Anabelle, continued to fly above the treetops when their eyes landed on the sea of menacingly dancing orange fingers wavering rapidly above the trees, sending huge pillars of black puffs into the night sky and blocking out the moon. At this, the flock of nineteen birds and seven flying foxes slowed to a hover and gazed at the fire in utter astonishment and horror, and Jewel, Zephyr and Venus, along with some of the others including Carla and Bia who had almost been caught in the previous fire that ravaged the Sanctuary de Amazon years ago, trembled violently. Augustus also shuddered as his eyes registered the sea of dancing orange fingers. Much like some of the members of the bird flocks in the Amazon; he had had a traumatising experience with fire as well and had almost been killed by a falling flaming tree as a pup. However, he knew that he had to rescue Sandalwood and also Acerola and Ferdinand if they were still out there, along with the still-missing chicks. As they continued to gaze at the fire, Zephyr was the first to speak and break the silence.

"This is honestly like the fire that tore through our Amazon homes all those years ago," he murmured.

"How on EARTH did that fire start in the first place?" asked Blu in astonishment.

"I don't know but it can't have been any of the Blu Bird Sanctuary's human workers for they are normally sensible with fire-based things like matches," said Aramis. However, he shuddered as he recalled the human Bill's matches, which he had intended to take with him to his daughter's house to ignite the barbeque grill for the wedding anniversary celebration feast with his daughter, son-in-law and friends and relatives, mysteriously disappearing. Then Augustus brought the group back to the main mission.

"Let's not just hover here," he muttered, "Let's go and find and rescue Sandalwood and the others before that fire gets to them!"

"We'll try searching in the unlit parts of the forest," said Jewel, a talon point to the areas of forest that was unkindled. She was clearly reluctant to fly any further towards the fire for it triggered her pyrophobia (irrational fear of fire) along with a torrent of bad memories of the one that tore her from her tribe. Then Blu's eyes happened to turn in the direction of a certain monument standing in the sea of trees, the monument that was the location of where he and Jewel spent their first night in the jungle when they were chained together, and the monument that was refurbished by Tulio and his team including his wife Linda and adopted son Fernando with a circular plaque featuring his face in its centre pinned to its wall. When Blu's eyes landed on the Vista Chinesa as it lay directly in the path of the spreading fire, his face fell and he shuddered as he knew that the iconic monument containing the sanctuary's name in his honour will soon be engulfed in flames like the trees around it, but then Venus's talon appeared and landed on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, it's replaceable," she said in comfort. Blu flashed her a small smile but then Wilbur and Rhea spotted something heading straight towards them.

"Hey, guys, look!" shouted Wilbur, bringing everyone's attention to what he and Titan's sister had spotted. Blu and the others gazed at the incoming set of objects and as they melted into view on their approach, Iris immediately recognised them, especially based on their black feathers and colourful beaks.

"Aren't they…" she began but Jewel appeared and scowled volcanically at the incoming objects which were birds as they emerged from the unlit trees.

"Yes they ARE!" she snarled, finishing Iris's sentence and the urge to lash at the incoming birds and pounce on and beat them up flaring volcanically within her. Then before anyone could tell her to wait or stop her, Jewel had launched into rocket-speed flight straight on a collision course with the incoming birds, which were indeed toucans, as they continued zooming out of the treetops and in Blu and company's direction.

"Jewel!" shouted Blu and with that, he followed with Venus and Zephyr and Augustus and Melissa. Then Carla, Bia, Charlotte, Io, Sheldon and Jojo glared furiously at the toucans. Titan, Brooke, Rhea, Aramis, Triton, Iris, Wilbur, Diantha, Tom, Stella, Soren, Anabelle, Sebastian and Luna also shot the incoming toucans a furious glare each.

"Time for some serious confrontation over what they have done to our chicks and pups, I think, guys," snarled Diantha furiously. The other twenty nodded and with that, the group followed Blu, Jewel, Zephyr, Venus, Augustus and Melissa as they went to intercept the toucans.

The flock of toucans, among them Sofia and Marcel, continued flying with fear and shock from the fire boiling within them, showing up clearly in their eyes and mad flapping. In the talons of most of them were many toucan chicks, many of them, some of them Sofia and Marcel's chicks, horribly burned with most of their feathered singed off. As they ascended out of the treetops, unaware that a flock of VERY angry birds and flying foxes were hurtling towards them, Marcel, his talons holding three of the toucan chicks, two of which were severely burned and were in agony, shot a gaze back at the sea of fire and the smoke belching from it into the sky.

"I think we're out of the fire, folks," he said to the others. Suddenly, a familiar female voice exploded from directly in front of them.

"Well, you're NOT out of the FIRE OF OUR FURY, you BUNCH OF MALICIOUS, MARAUDING CROWS!" she shouted. At this, Marcel and Sofia looked up just in time to see an absolutely FURIOUS cerulean comet bowl towards them at an alarming speed, her talons poised to seize them. When they saw that it was Jewel coming straight towards them, Sofia barked at the others to scatter. The cloud of toucans dispersed but one of them could not escape in time and Jewel smashed into her. The toucan screamed as Jewel took her down towards the treetops by the throat. The female toucan's mate called to her but he and the other toucans including Sofia and Marco, found themselves on the receiving end of a bunch of stormy, thunderous glares as Blu, Zephyr, Venus, Augustus, Melissa, Carla, Bia, Charlotte, Jojo, Stella, Soren, Io , Sheldon and the others surrounded them. However, the group of toucans dodged Blu's group's attempt to surround them and continued flying like mad in the direction of Tulio's Aviary.

"No TIME TO TALK," cried Sofia desperately, some of her severely emaciated and burned chicks clutched in her talons, "We've gotta bunch of young casualties in DIRE need of medical attention! Get out of the WAY!"

"WHERE ARE OUR KIDS!?" demanded Bia but she was struck in the face by a flapping wing from one of the toucans and knocked back. Io, a volcanic look on her face, then tried to catch up to Sofia but the toucans moved too fast for her to catch up to them. Carla, Charlotte, Sheldon, Titan and Brooke tried their luck but their demands fell on ears deafened by sheer desperation as well. The others also tried the same but also failed. Then Aramis took action and began to use his fast flying skills to try and catch up to them. Jojo, Diantha, Tom, Iris and Triton followed.

"GET BACK HERE!" screeched Aramis at Sofia's group and with that; the six birds rocketed off after the toucans. While Aramis, Jojo, Diantha, Tom, Iris and Triton began to chase down Sofia's group, Jewel had slammed the female toucan she had collided with hard against the branch of one of the trees. The female toucan's face twisted severely in agony as Jewel then pinned her against the wood with a talon to the throat.

"Now, WHERE ARE THE KIDS!?" snarled Jewel bitterly in the toucan's face as Blu, Zephyr, Venus, Carla, Bia, Charlotte, Io, Sheldon, Titan, Brooke, Rhea, Wilbur, Augustus, Melissa, Stella, Luna, Soren, Anabelle and Sebastian caught up. The toucan gazed up at her confronter with terrified eyes and shaking body and with rapid breaths of air struggling to enter in and exit out of her beak for Jewel's talon was hard on her throat. When she did not answer, Zephyr came in, his green eyes ablaze with the fires of anger like Jewel's teal ones and the eyes of the rest of the gang.

"Oh, don't play your stupid little games with us, little lady," growled Venus's mate furiously as he touched down, seized the struggling toucan's beak with a talon and yanked her gaze towards him, "we DEMAND to KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE DONE WITH SANDALWOOD AND THE REST!"

Still the toucan was too afraid to speak, especially with the pressure of Jewel's talon on her throat and the vicious glares of her and the others around her piercing her like lasers. Finally, she found the strength to speak.

"I-I-I-I d-d-don't know," she timidly replied, "C-c-c-can you pl-pl-please let me go? W-w-we've got a LOT of casualties to tend to…"

Appalled gazes were exchanged amongst Blu's group.

"What about our OWN KIDS!?" demanded Bia angrily, tears of anguish threatening to spew from her eyes again, "Such as my and Virgil's sons SIRIUS, EINSTEIN AND MILES!?"

"Justin and my daughters SONIA, SPICA AND MELODY!" put in Carla, "and also Tiago and Matilda's chicks BARTHOLOMEW AND BELLATRIX!?"

"Sandalwood, Acerola and Ferdinand," added Stella furiously as she stood with Augustus, Melissa, Soren, Anabelle, Sebastian and Luna.

"Betelgeuse and Rigel!" put in Io, the urge to lash at the toucan to tear her feathers out threatening to rupture the containment of her restraints. At this, the toucan flinched at the mentioning of those two names.

"AND all the other chicks," added Venus as Jewel tightened her grip on the toucan's throat. At first, the toucan refused to speak for she was absolutely terrified. Finally, she found more courage to speak but it was out of defiance.

"I said I don't know!" she retorted timidly, "Now if you will excuse me, we have some seriously injured toucan chicks to take to the Aviary for treatment."

Appal flowed through Jewel and company at the toucan's lack of care for Sandalwood and the others. It was obvious that the toucan and her comrades were putting their many, many chicks first and did not bother about the offspring of many of Blu and company's first-brood children whose numbers were only a tiny fraction compared to Sofia and company's MASSIVE numbers. Then Jewel finally snapped. With an extremely enraged screech and her temper flaring up like a volcano over the toucan's lack of care for Sirius and the others, Jewel raised her other talon, flared its claws and without hesitation or a second thought, slashed them across the toucan's face, making her scream in agony. Then Blu, Venus, Zephyr and the others backed away immediately as Jewel then pounced onto the toucan and began to unleash her fury upon her full-throttle. Wilbur gazed down at the chaos in slight fright as feathers flew everywhere as Jewel continued slashing and clawing the toucan like an enraged cat and tearing out the toucan's feathers, the toucan unable to defend herself from the Spix macaw's volcanic temper outburst.

"That toucan's gonna add to the casualties of Sofia's group, I think," Wilbur said. The others only replied with a slight look. Then the sounds of wing-flaps reached the group's ears as Aramis, Jojo, Diantha, Tom, Iris and Triton returned; puffs and pants escaping their beaks.

"They were just… too fast, even for… us two hyacinth… macaws," puffed Triton as he and Iris clumsily flapped to a branch to rest.

"It is obvious that they aren't gonna help out," put in Diantha stormily. She was practically shaking with rage at her siblings for not caring about the missing kids and it acidified her wrath against them even more that they seemed to care about their own kids more than Blu and company's. Then the toucan that Jewel was attacking managed to slip out of Jewel's volcanic temper and fiery claws and escape after her comrades, her plumage in tatters and slashed with bleeding claw marks but her wings still having enough flight feathers to propel her away from the savage Jewel. A trail of black feathers fell from the wounded toucan's plumage and drifted through the canopy like the cinder flakes of charred wood in the burning forest. Jewel disdainfully spat after the toucan as she left.

"Bunch of uncaring COWARDS!" she snarled in frustration and sheer anger after she did it.

"Looks like we're gonna have to search for those kids all by ourselves," cried Carla in despair. Then Augustus scanned the sea of flames and the unlit trees.

"They could be ANYWHERE!" he shouted, before his eyes despairingly moved to the fire as it continued to swallow up the trees like a fiery tide, "Perhaps EVEN IN THAT FIRE!"

Then the first generation birds and flying foxes (Bia, Carla, Stella and the rest) began to let loose wails of despair and anguish, tears falling from their eyes.

"Betelgeuse and RIGEEEEL!" cried Io.

"SIRIUS, EINSTEIN, MILES!" bellowed Bia.

"Lillie, Gladion, Aurora!" cried Diantha and Tom.

"SANDALWOOD, ACEROLA, FERDINAND!" wailed Stella, Luna, Anabelle and Soren at the same time. Then the majority of the first generation birds and flying foxes released another long cry of anguish and despair again before finally breaking down as hopelessness threatened to consume them like the fire consuming the trees. As they continued to wail loudly and sob, Zephyr barked at the group to pull themselves together and not give up.

"COME ON, YOU LOT!" shouted he, attracting Bia, Carla and the others' attention to him, "SNAP OUT OF IT!"

When he saw that none of the wailers were hearing him, Zephyr screeched the order even louder. This time, the wailing braked abruptly into silence and Carla, Bia and the others, sniffles escaping their noses finally looked at Zephyr as he glared at them.

"We're NOT gonna give up and allow those WRETCHED TOUCANS TO LEAVE US WITH HEARTBREAK out of their SPITEFULNESS AND COWARDICE," continued Venus's mate, "But we're NOT gonna continue this search-and-rescue mission with YOU lot acting like CHICKS and PUPS!"

The first generation macaws, Stella, Luna, Soren, Anabelle, Soren, Diantha and Tom nodded. Then Blu fluttered up.

"Listen, we're gonna do our best to find those stolen kids and bring them back to Tulio's Aviary even if it means putting our lives in danger," he said, continuing Zephyr's speech, "Now let's pull ourselves together and continue this search. We did not fly out of here for nothing."

"If those toucans won't help us, then that's THEIR problem," continued Jewel, "But rest assured that they WILL face some SERIOUS consequences once this is all over."

More nods rolled through Carla and Bia's group and Tom and Diantha's faces creased into a furious look.

"Absolutely!" hissed Diantha bitterly, "Especially if ANY of our kids are lost in that fire!"

She gazed worriedly at the sea of orange flames as it continued to consume the forest. Then Venus said, "Right, are we ready to resume our search-and-rescue mission?"

All heads in Bia's group nodded up and down again. Then Blu, a determined and satisfied smile on his face, then turned round and prepared to take the group further into the jungle.

"Then let's FLY!" he shouted, "Let's find and rescue any of our kids remaining in the forest and bring them back to the safety of our families and friends waiting for us back in Tulio's Aviary."

'We've just GOT to,' he thought as he said this. He couldn't bear to see the heartbroken and distressed looks on the first generation birds and flying foxes' faces again and Augustus, Venus, Zephyr, Jewel and Melissa couldn't agree more. Sandalwood and the others had been missing from the group long enough and it was time to bring them back into the safety of their families and friends for good. Then soon, the group's search-and-rescue mission was back on track with Blu and Jewel leading. As they continued flying through the treetops, Sheldon felt his head jolt with an idea but it was a rather crazy one.

"Wait, guys," he said, stopping the group to another hover and all eyes turning to him.

"What is it, Sheldon?" asked Blu.

"I've just had an idea," said Sheldon, "It's kind of reckless but I think it would make our search mission more efficient. Why don't we split up and search in different parts of the jungle? I'll look for Betelgeuse, Rigel and perhaps some of the other kids with some of us while the rest of you search in another part of the jungle."

At this, glances, both hopeful and dreaded, rolled through the listeners. Then Titan and Brooke came forward.

"You mean you want us to split into two or more groups and spread out?" asked Titan. Sheldon nodded.

"The kids may be scattered throughout the jungle," he said, much to the frustrated despair of Carla, Bia and some of the others.

Some of the other members smiled in liking of the idea but some of the others wore disapproval looks and shook their heads in disagreement.

"But Sheldon," said Zephyr, "That might be EXTREMELY FOOLISH AND DANGEROUS! What if any of you end up hurt or even killed?"

"Zephyr, please," said Augustus and then he fluttered up to Sheldon, "I actually kind of agree with you. We never thought of that possibility but if that is the case; then we should go through with your idea."

"Yes, definitely," said Jewel, "Some of us will search in the unlit trees while the rest of us will search closer to the fire."

She shuddered violently as she gazed at the sea of flames and clearly did not want to go anywhere near them.

Then a determined look came upon Sheldon's face.

"Then I'll lead one group in one direction," he said, before his gaze turned to Carla, Bia and the others, especially Io, "While the rest of you go with Blu, Jewel, Augustus, Melissa, Zephyr and Venus, especially you, Io."

At this, Io shot her half-scarlet, half-green-winged mate a 'what!?' look.

"What do you mean I go with Uncle Blu and the others?" she retorted. Sheldon flew up to her and said, "Well, you went all the way to Peru to retrieve our precious daughters Betelgeuse and Rigel and the other missing kids including Sandalwood from that fraudulent Paradise Sanctuary place with Blu and some of the others while I stayed behind to look after the remaining kids and now, I want to go on a risky mission myself while you remain in the safety of Blu and the others…"

At this, Io's face morphed into a frown. "Oh, no," she retorted, "No, no, no-no-no-no, NO! I can't risk losing you…"

"But Io, you've put yourself through enough risk as it is going to Peru," replied Sheldon, his talons holding Io's, "and all I've done is stayed behind and did not do much," his head then bowed with a look of shame coming on it with a tear welling in the corner of his right eye, "especially after our temporary break-up after our heated argument over having those two beautiful daughters..."

"Huh, you had to bring THAT up," muttered Diantha as she hovered with Tom.

"Look, Sheldon," said Io, "I was stupid for saying that we shouldn't have had Betelgeuse and Rigel in the first place. I was stupid in believing that brat Sofia and I was absolutely selfish in driving you away…"

"Come on, are we gonna continue our search or what?" asked Carla impatiently. Bia, Charlotte, Jojo, Titan, Brooke, Rhea, Aramis, Triton, Iris, Wilbur, Diantha, Tom, Stella, Luna, Sebastian, Soren and Anabelle also made their impatience clear by wearing scowls on their faces. Zephyr, Venus, Augustus, Melissa, Blu and Jewel wore agreeing faces.

"Yes, we don't have all night," put in Augustus. Sheldon flashed the older male flying fox a look and gazed back at Io as Jojo flew up to him.

"I'm gonna go with you if you if you're gonna lead one group," said the Roberto lookalike firmly. As he said this, Charlotte, Aramis, Rhea, Wilbur, Triton and Iris flew over and joined them as well. Then Sebastian, Luna and Anabelle made their choice and joined Sheldon's side although Augustus and Melissa were pretty worried. Sheldon gazed at those who had flown over to him and returned his gaze to Io once again.

"I would like you, as I've said before, to go with Blu and the others and I want you to rescue any kid you can find and if Betelgeuse and/or Rigel are with them, make sure you include them as well," he said in an edgy voice, "And make sure you don't wander off, especially if you're gonna fly close to the fire's edge," he stole a glance at the sea of fire as it continued to rage while Io gazed back at him, a stubborn look on her face.

"I'm NOT gonna lose you," she snapped, "We've lost both Betelgeuse and Rigel once before and, if we were to lose them again now, this time permanently, I can't risk losing you, the only closest macaw I have left, as well. Certainly not to a disaster like THIS ONE! You can't expect to go into that fire, if it were to catch up to you, and come back out unscathed!"

"Come on, Io," said Blu firmly and impatiently. Io flashed him a glance and gazed back at Sheldon. She finally gave in to Sheldon's request and flew over to Blu's group. Then Sheldon flew after Io and seized her wing, jolting surprise within her.

"Wha-?" began Io but she didn't get to finish for Sheldon had hooked his beak onto hers and began to deliver a series of passionate kisses. The others exchanged glances as Sheldon finally broke the final kiss with Io.

"We'll ALL get out of this mess together, triumphantly, I'm sure of it," said Sheldon lovingly into Io's face. Io's amber eyes glistened as they stared into Sheldon's blue eyes. For a moment Io felt the comfort of Sheldon's sapphire eyes flow through her.

"Okay," she said. Sheldon smiled, kissed her forehead one last time and then left to join Aramis and the others while Io, though reluctantly joined Blu's group.

"Be careful out there," called Venus as Sheldon's group began to recede into the distance.

"Especially you, Luna, Sebastian and Anabelle," called Augustus as he flew with Stella, Melissa and Soren. Sheldon, Charlotte, Jojo, Rhea, Aramis, Triton, Iris, Wilbur, Sebastian, Luna and Anabelle all nodded and shouted back at Blu's group, "We will, we'll see you back at Tulio's Aviary!" as they continued flying in their chosen direction while Blu and the others flew off in theirs.

 **Meanwhile, some time later**

Betelgeuse and Rigel continued struggling through the burning forest, Rigel continuously holding her stabbed shoulder, which was bandaged with moss and leaves by herself and Betelgeuse to protect the injury and the stiff twig jutting from Rigel's shoulder, from further damage, while Betelgeuse held her on the other side, her wings wrapped around her younger sister's back and tummy and continued to half-drag, half-help her plod through the igniting forest. The pair was heading in the direction of the Chinesa Vista which was a good few metres away but before that, the two sisters had managed to hitch a ride on a fleeing capybara and rode on its back some distance before the capybara ran out of energy and collapsed from sheer exhaustion, forcing Betelgeuse and Rigel to continue on foot again.

Both three-quarter scarlet, one-quarter green-winged chicks were caked in mud, soot from the fire and had reddened eyes as a result of the constant irritation caused by the polluting smoke, not to mention the frequent coughing and spluttering as the smoke continued to irritate their lungs, and the searing heat of the fire scorching the skin under their feathers and making it even harder for the two to struggle along. Furthermore, Betelgeuse had accidentally stepped into a patch of smouldering ferns and wood, resulting in her left talon, the one that had landed in the fiery patch, to smoke and burn, forcing her to put it out before continuing but it had left an extremely painful burn on the bottom of her foot and added to the difficulty of the two sisters' struggles, so Betelgeuse was limping along and dragging Rigel on her right side as she walked on both feet. Behind the pair, the fire continued to spread at an alarming rate, heating the air to alarming temperatures and polluting it with its thick smoke that continued to irritate Rigel and Betelgeuse's lungs and eyes, and both girls were horribly exhausted.

"How much further… to go… Betelgeuse?" groaned Rigel hoarsely as exhaustion threatened to make her collapse. Her head practically felt like a hollowed-out coconut and she was dazed and disoriented. Betelgeuse was also struggling with disorientation and kept stumbling, especially as her burned talon touched the ground and made her jolt in pain. Wearily, the older daughter of Io and Sheldon gazed upward, but her world had blurred together into a mass mess of watercolour outlines and shapes, but she managed to make out the shape of a hut-like construction standing on four legs.

"We'll go to… there," she whispered tiredly and wearily, before she entered an episode of rapid and laboured breathing and with that and despite Rigel's questioning of 'there' for she was also disoriented, her world also blurring together, the two sisters struggled on to the Chinesa Vista.

As soon as they got to one of the Chinesa Vista's legs, Betelgeuse set Rigel carefully down at its foot, being very careful not to knock her wounded shoulder.

"Stay here will… I call… for help…" murmured Betelgeuse hoarsely, before she entered another coughing fit and rapid breathing. Rigel, her eyes red and bloodshot and her head spinning, as well as her left wing clasping her right shoulder with the stick in it, gazed at her older sister worriedly as Betelgeuse staggered and limped off with her burned talon to shout for help. Then as soon as Betelgeuse was in a small clearing, she dizzily gazed up into the black sky and with all her might, began to let loose a distress screech using whatever strength and energy she had left, hoping to attract some attention. Rigel looked on wearily as Betelgeuse continued screeching and shouting, the outline of her sister blurring with the background and with the glow of the fire.

"Betelgeuse…" she murmured weakly. Betelgeuse continued shouting and screeching for a while, stopping for a rest as she strained to breathe but then she felt her disorientation begin to overwhelm her and began to stagger as though she had been flying in circles for a long time. Rigel, when she saw a change in Betelgeuse's behaviour, jolted up in alarm.

"Betelgeuse?" she said and with that, she rose to her feet and staggered clumsily over to her older sister but as she got closer, Betelgeuse struggled against her exhaustion and disorientation and finally began to succumb to their effects, the heat of the fire, the trauma and the smoke having taken their toll on her young body. Wearily, the older sister clumsily staggered over to a bush, turned round and with her back on its stem, began to slump down onto her backside. Her eyes then slid shut as the darkness of fainting overtook her, and her head bowed. Seeing her sister slump down in the bush, Rigel felt dread and alarm tear through her.

"Betelgeuse?" she called, "Betelgeuse!?"

She continued stumbling clumsily over to Betelgeuse's limp body and as soon as she was by her side, Rigel put her left wing onto Betelgeuse's head and began to try and shake her awake.

"Betelgeuse, wake up!" she called. No answer. Rigel's dread for her sister began to boil all the more.

"BETELGEUSE, WAKE UP!" she shouted. Still no answer, except a small twitching of her eyelids. Rigel then began to tremble as she looked over her limp sister. Behind her, the Chinesa Vista had kindled and the straw and wooden stand began to burn as the fire finally began to hungrily consume it. Rigel gazed with dread and despair at the limp body of Betelgeuse one more time until finally, her heart cracked with an enormous fissure opening within her which subsequently erupted into an extremely ear-piercing, anguished cry. The cry carried through the night air scratched by the claws of the fire and flooded with its smoke. As it did so, it was picked up by a group of certain flying creatures as they flew overhead.

Sheldon, together with Charlotte, Jojo, Rhea, Aramis, Triton, Iris, Wilbur, Sebastian, Luna and Anabelle were approaching the area where the Chinesa Vista stood and as they approached the iconic monument of the Blu Bird Sanctuary, all of them coughing as the smoke irritated their lungs, forcing them to keep their distance from the fire, the group stopped and watched on in utter horror and despair.

"Oh, no," murmured Charlotte in sadness as she watched the flames start to engulf the stand. She then gazed at the circular plaque reading the name of the sanctuary with an image of Blu's face in the centre, begin to ignite.

"That stand and the plaque's gonna have to be replaced once these fires have been quelled," said Rhea with a shudder. As she said this, Anabelle's ears picked up something sounding above the roar and crackling of the fire.

"Shh," she hushed the others. The others came up to her.

"What is it, dear?" asked Sebastian only to be silenced by a wing gesture from his mate. The others exchanged glances and stopped to listen. When they also heard the noise, perplexed gazes came upon their faces.

"Sounds like someone screeching," said Aramis.

"A distressed animal, perhaps?" asked Triton, his blinded, faded right eye in the path of the scarred claw streaks running up the height of his face showing in the orange glow of the fire. As he said this, Sheldon listened intently to the cry and felt that it sounded familiar. Then Jojo shuddered as he gazed at the burning forest.

"There are a lot of those animals in there that are in distress," he murmured in a fragile voice. Charlotte, Rhea, Aramis, Triton, Iris, Wilbur, Sebastian, Luna and Anabelle nodded in agreement and shuddered at the thought of those animals facing a painful death in those flames. Then suddenly, Sheldon's voice broke through their moment of despair and sorrow for the trapped animals.

"It's my daughter RIGEL!" screeched the ruby (scarlet/green-winged hybrid) macaw and with that, he dived down like a falcon in the direction of the cries, calling Rigel's name and prompting the other ten to follow.

"Sheldon!" called Rhea as she and the others flapped like mad to keep up with the red rocket with blue, yellow, green and orange wings. Soon enough, Sheldon's group had entered the treetops and had begun to descend through the canopy and within moments, they were close to the forest floor. Sheldon called Rigel's name again.

Meanwhile, Rigel continued to cry over Betelgeuse's unconscious body, immense dread continuing to erupt through her beak in the form of the screeching. She greatly feared for her sister's life and knew that it was on the line. However, she had no idea that her cries had attracted a lifeline. As she entered a paused and rubbed her throat with her left wing as it felt red raw from screeching a lot, as well as the irritation of the smoke on her vocal cords, Rigel thought she heard her name get called. At this, she stopped and began to wearily scan her surroundings, both unlit and blazing. Near her and the limp Betelgeuse, the Chinesa Vista had begun to fall apart, the fire tearing it to shreds and burning it to the ground like a tree. Rigel continued trying to scan the surroundings for the source's sound as it continued to call her name. At first, she thought she was hallucinating but then she realised that it was real. Then for the first time since she was kidnapped by the toucans along with the other kids including Sandalwood, she realised that help was nearby. With hope igniting within her and burning brighter than the fire engulfing more and more trees and also the Chinesa Vista, Rigel opened her beak and began to let loose another screech to attract the caller's attention.

Sheldon, together with Charlotte, Jojo, Rhea, Aramis, Triton, Iris, Wilbur, Sebastian, Luna and Anabelle, continued searching for the source of the screech whom Sheldon believed to be Rigel but they shuddered as the fire kept approaching them.

"Um, guys, I think we'd better leave," said Luna, wary of the fire's proximity to the group, so close that the group could feel the heat radiating from the dangerous orange sea of flames that continued to spew polluting fumes of smoke into the air and irritating their lungs. Nearby, Triton and Iris ad entered a coughing fit but Sheldon was insistent.

"Just wait," he snapped and continued shouting Rigel's name when he heard another cry. At this, the ruby macaw whirled round and began to trace the cry to its source again. The others followed.

"This is seriously dangerous, guys," muttered Charlotte, also wary of the fire closing in on the group, "We could end up trapped by those flames and possibly burned."

"Well, no-one asked YOU to join us, Charlotte," snapped Jojo irritably, "YOU were the one who made the decision to come with us in the first place."

"Well, I ought to be glad to have made that decision then, cousin," said Charlotte with a wink. The group continued following Sheldon as he continued tracing the cry to its source until finally, Wilbur, who had been examining the surroundings like a hawk on the way, suddenly spotted as flash of colour through the dark trees against the wall of orange flames. At this, he stopped the group.

"GUYS!" he barked and pointed to the flash of colour. The others, especially Sheldon followed the blue-throated macaw's point.

Rigel continued screeching until exhaustion finally set in and forced her to stop, where she entered a pause to take a few quick breaths but then she heard her name get called again, this time her name's calling was louder, and there was not one, but a number of them.

"RIGEL!"

"RIGEL!"

"RIGEL!"

Wearily, Rigel looked up and to her immense astonishment; she saw a small cloud of colourful forms rush towards her with a red one with colourful wings at the front. Then immense joy finally erupted within Rigel; as it felt like the weight of the whole Amazon had finally been lifted off her shoulders. Forgetting about the dire situation briefly, she let loose a massive screech, especially to the form at the front.

"DADDY!" she screamed, "DAAAAADDY!"

"RIIIGEEEL!" called Sheldon and as the father and daughter rushed towards each other, Rigel immediately remembered her shoulder at the last minute.

"STOOOOOOP!" she screeched, forcing Sheldon's group to brake abruptly. Triton latched his talons onto Sheldon's shoulders and prevented him from careening into Rigel. Then worry took hold of Sheldon's group.

"What is it, daughter?" asked Sheldon. Rigel then showed him and his group members her shoulder and began to unwrap the makeshift bandage covering her injury. Then Anabelle saw another red form slumped under a nearby bush. At this, she recognised her and felt horror tear through her.

"Oh, no, BETELGEUSE!" cried the flying fox and rocketed over to the limp body of Betelgeuse with Iris, Aramis and Charlotte following. While this happened, Rigel had finally unbandaged her injury and began to show Sheldon, Jojo, Rhea, Triton, Wilbur, Sebastian and Luna. The moment their eyes landed on the stiff twig protruding out of Rigel's shoulder, extreme horror tore through them in the form of large gasps.

"Rigel!" murmured Sheldon in utter astonishment. Rhea had her wings over her beak and eyes inflated while Sebastian threw on a serious look.

"We need to get you to that aviary NOW!" he shouted. As he said this, Anabelle, Iris, Aramis and Charlotte returned with Iris carrying Betelgeuse's limp body in her large talons.

"Betelgeuse is unconscious but she's alive," said Anabelle, "Her talon looks like it's been badly burned as well. We've gotta get her to that aviary pronto!"

Sheldon flashed the flying fox a glance but then Rigel began to sway and finally collapse, bringing Sheldon's attention back to her and sparking alarm within him.

"Rigel," he said as he saw his younger daughter sway, "RIGEL!?"

Rigel's eyes then rolled upward and she fell rightward, forcing Triton to lurch forward and catch her before her impaled shoulder could hit the ground and inflict further damage. Then the male hyacinth macaw gazed at her.

"She's passed out," he told Sheldon and the others, "she must have been utterly exhausted."

Sheldon was about to speak when a massive CRASH sounded behind them. At this, all eyes except the fainted Betelgeuse and Rigel shot alarmed in the direction of the sound and landed on its source: the Chinesa Vista collapsing, the fire finally having overwhelmed it. Sheldon's face then formed a frown.

"Let's get my daughters to Tulio's Aviary," he said and with that, with Iris carrying Betelgeuse and Triton carefully carrying Rigel, all eleven animals lofted into flight with Anabelle, Sebastian and Luna being picked up and dropped into flight by some of their macaw friends and as soon as they were in the air, Sheldon and his group rocketed off in the direction of Tulio's Aviary, taking the unconscious and badly injured Betelgeuse and Rigel with them as the fire continued to consume the now-collapsed Chinesa Vista and continued to spread.


	79. Chapter 78

**Chapter 78- it all falls into place, Rafael's rush to fetch Blu and company**

 **Somewhere else in the burning sanctuary**

Bellatrix began to stir as her consciousness seeped back. However, as she began to come round, she felt that her body was inside some sort of stiff case. At this, the daughter of Tiago and Matilda and Bartholomew's sister jolted awake and gazed down at the case and saw that it was made up of thick green tendrils. Then she turned round and saw a wall of rough brown, her back against it. A horrified gasp of realisation entered through Bellatrix's beak when she saw that she was tied to a log by a bundle of vines, tied next to one of her cousins Petunia. Below her and Petunia were three more Spix macaws: Vega, Winona and Jason tied in a row and above Bellatrix and Petunia, a hyacinth macaw chick which Bellatrix recognised was Gertie, was tied. Dread welling within her, Bellatrix then began to examine her surroundings directly in front and saw some other birds, all of them macaws, also tied to two more small logs. She, Gertie, Petunia, Vega, Winona and Jason were tied to one log in groups; Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka, Perdita, Aldebaran and Arcturus were tied to another in two rows of three with the three scarlet triplets at the top and Perdita, Aldebaran and Arcturus below them; and a third, larger log had Regulus (his right wing and tail feathers singed off and his burn causing him pain), Denebola, Oceano, Carmen, Sylvester, Achilles, Alegria, Pitaya and also Sandalwood, Ferdinand and Connie tied to it, also in rows of threes in that order except for Alegria and Pitaya who were tied as a pair above the three flying foxes and below Carmen, Sylvester, Achilles and Alegria. Like the five Spix macaws and Gertie, this lot was also tied to their logs with strong vines. Then Bellatrix saw that the group was in some sort of clearing in the forest, a crater whose walls consisted of trees. Above the treeline, an orange glow continued to rise into the starry sky, pillars of smoke belching into it and blocking out much of the black canvas with its blanket of glitter thrown across it, and the sound of rushing water indicated a nearby stream or small river running through the clearing.

As Bellatrix gazed worriedly at the surroundings, Jason, who was tied to the far right in row three, turned his head upward to speak to the confused darker blue version of her grandmother Venus and mother Matilda.

"Ah, you've finally managed to come round, as I can see," said he. Bellatrix shot a confused look down at him.

"What happened?" she asked. Petunia, who was tied to her right in the same row, then turned to look at her as well.

"We appear to be in some sort of treeless area," she said, "How we ended up here, I don't know."

Then Vega, who was tied below Bellatrix on the left of row three, turned to the other four Spix macaws.

"I don't know either," she murmured befuddled, "But the last thing I can remember is… we were trying to escape that fire being caused by some of those toucan chicks with those flaming branches, and then we were attacked by something and knocked out."

The moment the words 'toucan chicks with those flaming branches' left her beak, the heads of Bellatrix, Gertie, Perdita, Aldebaran, Arcturus, Regulus, Denebola, Oceano, Carmen, Sylvester, Achilles, Alegria, Pitaya, Sandalwood and Connie all jerked upwards as horror stung them all like a bee.

"Did I just hear THAT right!?" blurted out Aldebaran. Then Bellatrix shot Vega an incredulous look.

"Are you meaning to say that you've seen some TOUCAN CHICKS with BRANCHES SET AFIRE!?" she screeched in utter disbelief.

"You've gotta be kidding us!" put in Sandalwood, a look of outrage plastering his face. However, Jason, Petunia, Vega, Winona, and also Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka and Ferdinand, nodded to confirm that they weren't.

"Then WHAT IN THE WORLD were those toucan chicks doing with BRANCHES OF FIRE!?" asked Aldebaran loudly.

"You know FULL WELL that fire is DANGEROUS if mishandled!" put in Sylvester. Next to him, Achilles struggled in the vines holding him to the log.

"Mrs Andromeda, Mr Eragon, Mr Spyro, Mrs Marella and the other elder archaeobirds said so," said Alegria.

"How did those toucan chicks get a hold of those flaming branches or how did they find out how to set them alight?" asked Pitaya. However, the shoulders of Petunia, Vega, Winona, Jason, Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka and Ferdinand rose in a shrug.

"We have no idea," said Alnitak.

"That's anybody's guess," put in Mintaka.

"But the only thing we DO know is that they have set this forest totally ablaze," said Alnilam. He then stole a glance at the orange glow hovering menacingly above the treeline. As the three triplet offspring of Europa and Byron spoke, Aldebaran and Perdita, who were tied next to each other and next to Arcturus, gazed at each other as something popped into their heads, an idea that they didn't like.

"That human Bill's box of the things called matches," whispered Perdita to her brother, "And their mysterious disappearance at the Chinesa Vista stand."

Aldebaran gazed at her sister, remembering the uneasy feeling he had at the Chinesa Vista stand; the feeling of himself, Perdita and Cecil, along with their parents Umbriel and Benjamin, grandparents Esmeralda and Uranus, who led the group, and also Miranda, Aramis, Capella and Achernar; Ariel, Titania, Ash, Antares and Basil; and Oberon, Tethys, Fomalhaut and Cressida, being watched by something, alongside that flash of movement out the corner of his eye. It was then that the group of twenty-three macaw chicks and flying fox pups heard a sequence of short hisses emit from something and based on how those hisses came out, it was clear that that something was laughing, and not in a light-hearted way. At this, the kids began to shoot glances this way and that at the dark surroundings. Winona, Jason, Perdita, Oceano, Achilles and Ferdinand were confused by this sound for this sound belonged to someone totally unfamiliar to them but they assumed it to be some sort of other reptile. However, everyone else wore scowls on their faces, especially Bellatrix, Connie and Sandalwood, for they knew that hissy laugh.

"Is that a snake?" asked Ferdinand timidly, the hissy laughing noise striking fear into him. Then suddenly, the sounds of bird laughter shook the air, startling everyone. There were many of them based on those sounds. Gertie immediately recognised these as well.

"Toucan chicks," the hyacinth macaw chick and Indigo and Victor's daughter murmured in a low voice. But then a horrible feeling washed over her and her brown eyes widened. Bellatrix and the others continued shooting more terrified and scowling glances this way and that at the dark surroundings from their vine binds.

"Where are you!?" shouted Bellatrix, trying to sound bold and unafraid.

"Yes, show yourself!" put in Petunia, her feathers bristled.

"We recognise you based on those menacing laughs, you colour-changing serpent with LEGS!" added Connie maliciously. At this, Oceano, Achilles and Ferdinand shot the grey-headed flying fox pup a confused look.

"Colour-changing…?" asked Ferdinand. At this, Sandalwood turned to his cousin.

"He's that cha…" he began but before he could mention the species of the owner of the hissy laughs, timid whimpers escaped from Ferdinand's mouth and Oceano's beak, before a small orange glow appeared in the darkness. At this, Sandalwood, Connie, Bellatrix and the others followed Ferdinand and Oceano's gaze and when their eyes landed on the hovering glowing orbs of flickering orange fingers, alongside the holders illuminated by those orbs, horror tore through them.

"No," whispered Arcturus timidly, hoping that what she and the others were seeing weren't true while the rest shuddered. However, Arcturus knew very well that she and the others weren't hallucinating, or that the sight was something straight from their imaginations. The sight was very REAL indeed. Standing before the tied up group of twenty macaw chicks and three flying fox pups on their three logs, a small crowd of black red-cream fronted chicks with large orange and black or lime green and magenta beaks stood, some of them holding sticks that had the orange orbs on their tips and above the colourful beaks were pairs of menacing eyes, all saturated with pure meanness. This was no mischievous meanness. Not even the meanness they would harbour in their bullying behaviour. This meanness was that of a bunch of highly dangerous and malicious gangsters and Sandalwood thought he spotted a few slivers of colour bound to some of the sticks, on the opposite end to the burning ends. As he examined them closer, he realised what they were and shuddered, both outrage and disgust tearing through him.

"Parrot feathers," he whispered disgustedly. At this, Ferdinand and the macaw chicks shot the amber flying fox pup a horrified look. There had been a colony of certain winged mammals that lived in the Amazon that tied feathers on the ends of their weapons, like the fairly common spear-like sharp-sticks, as trophies from their feathered kills, and the torches held by the toucan chicks were reminiscent of those weapons owned by that colony of winged mammals based on how the feathers, which some of Sandalwood's group assumed to be moulted feathers that the toucan chicks had somehow found were tied. Then a shockwave of heated offense tore through Sandalwood and Ferdinand for they found those feathers tied to the ends of those sticks utterly insulting, as did the macaw chicks. Connie, however, was confused and tipped her head to one side for she knew next to nothing about Cicatriz and his colony and thus did not understand very well how the toucan chicks' use of those parrot feathers on their makeshift torches was offensive to the rest of the group but then the grey-headed flying fox's eyes landed on something at the front of the small crowd of toucan chicks.

That creature had scales, but those scales were crisscrossed with slashes and bite-marks, most of them half-healed and scabby, and it had legs that, as revealed in the light of the flames burning on the toucan chicks' torches, ended in pad-like hands and feet, and a long tail flowed out from behind the creature, ending in a coil as sinister as that of a snake ready to pounce and strike. Its head had lobes emanating behind its face and on its face were eyes on cone-like turrets and those eyes were pointed at Sandalwood and the others, the most acidic rancour and scorn burning in them as they pierced the group and from the mouth beneath the eyes, a hissy laugh of scorn emitted from it. As all these features began to click together within the minds of Sandalwood and Connie and the macaw chicks that had met him in the fraudulent Paradise Sanctuary place, that reptile that captured and fed parrots to Carnassial and his gang, recognition finally took hold and as it did, horrified disbelief tore through them.

"DALEK!?" shouted Bellatrix, Petunia, Vega, Gertie, Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka, Aldebaran, Arcturus, Regulus, Denebola, Carmen, Sylvester, Alegria, Pitaya, Sandalwood and Connie all at the same time. At this, Winona, Jason, Perdita, Ferdinand, Oceano and Achilles threw on confused looks.

"Who!?" said these six together. However, none of the others who knew the chameleon, which was indeed Dalek, replied for they were too stricken by immense disbelief to even form words.

Dalek stood there with the small crowd of toucan chicks, which Bellatrix had estimated to be about thirty or forty or perhaps more, quite a few armed with the parrot feather-decorated torches, before Sandalwood and his group, an uglier look to him than ever before. His hide was crisscrossed with dried up and scabby scratches and bite-marks, his battle scars resulting from his parrot victims slashing him with their claws and biting him with their beaks in their attempts to escape when he forcibly handled them and shoved them into the Compartment of the Carnivores, and some of those wounds were showing signs of scarring. Sandalwood and some of the others shuddered for Dalek resembled the description of a heavily scarred flying fox from Cicatriz's colony who had been in numerous fights with countless birds. But what was even uglier than the chameleon's claw and bite marks was the look in his face, especially his eyes, as they glared menacingly, like a heated laser beam, at Sandalwood and company, especially at the macaw chicks. Dalek's face was saturated with pure and extremely caustic and bitter insanity, rancour, wrath, vengeance and other negative things that boiled and festered like a severely infected wound. It was then that Aldebaran and Perdita's eyes travelled from the chameleon to his feet and landed on an array of some objects scattered on the stony, patchily grassy floor around Dalek's front feet. Some of the objects appeared to be cuboid shaped, with a smaller cuboid slotted in them and one of their sides bearing some sort of strip. With the cuboids were countless sticks, all of them ending in a small bulge. Some of the sticks' bulbs were red and unused but some of the other sticks' bulbous ends were black and kinked, indicating that they had been used. When the two chicks of Umbriel and Benjamin and Cecil's older siblings felt recognition of those little boxes and sticks take hold, immense horror, the biggest in their lives, tore through them.

"Those are the…" began Perdita.

"MATCHES FROM THOSE HUMANS!" shouted Aldebaran, finishing Perdita's sentence. Sandalwood and the others also threw on even more horrified looks. The many, many things scattered at Dalek's feet were indeed matches from their boxes, and amongst them were the box of matches from Bill, the human Uranus and company, including Aldebaran and Perdita, had accompanied to the Chinesa Vista. Some of the matches had obviously been used based on their blackened and kinked bulbous ends while those with the red bulbous tips were unused. As Aldebaran, Perdita and the others gazed at the sticks and cuboids strewn across the ground before Dalek and the toucan chicks, Dalek let loose an extremely diabolical, demented hissy laugh the most fiendish one he had ever concocted, sending fear flaring within Sandalwood and the others.

"But HOW!?" asked Alnitak.

"Those chimpanzees reported him to have FALLEN to his DEATH outside that window!" put in Alnilam. At this, Dalek, for he cannot speak, showed how he had managed to evade Herbert and his chimp troupe's attempts to catch him by taking a large leaf and putting it on his head to simulate his hat. Then as Sandalwood and the others watched, Dalek then tossed aside the leaf and darted away from it. At first, Sandalwood, Gertie, Bellatrix, Petunia, Vega, Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka, Aldebaran, Arcturus, Regulus, Denebola, Carmen, Sylvester, Alegria, Pitaya, Sandalwood and Connie were perplexed but then it dawned upon them.

"He must have used his hat as a distraction to those chimps while he escaped," said Regulus, wincing from the pain of his burn caused by that ignited vine tendril falling onto his back earlier and singing off some of his flight feathers.

"Therefore he must have _faked his own death!"_ screeched Denebola scornfully as she glared bitterly at Dalek who folded his forelimbs and put on a sneering look as if to say, 'Good guess, parrot rats'. Sandalwood then glared at the chameleon.

"So, it seems that you have duped Dundee and the others into thinking that you have died and have stalked us all the way from Peru to HEAR!" bellowed the amber flying fox pup angrily. Dalek nodded in response to this question and let loose another hissy laugh while the toucan chicks just smiled menacingly. Then a series of memories as to how Dalek had followed the group to Rio began to flash and play in Sandalwood's mind.

Sandalwood remembered seeing a flash of movement in Peru just as he, Augustus, Melissa, Acerola, Stella, Luna and Soren were picked up in their cage by Linda to be loaded onto the plane, but he had assumed it to be one of the monkeys being guided by one of the real conservationists to one of the cages containing more monkeys. Then the incident of the floating blanket that enveloped Blu and Jewel's heads and almost suffocating them during the trip back home flashed in Sandalwood's mind, along with that brief hissing noise which Sandalwood had assumed to be Venus, who has also been asleep, breathing in a certain way through her beak. It was clear that someone had tried to smother Blu and Jewel with the blanket on the plane, and had used their ability to change colour to become invisible to attempt to kill those two Spix macaws unnoticed and making it appear to Sandalwood and Saiph, who had witnessed the sinister movement, that the blanket was moving all by itself when in actuality an invisible someone was moving it, holding it by the corners, and there was only one creature capable of changing his colour to match his surroundings and turn invisible and give the illusion of things he carried and moved that those things were moving by themselves.

Then Sandalwood remembered the uneasy feeling borne by him and some of the other kids during the journey, the feeling of being watched and stalked, in addition to Lillie's sighting of another flash of movement back in Rio airport shortly after everyone had disembarked from the plane, and also Aldebaran's sighting of a movement flash at the Chinesa Vista, coinciding with the disappearance of Bill's matches after the man had placed them back into his bag shortly after Cecil had been pulled away from them by Umbriel after he had examined them. It then dawned upon Aldebaran that Dalek had been at the Chinesa Vista, had been listening to the talk Uranus held about how the Blu Bird Sanctuary got its name, as well as Bill and his colleagues' discussion about the toucan capture progress, and after seeing Bill's bag and the box of matches pulled out by Cecil and then placed back in the bag by Bill, the chameleon must have quickly scurried out from his hiding place once everyone's backs were turned, sneaked into that specific compartment of Bill's bag and had nabbed the entire box of matches before anyone could turn in his direction, which explained Aldebaran's sighting of the movement flash out of the corner of his eye, which he initially assumed was a bird flying past the Chinesa Vista in the jungle.

As this possibility played in Aldebaran's mind, the son of Benjamin and Umbriel's eyes then travelled to the torches held by some of the toucan chicks who Sandalwood and some of the other kids with him, including Aldebaran, believed to have been recruited by Dalek. Finally, as Aldebaran's eyes moved back to the scatter of matches and matchboxes on the floor, among them Bill's box of matches as recognised by Aldebaran from its design, in front of Dalek and the toucan chicks, Aldebaran, along with Sandalwood and the others, glared furiously at the chameleon for they had arrived at only one possible conclusion.

"YOU were the one who had snaffled those matches from that human Bill at the Chinesa Vista, didn't you!?" snarled Aldebaran volcanically, "along with those countless other matches from other humans. YOU were the one who must have had those toucan chicks spread that fire through the Blu Bird Sanctuary and set it alight according to Jason, Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka, Vega, Winona and Ferdinand's account!"

"I cannot BELIEVE you would CONCOCT such a DIABOLICAL, DEVIOUS, DESTRUCTIVE THING!" screeched Bellatrix, her pigtails flared out. Then Regulus and Denebola's eyes scoured the toucan chicks thunderously.

"Not to MENTION recruit some of those TROUBLEMAKERS as your ACCOMPLICES!" shouted Regulus despite the pain from his burned lower back that was agitated by the rough surface of the log's bark. Dalek, however, retained his devilish look and let loose another hissy laugh while the toucan chicks tittered. Then one of the toucan chicks came forward and said, "This guy has just thought of a brilliant game for us to play," with a nod to Dalek who put on a devilishly proud face and folded his forelimbs.

"It's called 'Branches of Fire'," put in another toucan chick, a female.

"Pretty cool, eh?" said a third who held one of the feather-decorated torches. Then titters rolled through Dalek's 'recruits'. Sandalwood's group, however, were NOT amused.

"Cool!?" spat Denebola with disgust, the others in her group glaring at the toucan chicks, "You THINK it's cool to set the WHOLE FOREST alight like that!?" she nodded to the orange glow above the treeline e and its smoke as she said this. Then her face morphed into a look of realisation. Regulus, Sandalwood and the others' faces also formed the same looks, a conclusion having popped up in their heads. It seemed that Dalek had not only being gathering matches from Bill at the Chinesa Vista and from some other humans who had been visiting the sanctuary by entering whatever carrier things they had, such as bags, for anything that could start a fire easily, such as boxes of matches, but had also convinced some of the marauding toucan chicks, many of them that had gone down the wrong path thanks to their parents' lack of disciplining them, into becoming his accomplices, whilst Jason, Winona, Vega, Ferdinand, Petunia, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka arrived at a very possible cause as to how the toucan chicks they had seen with those branches lit with fire had obtained it in the first place, but a troublemaking gangster toucan chicks, plus Dalek, plus his gathering of the matches and his convincing of the toucan chicks to play with fire was an EXTREMELY dangerous, explosive and destructive concoction, and that was not all. Bellatrix and some of the others had also deduced that Dalek must have hatched a plan to burn the Blu Bird Sanctuary down and kill all the parrots living on the protected area, and parrots were Dalek's most DETESTED type of animal. Furthermore, Dalek must have sent these toucan chicks to attack Bellatrix's group and kidnap them, ending with them getting tied up, despite Regulus's burned lower back that might require treatment as soon as possible. The same must have happened to Sandalwood, Gertie and Arcturus and also Jason, Ferdinand, Vegas, Winona, Petunia, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka as they were trying to escape the fire, and also Connie while she was trying to find Sandalwood. Then Connie told the others that something had ambushed her and knocked her out shortly after she had resumed her search for Sandalwood after rescuing Acerola, Sirius and the others from the burrow and have Mauro and his gang carry them to safety. She then gazed with a regrettable look at Sandalwood, the guilt of the things she had yelled at him boiling within her, but a proper apology would have to wait until Sandalwood and company got out of this utter mess.

As everything summed up to the final conclusion and all the pieces of fragmented picture clicked together; Sandalwood and company began to tremble with extreme rage as they continued to glare at Dalek and his toucan chick accomplices.

"We get it now," growled Sandalwood, his anger threatening to volcanically erupt, especially as his eyes gazed at the orange glow and the rising smoke above the treeline of the clearing, "YOU want to destroy Rio's sanctuary and kill as many parrots as possible by BURNING it to the ground, AREN'T YA!?"

The other kids also pierced Dalek with glares as hot as the fire ripping through the Blu Bird Sanctuary and released cat-like hisses of pure caustic acid. Then Dalek let loose a loud hiss, one saturated with pure rancour. The toucan chicks, however, only exchanged confused glances and shrugged. Then Bellatrix began to convince the toucan chicks about Dalek's villainy and danger, for she sensed that Dalek had evil intentions for them as well.

"YOU lot, get away from that chameleon, he's DANGEROUS!" she called.

"Yes, and put out those flaming branches," added Gertie, "Fire is NOT something to mess with!"

The other twenty-one kids also protested the same things to the toucan chicks but to their utmost dismay, their protests of desperation fell on deaf ears and none of the toucan chicks listened. However, both groups, both Sandalwood and Dalek's, were being watched. Behind a large rock, someone was watching the dramatic scene, a severely horrified look on his face. He had black feathers and a white front, and a large orange beak with a black tip but unlike the toucan chicks, he was a good toucan, and when he saw Bellatrix's group tied to the three logs and how the chameleon and his group of 'recruits' all of them his own descendants and some of the many, many gangster toucan chicks ravaging the sanctuary, were taunting them, he trembled violently, especially when he heard what came out of some of the toucan chicks' beaks next.

"But it's a LOTTA fun," said one of the toucan chicks in response to Bellatrix and Gertie's warnings.

"We LOVE fire," put in another who held one of the torches, "It's AWESOME!"

This drained the colours of the facial skins of Sandalwood, Bellatrix and company, under their fur and feathers, until the colour of their skins was as pale as a shrivelled white mushroom, and some of them, especially Sandalwood, Ferdinand and Sylvester, Achilles, Pitaya and Alegria, felt their stomachs turn, and Pitaya even retched at these words. However, they put aside their immense disgust and glared at the toucan chicks crowding around Dalek.

"It AIN'T AWESOME if it is allowed to run amok and cause mass DEVASTATION," retorted Ferdinand. However, the mischievous looks on the toucan kids' faces remained and Dalek let loose another devilish hiss. It was obvious that the toucan chicks' naiveté had completely blinded them to the dangers of playing with fire. Then Dalek nodded to his little accomplices with a series of gestures with his front limbs and with that, the toucan chicks began to advance upon Sandalwood's group. Some of the toucan chicks had vines and as they saw the deranged toucan kids walk towards them, crow-like giggles escaping their beaks, Sandalwood and the others began to whimper and squirm. From behind his hiding place, the orange and black beaked bird flinched and whirled round.

"I've gotta find help PRONTO before that lot does anything to Bellatrix, Sandalwood and the others!" he cried quietly and lofted into flight.

 **Meanwhile**

Blu and Jewel, together with Augustus, Stella, Melissa, Soren, Carla, Bia, Zephyr, Venus, Io, Sheldon, Titan, Brooke, Diantha and Tom continued to fly through the treetops of the unlit jungle at a safe distance from the tideline of the spreading orange flames to keep out of the smoke and away from the heat. Immense dread and worry plagued the group, and Jewel, Zephyr and Venus were especially trembling at the sea of menacingly dancing flames and the fumes of highly polluting, suffocating smoke they kept vomiting into the sky.

"Our kids are gonna be scarred for life with an outright for of fire like us when we rescue them and they recover," murmured Zephyr. He thought of Bambi and Altair, the two chicks of Spyro and Marella who had only just begun to embark on the path of learning about fire and its dangers and how to use it safely, and Altair was an aspiring fire dancer much like a close friend of his uncle Spock who led a band of fire-stick spinning archaeobirds who performed during special dancers in the archaeobird clan back in the Amazon, and if he ended up scarred by this fire, his dreams of becoming the archaeobird clan's fire-dancer were severely jeopardised. But then something else churned in the bubbles of worry boiling within Blu and company.

"I hope Sheldon and the others are alright," murmured Carla, her gaze behind the group, "He's so brave in leading some of us away to expand on the search range of the sanctuary for the missing kids."

"Yes, but he's also Io's last remaining macaw close to her," said Bia, her equally worried gaze fixed on Io who looked visibly distressed over Sheldon's decision to spread out from the group. If Betelgeuse and Rigel were ever found dead and if anything fatal were to ever happen to Sheldon, not only will it tear Io's heart into pieces but she may never, ever allow herself to find another male macaw to fall in love with and have another family again. Diantha gazed both sympathetically at Io but also with caustic bitterness as well but not for Io.

"I hope Sofia's enjoying herself after putting her through all this emotional, hellish nightmare again by stealing her two chicks along with the others," she growled, her temper against her sister, which she never saw as her sister anymore, and her mate Marcel threatening to explode.

"Look, let's just focus on searching and rescuing the missing kids first," said Tom, "We'll get to that later once we've finished this important, risky mission."

Diantha sighed and resumed the flight, worry for Io plastering her face and the fear for the missing kids, especially Sandalwood who was Stella and Soren's only son, boiling within her. As the group of four flying foxes and eleven birds continued their flight, they heard the shout of someone familiar. At this, Blu stopped the group into a hover and shot Augustus a look.

"Did you just yell my name, Augustus?" asked he.

"I never said anything," replied Augustus.

"Unless it's…" began Melissa but then Blu and Jewel's names rang out again, this time louder, and the voice sounded old and raspy, like an aged bird. At first, the fifteen confused animals shot glances this way and that but could not see the shouter in the surrounding lake of dark unlit trees but then Venus's amber eyes landed on an incoming form emerging from some trees. She then noticed that the form had a bright orange beak with a black tip and a white face and torso. At this, recognition took hold within her.

"RAFAEL!" she shouted at the incoming form, which was indeed a toco toucan named Rafael, as he came rocketing towards her and her group, shouting Blu and Jewel's name. Then Blu, Jewel, Zephyr, Carla, Bia, Io, Titan, Brooke, Diantha and Tom fluttered forward.

"Uncle Rafael!" called Carla, Bia, Io and Titan together.

"Dad!" said Diantha.

"Rafael," said Blu, Jewel, Zephyr and Tom. Augustus, Stella, Soren and Melissa also recognised the toucan as he flew up to the group and slowed to a hover, pausing to catch his breath.

"Are you alright, Rafael?" asked Augustus when he saw the fluster and agitation saturating the puffing and panting toco toucan's face.

"You look like you've been chased by a predator," said Soren.

"More like trying to escape that fire," said Melissa with a glance at the sea of flames as it continued to spread throughout the trees. Then as soon as Rafael had got his breath back, he finally began to speak without having to pause to puff and pant or have his rapid breathing break up his sentences. However, as his terrified and horrified gaze revealed itself on his face, Blu and the others felt concern well within them.

"You MUST COME WITH ME NOW!" he shouted, "While I was out looking for YOU guys for help soon after I had escorted my love Eva to safety with Gylfie, my well-behaved toucan kids and the kids of some of you," his gaze flashed to Carla, Bia, Io, Titan and Brooke as he said this, "I came across some small flames in the clearing and when I went to investigate, I saw a bunch of some of those beyond-naughty toucan chicks holding sticks with flames on the end with a large, claw and bite mark-riddled lizard in front of them glaring and taunting some young animals tied to some logs…"

As he said this, Venus and Zephyr mouthed 'sticks with flames' while the others were too fixed on Rafael's explanation of what he had seen. The others then exchanged horrified glances before gazing back at Rafael.

"Could you recognise those young animals, Dad?" asked Diantha.

"I couldn't see them very well, my daughter for they were quite some distance from the torches held by those toucan chicks," replied Rafael, "But I did recognise some of their voices. I think I heard Tiago and Matilda's daughter speak and also a flying fox pup…" he then shook his head and began to explain how he had found Bellatrix and the others with her, "We were supposed to be taking Bellatrix, Bartholomew, Perdita, Aldebaran, Cecil and some of the other chicks to safety after…"

"Look, save the explanations till later," interrupted Blu urgently, "Take us to where you've found those tied-up young animals. I have a bad feeling about this."

Rafael nodded, turned tail and rocketed off. Blu, Jewel, Augustus, Stella, Soren, Zephyr and Venus launched into a speedy flight after him with Diantha, Tom, Carla, Bia, Io, Titan and Brooke right behind them.

"Based on Rafael's witnessing of that scene," cried Stella distressfully, "I reckon Sandalwood and one of Tiago and Matilda's chicks must have been captured."

"We must rescue them before any of those toucan chicks and whatever new friend they have found do anything heinous to them," put in Soren. Then Zephyr threw on a suspicious and dreaded look.

"Toucan chicks with torches?" he murmured, but then he began to tremble as his dread boiled dangerously within him.

"Let's just follow Rafael to where he has found this scene, dear," said Venus. Zephyr nodded and resumed his flight, and so Blu's group followed Rafael to the site where Sandalwood and the others were being held by the toucan chicks and their new reptilian friend, which was Dalek.


	80. Chapter 79

**Chapter 79- life-and-death decisions and actions**

While the orange glow continued to hover menacingly above the treeline surrounding the clearing with smoke belching into the sky, Dalek and his little toucan 'accomplices' had just begun to gag Bellatrix and the others with the extra vines they had found and gathered, starting with Gertie's group. However, the chameleon had ordered some of the toucan chicks, who were obviously totally blinded to Dalek's villainy by their naiveté, to untie Bellatrix and rebind her while he and some of the other toucan chicks gagged the other five macaws on the log; Gertie, Petunia, Vega, Winona and Jason for Dalek was planning on killing Bellatrix separately. As Bellatrix was untied, dragged away and then retied by some of the toucan chicks, some of them holding the parrot feather-decorated torches (flames on branches), Bellatrix began to viciously struggle but she soon found her wings bound to her sides first by a number of pairs of toucan chick wings and then a tough vine as it was wrapped around her midsection. Gertie, Petunia, Vega, Winona and Jason (with Petunia retied to the log once Bellatrix had been removed) looked on fearfully as they watched Bellatrix fiercely struggle in the grasp of the toucan chicks while Dalek and some of his other accomplices bound their beaks shut with the vines.

"Bellatri-!" began Petunia as she was cut off when her beak was tied tight shut by two of the toucan chicks by Dalek's orders. Vega was then gagged by a piece of vine as Dalek let loose a hissy laugh at her terror-saturated eyes. Then Dalek turned to Winona but Winona wasn't having any of this and kept snapping her beak at the toucan chicks and the chameleon defiantly as they tried to tie her beak shut, and one of her beak snaps managed to catch the talon of one of the toucan chicks, making him yelp and jolt backward. While Dalek and company continued to struggle with Winona with Jason looking on, too frightened to speak, Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka, Perdita, Aldebaran and Arcturus were also gagged by some more of the toucan chicks, as were Regulus, Denebola, Oceano, Carmen, Sylvester, Achilles, Alegria, Pitaya and Sandalwood, Ferdinand and Connie but Dalek had ordered the toucan chicks seeing to them to untie Sandalwood and Connie and bind them as well for he wanted to kill the two flying foxes separately, along with Bellatrix, which they did **.** As Sandalwood and Connie were pulled from their binds away from Ferdinand (whose binds were retied to prevent him from escaping) while the others on their log were gagged, cries trying to fly from their beaks and mouths only to be cut off, Sandalwood began to hurl disgusted remarks at Dalek.

"You know what I think, Dalek!?" growled the amber flying fox as he was thrown facedown onto the partially grassy floor before he was then pinned down by toucan chick talons. Dalek, at this, turned his devilish gaze at Sandalwood as soon as Jason's beak was gagged. Then Sandalwood took the opportunity to insult the chameleon. His eyes then began to blaze green fire as they glared furiously at Dalek and as their owner began to struggle and writhe under the toucan chicks as they tried to restrain him, one of them holding a torch.

"You're _twisted,_ did you know that, you scaly slowworm?" the flying fox pup hissed, jerking his head to one side as a toucan chick wing went to his head to hold him down, "You're as twisted as my psychotic great-uncle Cicatriz," at the mentioning of Cicatriz's name, Ferdinand, as he mouth was gagged, flashed his cousin a surprised look. Bellatrix and the other birds did the same. Sandalwood then hardened his volcanic look at Dalek as the chameleon returned his glare with a fiendish grimace.

"In fact, you're more of a cross of Cicatriz and that devious exotic bird-hating cockatoo who used to smuggle birds out of Brazil, known as Nigel," continued Sandalwood, but then he flinched when Dalek let loose a loud rancorous hiss at the mentioning of Nigel, accompanied by the chameleon's trembling of pure rage.

"Dalek as heard of that Nigel cockatoo?" asked Bellatrix with surprise but then she flinched when Dalek's volcanic, rancorous glare moved to her and her toucan chick holders soon gagged her. Sandalwood, however, did not care about this and continued to glare at Dalek. His anger then began to boil dangerously within him.

"YOU want to see all PARROTS SUFFER, don't you!?" he bellowed, "YOU want to kill EVERY PARROT YOU COME ACROSS, don't YA!?"

"Especially after those three parrots displaced you from your beloved spot as your former owner's favourite pet," put in Connie as she was held by three toucan chicks. At the mentioning of his shattered life as a beloved pet of that boy, Dalek began to tremble all the more. His turret-like eyes became blazing infernos like the fire he had manipulated some of the toucan chicks into starting tearing through the Blu Bird Sanctuary and without hesitation, he ordered his little accomplices into binding Sandalwood and Connie, which they did. Sandalwood and Connie let loose whimpers as their mouths were gagged shut by the vines. This done, the toucan chicks set the three kids aside while the other toucan chicks and Dalek finished off gagging the other twenty kids, finishing at Ferdinand but not before he lashed out and bit one of the toucan chicks on the arm part of the wing while she held the flying fox pup's head against the log while two other toucan chicks gagged him with the vine. The toucan chick then grasped her bitten wing as it began to bleed a bit.

"Snappy furball with wings," she muttered, much to Ferdinand's enraged flash of his eyes. As soon as all twenty-three kids were gagged, Dalek began to rally his toucan chick accomplices together to discuss the next part of his plans: how to kill the kids. However, he and his accomplices hadn't noticed Gertie begin to use her talon claws to dig into the vines holding Petunia, who was now by herself now that Bellatrix had been removed, and weaken the first few tendrils, Petunia looking on.

While Dalek and his accomplices began their discussion on how to kill Bellatrix and company, Rafael continued leading Blu, Jewel, Zephyr, Venus, Carla, Bia, Io, Brooke, Titan, Diantha, Tom, Augustus, Melissa, Stella and Soren to where he had found Bellatrix, Sandalwood and the others in the clutches of Dalek and some of the toucan chicks.

"This is HONESTLY like our rush to the Spix tribe's ravine after hearing from your falcon friends that your offspring and the evacuated birds had become in severe danger by those bats that had managed to make their way to the ravine!" muttered Augustus as he flapped his membranous wings like mad.

"It feels like that chameleon that had kidnapped me, Carla, Tiago, Azul, Mimas and Spyro back at that pseudo-conservation area is another incarnate of that horrible cockatoo Nigel," growled Bia.

"I think he must have stowed away on that plane back to Rio with us," said Carla.

"And may have tried to smother you and Jewel with that cloth thing while you were sleeping," muttered Stella to Blu and his mate, "I guess Sandalwood and Saiph hadn't been playing a trick on us with their wild screaming after all."

"Oh, forget about that incident, Stella," said Blu, "And let's just focus on saving Bellatrix and the others."

Stella nodded and resumed flying on with Soren right behind her.

"I hope we're not too late!" cried Melissa hysterically, tears of terror flooding her eyes and dripping from them. She had images of Sandalwood and the others being tortured and other horrible things happening to them at the clutches of those toucan chicks and their 'leader' flash in her mind.

"Are we nearly there yet, Uncle Rafael?" asked Titan as Brooke, Diantha and Tom flew alongside him. Rafael didn't answer and continued leading the group in the direction of the clearing where Dalek and his group were with Bellatrix and company.

Dalek continued his discussion with his toucan chick 'accomplices' using gestures and points with his pad-like hands as to how Sandalwood and the others were to be 'dealt with', as the next part of their 'game'. As Petunia, Vega, Winona and Jason, their beaks gagged, watched fearfully, Gertie had managed to break the first few tendrils of Petunia's restraining vines, and the green tendrils flopped down to the sides. Though Gertie could not reach the lower tendrils binding Petunia's lower body and legs with her claws, she had broken enough of the upper tendrils to allow Petunia to free her wings and remove the vines gagging her beak. She flashed glances at Dalek and his toucan 'accomplices' as they continued their discussion and also the toucan chicks holding a bound and gagged Sandalwood, Connie and Bellatrix, as she began to wrench the vines from her beak and squirm out of her unbroken restraining vines. After a hard struggle to remove her talons out of the tight vines, Petunia was free and as soon as she was, she climbed up Gertie, her feet still tied, seized the vines holding her beak shut with her wings and yanked them away, freeing the hyacinth chick's beak.

"Now to untie you," whispered Petunia but before she could start untying Gertie, the hyacinth chick said, "No, you go get help and make sure you get it fast," Gertie stole another terrified glance at Dalek and his accomplices, "There isn't much time. That psycho chameleon's gonna put his murderous plans into action any second."

Petunia, though she was weighed down with the reluctance of leaving Gertie and the others, nodded, spread her wings and lofted into flight, her talons still bound together by the vines. Gertie, together with Vega, Winona and Jason who were still bound out of Gertie's reach for the hyacinth macaw chick to reach and free with her claws, and also Sandalwood, Bellatrix and Connie held by some of the toucan chicks, and Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka, Perdita, Aldebaran and Arcturus; Regulus, Denebola, Oceano, Carmen, Sylvester, Achilles, Alegria, Pitaya and Ferdinand who were also still bound to their two logs, looked on hopefully as they saw the Brisa lookalike hastily flap off into the night air like a blue-white headed azure blue comet.

'Hurry, Petunia,' thought Bellatrix and the others for they could not talk with the vines gagging their mouths and beaks, apart from Gertie who kept her beak shut to avoid rousing suspicion within Dalek and his 'accomplices'. However, Petunia hadn't ascended as far as the half way point of the wall of trees' heights surrounding the clearing when a shout made her heart drop and freeze her blood.

"HEEEEY!" called the shout of multiple young toucan voices, accompanied by a massive chameleon hiss. At this, the younger daughter of Charlotte and Músculo and Jason's younger sister snapped a terrified gaze behind her and saw a small group of about four or five orbs of fire ascend after her. Sandalwood and the others also looked on, their hearts dropping as Petunia began to flap her wings faster as the group of six toucan chicks, five of them holding five of the parrot feather-decorated torches, took off after her as sent by Dalek. Then a massive burst of adrenaline volcanically erupted within Petunia as panic and the urge to fly faster took hold. Letting loose a short shriek, especially in response to the beyond-mischievous faces of her six toucan chick pursuers, the terrified Spix macaw chick fearing for her life, began to beat her wings faster and ascend the tree wall faster. However, Petunia was forced to enter the tree wall when the fight against gravity began to seriously put strain on her wing muscles and tire her out, so she broke off the ascent and rocketed into the trees with her six toucan chick pursuers following. As soon as Petunia had vanished into the trees with her six pursuers in hot pursuit, Dalek, a fiendish look of pure insanity lacing his face in the form of a psychotic grimace, then clapped his pad-hands to the toucan chicks that it was time to implement his plans, and the toucan chicks dispersed and flapped over to the still-bound macaw chicks and Ferdinand as they began to shudder. Dalek then ordered the toucan chicks holding Sandalwood, Bellatrix and Connie to bring over these three kids to him for he was going to take these three for himself (and kill). Sandalwood and the others shuddered as they were soon enveloped by as blanket of crow-cackling black and red-cream fronted forms with colourful big beaks and torches.

Petunia continued her frantic flight through the dark trees, the fingers of the fire still flickering in the background and sending fumes of smoke into the night sky but it won't be long until the sea of flames spread in this direction as well, and Petunia could smell the polluting stench of the smoke which caused her to cough and splutter but she still continued on. Behind her, the six toucan chicks, give of them holding torches, continued to chase her through the branches. However, as the six pursuers of Petunia continued to fly through the trees, the flames of some of the torches came into contact with the leaves and twigs of some of the branches and a few of them were ignited, small threads of smoke rising lazily from the new progeny flames as they began to grow larger and brighten as they began to hungrily consume their food. Petunia flashed a glance at her chasers and saw that the flames on their sticks were igniting some of the branches of the surrounding trees. With a shriek, she fluttered on, continuously ascending through the canopy towards the treetops, and within a while, she was finally out of the sea of trees and in the air. Fortunately, Petunia's trajectory was right in the path of a group of certain adult birds and flying foxes. Rafael, Blu, Jewel, Carla, Bia, Zephyr, Venus, Io, Titan, Brooke, Diantha, Tom, Augustus, Melissa, Stella and Soren continued rocketing in the direction of the clearing.

"We're almost there," called Rafael but then Diantha spotted something up ahead.

"Dad, guys, LOOOK!" she shouted. At this, all eyes followed Diantha's gaze and sure enough, they spotted what appeared to be small, glowing orange fireflies flying above the treetops and ascending continuously. Then a scream sounded from the group of fireflies, making Rafael's group stop to listen.

"That sounds like a distressed chick," said Carla.

"Bellatrix?" asked Bia.

"And what's with those orange things flying along?" asked Jewel, but then an awful look appeared on Zephyr's face. Then Carla's green gaze slowly turned as dread overtook her and looked at Bia and also Io, Titan, Brooke, Diantha and Tom.

"I believe it's ONE OF CHARLOTTE AND MÚSCULO'S CHICKS!" she screeched, "We'd better intercept those FIREFLY THINGS, QUICK!"

Then without a second's hesitation, Carla was off, a cerulean and turquoise blur. Bia followed as did Zephyr, Venus, Io, Titan, Brooke, Diantha, Tom, and last of all, Stella, Soren, Melissa, Augustus, Blu, Jewel and Rafael. Zephyr flew so fast that he caught up to Carla, dread welling within him as he had identified those little firefly-lime orbs to be balls of fire.

"I hope those fire sticks' carriers aren't who I THINK IT IS…" screeched Venus's mate. Rafael flew alongside him and Carla, the colour under his facial feathers having gone deathly pale. Then as soon as the group was close enough to the orange orbs, everything became clear. Carla spotted an azure blue streak and immediately recognised her.

"PETUNIA!" She screeched and rocketed off to intercept her, the others following. Petunia heard her aunt's cries, turned in the direction of the caller and recognised a plump, cerulean macaw flying towards her. At this, the Spix macaw chick swerved upward and rocketed towards the macaw which was Carla.

"Aunt CARLA!" she screeched as she flapped like mad towards the macaw at the front of the group of incoming cloud of adult birds, the six toucan chicks, five of them with torches, pursuing her but totally unaware that they were being unintentionally led toward a group of adult birds, among them their own grandfather, and one of their aunts and uncles who had more sense than they did. Furthermore, as the toucan chicks ascended, the fireballs burning on the tips of their branches blew down and dangerously close to them as they pursued Petunia upward again, right near their wing and head feathers, but still they continued their chase of Petunia with absolutely no awareness of the danger they were about to put themselves in at all. Then as soon as Carla and Petunia collided, the two shared a hug with Blu, Jewel, Venus and Bia joining. As they did that, Zephyr flew in, gazed a split-second at the reunion before shooting a fierce glare at Petunia's chasers but the moment his green eyes landed on them, his heart, and the hearts of the others especially Rafael, Diantha and Tom, dropped like stones and their bloods turned into ice, and Diantha actually let loose a piercing scream. Jewel did the same as her teal eyes also landed on the burning fireballs on the ends of the sticks held by five of the six black and cream-red feathered, big beaked bird chicks. As the six toucan chicks, five of them holding the torches, continued to chase Petunia towards Blu's group, the flames then kindled onto the wing feathers of the torch carriers and they began to let loose screams of terror and agony as the fire began to consume their wings. In the process, the burning sticks dropped from their wings and straight towards the forest while the five toucan chicks dived down towards some of the branches to try and put the fire on their wings out. As the sticks fell, Augustus, Melissa, Stella and Soren happened to catch a glimpse of a few colourful dashes tied to the ends of the torches but as recognition took over, the four flying foxes felt their stomachs jolt violently.

"So NAUGHTY AND OFFENSIVE!" shouted Augustus as a flash of outrage flared within him upon recognising the parrot feathers tied to the ends of the torches. Then Stella glared at the toucan chicks as they disappeared through the canopy, their wings on fire and screams of agony erupting from them.

"Well, THAT DOES IT!" she shouted equally outraged. Rafael ad also seen the feathers tied to the ends of the torches as they were swallowed up by the trees, the flames flickering behind them like comets, and felt his stomach lurch as well. This was clearly the final leaf he had for the majority of his grandchildren, but then he returned his attention to the main task, especially as Petunia, as soon as Carla had broken the vines binding her feet together with her beak, began to frantically explain to Blu and the others, her lime green eyes laced with terror.

"You'd BETTER COME WITH ME NOW!" she cried, "Sandalwood, Bellatrix, Perdita, Aldebaran and the others! They've been tied up by that psycho-chameleon and those toucan chicks, some of them armed with the branches with fire burning on one end. They're gonna KILL THEM!"

At this, Carla and Bia shot Blu and the others a horrified look.

"Psycho-cham…" began the two but Blu ignored them and told Petunia urgently to take the group there PRONTO! Petunia nodded and shot off with Rafael following. The others followed and soon, the flight to the clearing where Dalek and his group and victims were had resumed but at a faster pace. In their panic, none of the group members noticed the five of the six toucan kids that had chased Petunia were struggling to extinguish the fire consuming their plumage but their torches had landed in some bushes and had begun to ignite them as well.

 **Meanwhile**

Dalek had finally decided on how to kill Bellatrix and the others. He was going to taker Bellatrix, Sandalwood and Connie and drop them to their deaths while bound; he had decided to burn Gertie, Vega, Winona and Jason alive by having the toucan chicks (who still viewed his antics as some sort of game) set fire to their logs with their torches, while Alnitak and Regulus's group will be dropped, bound to their logs, into the nearby stream to be drowned. The kids shuddered as they watched the evil, now completely insane chameleon rub his pad-hands with glee and let loose a hissy snicker. He then nodded to some of the toucan chicks to push the logs holding Alnitak, Regulus and their groups towards the edge of the stream, which they did, while one of the toucan chicks holding a torch was brought forward towards Gertie and the three still-bound Spix macaw chicks. Then Dalek walked over to Sandalwood, Connie and Bellatrix. The trio tried to crawl away but they were seized immediately by the chameleon. As the toucan chicks with the torch stood by Gertie, Jason, Vega and Winona, Gertie cleverly concealed her freed beak by bowing her head and hiding it from view of the chick.

Then as soon as the toucan chicks had taken up their 'stations', again still thinking it as some ultra-fun game, Dalek shoved his devilish, scabby face right into the faces of Bellatrix, Connie and Sandalwood, all bound and gagged in the vines, and began to taunt the trio with grimaces and hissy laughs. Bellatrix and Connie shuddered violently but Sandalwood's face was twisted into a look of unspeakable rage. Then Dalek let loose a slow hiss as if to say, 'You ready to DIE, you three?' before the hiss transformed into a series of short hisses put together in a laugh. Suddenly, Sandalwood sprung forward and with all his might, bashed his head hard into Dalek's nose, making the chameleon jolt his head back and seize his struck nostril. Then the chameleon's pad-hand came away to reveal a splash of blood on its underside. Sandalwood looked on, an extremely acidic, vitriolic, volcanic and unremorseful look he had EVER concocted in his life plastering his gagged face while Bellatrix and Connie looked on timidly. Dalek, his padded hand on his bashed nose, then glared rancorously at the little amber flying fox pup with a glare that read 'you're gonna pay for that, you WINGED RAT!' and with that, he lurched forward, seized Sandalwood, Bellatrix and Connie and turned to the toucan chicks, those that remained, to command them to set fire to Gertie, Vega, Jason and Winona's log and push the logs holding Alnitak,Alnilam, Mintaka, Perdita, Aldebaran and Arcturus, and Regulus, Denebola, Oceano, Carmen, Sylvester, Achilles, Alegria, Pitaya and Ferdinand, all with terror lacing their faces, into the stream. The toucan kids prepared for action but before Dalek could give the command in the form of a loud hiss and a pad-hand gesture,a massive screech rang out from above the wall of trees surrounding the clearing, much to Dalek and the toucan kids' extreme horror and to the immense relief of Bellatrix and the others. Then all eyes snapped in the direction of the screeching and landed on a small group of incoming flying animals consisting of seven blue macaws, one of them a chick, one red macaw, two aqua blue and yellow macaws with green foreheads, three toucans and four bats with dog-like faces. A horrified gasp entered Dalek's mouth and the toucan chicks all screamed as they saw Blu, Jewel, Carla, Bia, Io, Titan, Brooke, Diantha, Tom, Rafael, Augustus, Stella, Melissa, Soren, with Petunia at the front, swoop down the tree wall and into the clearing like a flock of colourful falcons. Stricken by panic, Dalek let loose a massive hiss to the toucan chicks while he seized Bellatrix, Sandalwood and Connie and darted off to somewhere. The toucan chicks, sensing that they were in BIG trouble, also scattered, but not before those put in charge of Alnitak and Regulus's groups heaved the logs holding those chicks and Ferdinand off the edge of the stream's bank and the toucan chick dropped his torch at the foot of the log holding Gertie, Vega, Winona and Jason, setting the branch alight with the four chicks still tied to it, much to the quartet's horror and Gertie's screams. Then within a blink of an eye, all the toucan chicks including those carrying the torches had disappeared into the tree wall moments before Blu and company appeared with Petunia at the front.

However, as Blu and the others arrived and touched down, they heard a massive splash from a nearby stream which pulled their attention to said snake of water and when they saw two massive fountains of water drops fly upward, their hearts dropped while Diantha and Tom turned and let loose screams when they saw a log with four blue forms tied to it begin to ignite, the flames beginning to clamber up it and towards its victims. Jewel also screeched in horror.

"GERTIE, VEGA, WINONA, JASON!" screeched Diantha and with that she, Tom, Io and Venus rushed over to the log while Melissa, Soren, Stella, Jewel, Blu, Carla, Bia, Zephyr, Io, Rafael and Titan rushed off in the direction of the stream where they saw the two massive splashes. Petunia tried to follow Diantha's group but Augustus hooked his wing-thumbs onto the Spix macaw chicks' shoulder and pulled her back.

"Stay here, Petunia," commanded the flying fox, "It's extremely dangerous."

As Petunia obediently allowed Augustus to pull her back, Brooke appeared.

"Have you seen the chameleon anywhere?" she asked. Augustus shook his head but then Petunia spread her small wings and fluttered up to look for Dalek. While Diantha, Tom, Io and Venus sought to Gertie, Jason, Vega and Winona and began to rescue the four chicks by biting through the vines holding them to the burning log, the others screeched to a halt at the bank of the stream's edge and peered down the drop, where they saw several streams of bubbles, along with the stub of one of the logs protrude briefly through the water's surface before disappearing under the surface. Screams of horror then escaped Carla, Bia, Io and Titan's beaks while Melissa, Blu, Zephyr and Rafael shuddered in utter disbelief, especially as they saw the struggling forms of the still-bound chicks and Ferdinand under the water. Under the stream, the poor chicks and Ferdinand were struggling in their restraints holding them to the logs. Streams of bubbles escaped through the kids' beaks and mouth as they struggled. As they did that, the two logs continued sinking towards the stream bed quite a depth beneath the surface.

Back on the bank, Jewel said, "We've gotta get them OUTA THERE!" and with that, she jumped down the bank and was about to enter the water but Augustus flew in with Petunia and Brooke and said, "No, Jewel, if you dive into that water, you'll not be able to swim!"

"Not to mention unable to fly after you come out of the water," put in Melissa. At this, Jewel shot the flying foxes a horrified look. It was true. Macaws were not designed to swim and if they submerged themselves, their feathers will become waterlogged and they will not be able to fly until their feathers dried completely.

"B-b-but how are we gonna get those kids OUTA THERE!?" cried Carla hysterically. Then Soren, determination to rescue those fifteen kids from a watery grave explosively taking control, then darted forward towards the stream.

"Soren!" cried Rafael but Stella's mate ignored him and with a massive heaving of his feet from the bank, Soren jumped over the water and plunged right in with a massive splash. Before diving, Soren turned to the others on the bank, "You macaws and toucans hover over the surface of the water ready to haul the kids out and back ashore as soon as I send or bring them up!"

And with that, he took in a deep breath and dived like a duck beneath the surface. Augustus then shot Melissa, Blu, Jewel, Carla and the others, nodded and also dived into the water after his son-in-law.

"Come on, guys," called Blu and with that, the birds all opened their wings and took off with Stella and Melissa following. Petunia was ordered to stay on the bank with Brooke and she stood there with immense worry on her face as she watched the scene.

"Please rescue them before they drown," murmured the Spix chick.

Back beneath the surface on the two sinking logs, the kids continued to struggle. Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka, Perdita, Aldebaran and Arcturus struggled to bite through the vines binding them to their log for their beaks were gagged by smaller vine pieces, restricting their beaks' range of movement and ability to chew through the main green tendrils. However, a shadow flashed over them, prompting the chicks to look up and to their relief, they saw that it was only Soren. Sweeping his membranous wings out like how manta rays swam with their flat fins to propel himself forward, Soren reached the six helpless chicks and as soon as he had clutched on the log with his wing-thumbs and foot claws, he set to work in biting through the vines, starting with Alnitak's row. Nearby, Augustus had swum down to the log holding Regulus, Denebola, Oceano, Carmen, Sylvester, Achilles, Alegria, Pitaya and Ferdinand and had begun to bite through the vines holding them to the log to free them. Then as soon as he had finished biting through Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka's vines and had moved the vines binding their beaks shut with his wing-thumbs, Soren heaved all three of them to the surface before starting on the vines binding Perdita, Aldebaran and Arcturus to the log in the lower row **.** Back above the surface of the stream, Blu, Jewel, Rafael and the others continued to hover above the stream and peering through its semi-transparent surface.

"Have Soren and Augustus freed any of the chicks yet?" asked Carla worriedly. Just then, the surface of the water broke near Zephyr and as soon as his eyes turned to it, he immediately rushed over to the break and seized one of the chicks, Alnitak, whose feet were still bound by the vines and his beak wide open sucking in the much needed air. Then Zephyr removed him from the water and hauled him ashore, while Jewel seized Alnilam and Mintaka who had also broken through the water's surface shortly after their brother, and were gasping for air. While this happened, Diantha, Tom, Io and Venus, together with a badly shaken Gertie, Vega, Winona and Jason who were trembling from almost getting burned alive but were freed in time by Io and Venus biting through the vines binding them to the burning log with their beaks, appeared.

"Zephyr's got ALNITAK while Jewel's got ALNILAM AND MINTAKA!" cried Rafael as Zephyr and Jewel rushed the three gasping, sodden red macaw triplets of Europa and Byron to the shore, where they placed them gently down on their backs. Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka continued gasping, spluttering and coughing, sending droplets of water flying from their beaks as they cleared their lungs of the suffocating liquid, and their feathers were completely soaked but they were suddenly swept into a hug by Io while Zephyr and Jewel returned to the stream. Diantha and Tom then followed to help, leaving Io to stand with Gertie, Jason, Vega and Winona who also hugged the sodden wet Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka.

"Look after those eight while we help, Io," commanded Diantha as she left. Io nodded as she began to look for some moss to dry Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka, as well as the other chicks when they were rescued.

Back under the water, Soren had managed to free Perdita, Aldebaran and Arcturus; he brushed away the vines and took hold of the three chicks in his membranous wings and moved them from the log but as he did so, he felt the urge to surface and gasp for air take hold in the form of the feeling of his lungs collapsing. Quickly, Soren bolted to the surface by kicking from the log, Perdita, Aldebaran and Arcturus in his wings. On the way up, Soren pulled the vines holding the two Verde chicks and the Lear's macaw chick's beaks shut with a wing-thumb and yanked them away to allow the three chicks to move their beaks. While Soren ascended with the three chicks, Augustus had finished biting through the vines tying Ferdinand to the log and with him, Alegria, Pitaya, Carmen, Sylvester and Achilles, having been cut free by Augustus from their binding vines too, in his large cloak-like wings of skin, Augustus bolted for the surface too. Only Regulus, Denebola and Oceano remained and Augustus knew he had to quickly deliver the six freed kids to the surface and return for those three as quickly as possible.

The water's surface exploded as Soren broke through with Perdita, Aldebaran and Arcturus and the moment they did, the quartet began to cough, splutter and gasp for air, their fur and feathers sopping wet.

"Soren's got Perdita, Aldebaran and Arcturus, guys!" called Rafael as Soren then handed Aldebaran, Perdita and Arcturus to Diantha and Tom who promptly took them to Io on the shore.

"And Augustus with Carmen, Sylvester, Achilles, Alegria, Pitaya and Ferdinand!" added Blu when he saw Augustus break through the water's surface with the said six kids in his wings. Augustus, also gasping and sopping wet, then handed the six equally sopping wet, coughing and gasping kids, their beaks still bound shut by the vines for Augustus did not have time to remove them, to Carla, Bia and Titan who then took them to the shore with Io and the others. Then Augustus said, "There are still three chicks under the water!"

"I'll get them!" gasped Soren and with that, he began to gasp, took in a deep breath and then dived back under like as duck. Back under the water once again, Regulus, Denebola and Oceano, their beaks still bound tightly shut by the vines writhed in the main vines tying them to the sinking log. However, the movements of all three of them were beginning to get slower and slower as they were running dangerously low on air. Two streams of bubbles billowed through their still-bound beaks, one through each hole between the lower mandible and upper beak on either side. However, a flash of a shadow swept over them. Soren continued sweeping his wings and kicking his legs to propel himself towards the log and the two drowning glaucous and one blue-throated macaw chick and as soon as he had hooked his wing-thumbs and foot claws on the vines, the mate of Stella began to work fast for he knew that Regulus, Denebola and Oceano did not have much time. As quickly as he could, Soren sank his teeth into the vine tendrils and began to bite through them. On the surface, Diantha and Tom tried searching for Soren while Augustus took a deep breath and dived down to check on his progress. Bia gazed at Melissa and Stella.

"I had no idea that you flying foxes could swim," said she in amazement.

"Marcus and Ana have established swimming classes back in the Amazon a few years ago to teach flying foxes how to swim and mostly to save pups and chicks that have fallen into a body of water," said Melissa, before her gaze turned sympathetic, "Too bad you tree birds cannot swim as your feathers would become waterlogged and drag you down…"

"True," said Bia before she resumed her attention on finding Soren and Augustus and the three remaining chicks. Back under the water, Soren continued biting through the vines holding Denebola, Regulus and Oceano to the log when he suddenly found he was cloaked in shadow. At first, he was startled but then he saw it were only Augustus who had come to help. As soon as Augustus had latched onto the log, he helped Soren to finish the job and bite through the rest of the vines. This done, the two flying foxes seized the three chicks, Augustus going for Denebola and Regulus and Soren seizing Oceano, and both quickly headed for the surface. On the surface, Carla saw a flash of drab colour ascend through the rippling stream water.

"Here they come," she called to the others. As the others gathered round, the water erupted as Soren and Augustus broke through with the two glaucous and the blue-throated chicks in their wings. Augustus then quickly pulled the vines binding Regulus, Denebola and Oceano's beaks shut with a wing-thumb and subsequently handed them to Carla and Venus who quickly took them to the shore with the others.

"I think that's… all of them…" cried Augustus as he gasped for air and began to swim to the shore with Soren, "But I think those… last three chicks… are unconscious…"

As soon as Regulus, Denebola and Oceano were brought to the shore by Venus and Carla where Io waited with Gertie, Petunia, Vega, Winona and Jason who had wrapped the trembling, cold, still-wet and badly traumatised Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka, Perdita, Aldebaran, Arcturus, Carmen, Sylvester, Achilles, Alegria, Pitaya and Ferdinand in moss and keeping them warm, Venus and Carla laid the three chicks on their backs. Bia and Blu then came in to check the three chicks' heartrates and possibly resuscitate them while Venus and Carla stood back with Rafael, Tom, Diantha, Stella, Melissa, Titan, Brooke, Jewel and Zephyr, the latter two who helped Soren and Augustus out of the stream and onto the shore, their fur and membranous wings sopping wet and dripping with water.

"Wait, what about Sandalwood, Bellatrix and…" began Carla.

"Just a minute," said Rafael. Carla then gazed worriedly at Blu, Bia and also Io, who had been called forward by Blu to help, as they began then put their wings onto Regulus, Denebola and Oceano's chests respectively to perform chest compressions on them to get them breathing. Suddenly, Oceano jolted to life and began to cough and splutter as Io did chest compressions on him. As soon as she saw that Oceano had regained consciousness, Io pulled him into a hug but Regulus and Denebola, the glaucous macaw chicks, were still limp as Bia and Blu did chest compressions on those two. The two macaws then did a beak-to-beak resuscitation on the two chicks before resuming the chest compressions. Oceano gazed wearily at the unconscious glaucous chicks under Blu and Bia as they continued the chest compressions on them.

"What happened?" asked he.

"You were just pulled from the stream but it's alright now," said Io, "All we've gotta do is revive Regulus and Denebola."

As she said this, Denebola jolted under Bia's beak just as she finished giving her a breath and began to cough and splutter. Then finally, Regulus jolted to consciousness as Blu gave him a breath as well and also coughed. What a _relief._ All three chicks had been revived much to everyone's joy but they were badly shaken by the whole ordeal. Then Io began to shudder with rage. Whoever did this was gonna get it now for they had almost killed twenty kids by drowning them or burning them alive. However, where were Sandalwood, Connie and Bellatrix? This question plagued Io and also Carla, Soren, Stella, and Bia's minds as they examined the surroundings but as soon as all nineteen chicks and Ferdinand were safe, Blu said, "Right, all we've gotta do now is take them to Tulio's Aviary where their parents are waiting as well as get them treated," he gazed worriedly at the burn on Regulus's lower back as he said this, before turning to look at the others, a serious look on his face, "but we've still gotta rescue Sandalwood, Bellatrix and that grey-headed bat pup kid," Blu then began to examine the clearing around the group for any signs of an amber, cerulean and grey flash of the two missing bat pups and chick. However he, along with the others, were unaware that the three missing kids were in the clutches of the scaly mastermind behind the whole fiery disaster of the Blu Bird Sanctuary. Hiding behind a large rock with a tightly bound Bellatrix, Sandalwood and Connie ion his pad-hands, Dalek glared rancorously at Blu's group. A vicious hiss filtered through his mouth and his eyes pierced the group, especially the revived chicks of Alnitak and Regulus's group but most especially Blu and Jewel. An acidic hiss continuing to escape his clenched mouth, Dalek scoured the surroundings closest to him until they landed on a lethal something…

"We'll take these kids back to Tulio's Aviary while you guys search for Sandalwood, Bellatrix and that grey-headed flying fox who I believe is named Connie," said Venus as she, Carla, Zephyr, Io, Titan, Brooke, Diantha, Tom, Melissa and Rafael picked up the still-wet and shaken Gertie, Vega, Winona, Jason, Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka, Perdita, Aldebaran, Arcturus, Regulus, Denebola, Oceano, Carmen, Sylvester, Achilles, Alegria, Pitaya and Ferdinand in their talons or on their backs with Petunia flying separately for her feathers were dry enough to allow her to do so, while Augustus and Soren, their membranous wings and fur still wet from swimming in the stream to rescue Alnitak, Regulus and the others, will ride on Zephyr and Rafael's backs. Blu, Jewel, Bia and Stella opted to stay behind to search for the three missing kids but then something sent horror tear through them when the corners of their eyes picked up an orange flash. At this, all heads turned in the direction of the flash and to their horror, they saw that part of the tree wall of the clearing had caught fire. Blu, at this, prompted those carrying Gertie and the others to get out of here.

"Go, go, GO!" he shouted, ushering them into flight.

"Hold on, kids," commanded Venus to Vega, Winona and Jason in her talons and Arcturus on her back and with that, she opened her wings and lofted into flight. Zephyr followed with Carla, Io, Titan, Brooke, Diantha, Tom, Rafael, and Melissa following, all with the kids, Augustus and Soren either riding on their backs or in their talons. Petunia flew alongside Rafael.

"You be careful, won't you," said Augustus firmly to Blu, Jewel, Bia and Stella as he rode on Zephyr's back but then his stern look turned to horror when he saw something behind the three Spix macaws and albino daughter. At this, a gasp entered his mouth while Zephyr let loose a horrified screech.

"Look OUUT!" cried he and Augustus together while the others either screamed or cried the same thing. At this, Blu, Jewel, Stella and Bia were about to turn round when suddenly, a pink harpoon-like thing shot in and like a slimy whip struck Jewel hard in the back, making her yelp in pain. Then the harpoon reappeared and struck the back of Jewel's head, its sticky end latching onto it and then pulled her over so that she landed hard on her back as the harpoon withdrew itself. Blu, Bia and Stella, at this, shot astonished looks in the direction of the sticky harpoon-like tongue's owner when the harpoon tongue leaped at Stella, latched onto her face and pulled her violently forward.

"STELLA!" cried Blu as the albino flying fox was yanked forward onto her stomach. Both he and Bia ran over to a dazed Jewel and Stella and began to help them to their feet but then an extremely loud hiss of pure caustic acid erupted nearby. Io, who held Carmen, Sylvester, Pitaya and Achilles in her talons and Alegria on her back, saw something hurtle towards Blu as he helped Jewel to her feet.

"Blu, look OOUUUUUT!" cried the scarlet macaw while her cargo of five chicks let loose piercing screams. At this, Blu's brown eyes shot in the direction of what Io saw and when he saw a green scaly creature with scabby scratches and bite marks slashing through his colour-changing scaly hide charge towards him with a sharp knife-like edge aiming straight for his abdomen, the Spix macaw companion of Linda froze in immense horror. Tom then took action. Hastily handing Gertie to Rafael, the toco toucan mate of Diantha dived down towards the frozen Spix macaw despite protests from his friends, especially Rafael who had Soren on his back and Aldebaran and now Gertie in both talons, and Diantha, his mate.

"TOOOM!" shouted Rafael.

"Get BACK HERE!" bellowed Io. However, Tom ignored them and continued hurtling towards Blu and as soon as he was near him and Jewel as the tip of the knife-like thing held by the charging Dalek aimed straight for Blu's belly a few seconds away from its target, Tom bellowed, "Blu, MOOOOOVE!"

Blu continued to stand transfixed in extreme horror at the incoming chameleon and his sharp weapon but then he felt something feathery bash hard into his side and knock him away. Jewel was also knocked away from Dalek by the feathery thing but as both Spix macaws crashed at the foot of Bia and Stella, a spray of blood launched into the air, accompanied by utter screams of horror from Rafael and the others, especially Diantha.

"TOOOOOOOOOOOOM!"

At this, Blu and Jewel shook their heads and shot a horrified look in Tom's direction, along with Stella and Bia and to their horror; they saw what had happened. Bia and Stella let loose screams of horror as well. Tom's face had gone completely rigid, a look of utter surprise and pure agony plastered all over it. His eye pupils had shrunken to the size of dots and his orange and black beak was open, wide and agape, like a soldier that had been severely wounded in battle. His body was trembling and his wings had clasped onto something hard, and that hard thing had plunged right into his stomach. Then the background noise began to fade out as though Blu and company had been plunged into a vacuum, a soundless environment, and the flickering of the fire's fingers consuming the trees slowed down drastically. Directly before of Tom's stunned and agonised look, Dalek glared at him, the most rancorous, utterly sadistic and insanity-saturated glare the group had ever seen. Not a single shred of remorse or 'Ooops, wrong target' expression was in his eyes, at all; his hand-pads clenched hard on the sharp object. Then it all became clear to Blu and company:

Dalek had impaled Tom in the stomach with a knife-like piece of wood when the chameleon was in fact aiming for Blu only for Tom to bash him and Jewel out of the way and take the hit instead. In the background behind the rock, a bound and gagged Sandalwood, Connie and Bellatrix also let loose horrified whimpers and began to shed anguished tears when they also saw the mortifying scene.


	81. Chapter 80

**Chapter 80- final showdown with Dalek**

Dalek moved his pad-hands from the knife-like shard of wood and backed away, glaring insanely and with utter psychotic disgust at Tom as the toucan's eyes and beak slowly travelled down to the stiff blade that was embedded in his belly, before the chameleon's rancorous gaze travelled to Blu and Jewel, the former his intended target, and began to tremble with rage as the realisation that his target had been moved aside by the substitute. As he watched on, Carla, Diantha, Zephyr, Venus, Io, Titan, Brooke, Augustus, Melissa, Soren and Rafael, together with Gertie, Petunia, Vega, Winona, Jason, Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka, Perdita, Aldebaran, Arcturus, Regulus, Denebola, Oceano, Carmen, Sylvester, Achilles, Alegria, Pitaya and Ferdinand, who all either hovered in the air or were riding in the talons or on the backs of some of them, and Blu, Jewel, Bia and Stella on the ground, gazed at the wounded Tom in utter and extreme horror, especially as his wings moved down the shard of wood and pulled it from his stomach, the knife-like blade coming out soaked with his blood. Then Diantha handed Perdita to Zephyr and then dived down at Tom, extreme anguish and fear consuming her like the fire was doing the trees. Rafael, after handing Gertie to Venus, followed but not before he commanded the other to leave and take the kids to safety. However, Zephyr and the others were reluctant for they did not want to leave Tom.

Then as Tom toppled backwards, dropping the bloodstained piece of wood in the process, and was caught by Blu, Jewel, Diantha and Rafael while Bia and Stella began to hastily look for some moss to absorb the blood that gushed out of the impact point of the wood blade in Tom's abdomen, Diantha clasped Tom's cheeks with her wings and turned his agonised gaze in her direction.

"Tom, look at me," she begged desperately. In the air, Zephyr and the others looked on, the kids and a still-wet Soren and Augustus on their backs and in their talons, distressed looks in their gazes as they feared for Tom.

"The MOSS!" demanded Rafael to Stella and Bia as the two rushed in with the lumps of soft green stuff. Rafael and Blu seized the moss from the albino flying fox and Spix macaw and applied it straight to Tom's bloody stomach while Diantha gazed at Tom and kept his gaze on hers with her wings on his cheeks to steady it. Bia and Stella also joined in with the attempts to slow the loss of Tom's blood.

"Is he gonna die," murmured Gertie on Venus's back with Arcturus.

"I don't know, my little sweet," said Venus in an edgy voice as she watched the scene. In her talons, Jason, Vega and Winona looked on with massive tears falling from their eyes. Then Augustus on Zephyr's back called, "Can't we rush him to the aviary?"

However, Blu, Rafael, Diantha, Stella, Bia and Jewel did not answer and continued to tend to Tom's severe wound. Then the group tossed aside the bloodstained moss and Stella and Bia handed some fresh moss to the others as they then rotated Tom until his feet were in the air so that the wound was above his heart level. However, even that didn't stop the rapid flow of blood from Tom's injury. Then Tom gazed wearily at Diantha and Rafael as the two toucans began to shed tears.

"It's no good," said Bia as she threw away another lump of blood-soaked moss, "His rate of blood loss is too great."

Tom's eyes then began to shed tears and he began to tremble weakly. A short distance away, Dalek continued to watch on nonchalantly.

"Look, i-i-i-it's okay," whispered Diantha in a fragile voice, trying to assure Tom and stroking his forehead, "Y-y-you'll be okay, I-I-I-I know you will…"

Tom gazed at his half toco, half keel-billed mate and formed a weak smile as Bia, Jewel, Blu and Stella continued to try and stem his blood loss. Tom's chest was expanding at a faster rate as his breathing became more and more laboured.

"Pl-pl-please get those kids outa here," whispered he, "A-a-and rescue the others i-i-if they hadn't b-b-b-been rescued already…" he then entered an episode of rapid, laboured breathing, "a-a-and that includes our p-p-p-p-precious three chicks… L-L-Lillie, G-Gladion and Aurora who are like siblings to Mr Blu and company's offspring…" Diantha, tears falling from her eyes, nodded. Tom's weakening gaze then formed a frown.

"A-a-and get th-th-those ungrateful, u-u-u-uncaring, bunch of n-n-numskulls such as Marco, Sofia and the rest and e-e-evict them fr-from the s-s-sanctuary…" he continued, "I-I-I should assume th-th-that our human friends sh-sh-should have c-c-c-caught most of th-th-those marauding toucans and their kids by now…"

Diantha and Rafael nodded. Then Blu, Jewel, Stella and Bia gazed at the two toucans, tears welling in their eyes and falling down their cheeks.

"I'm sorry," said Blu hopelessly.

"I'm afraid that wood blade has struck an important structure in his belly," whispered Bia, "The rate of blood loss is too rapid."

At this, Diantha and Rafael's eyes began to ooze even larger tears, and Tom knew that Blu and company's attempts to stem his blood loss were hopeless. Then Tom felt his strength begin to ebb away, like water emptying from a leaky coconut shell.

"Also," he whispered weakly, "G-g-get Sandalwood to fly again… I-I-I-I would love h-h-him to play with my two br-br-brilliant daughters and s-s-s-son, and the other chicks a-a-and the flying fox pups again… in the air…"

Rafael, Bia, Diantha, Blu, Jewel and Stella nodded to this as well. In the air, Zephyr and company continued to watch, tears falling like rain from their eyes.

"Can any of you sing?" asked Tom in a weakening voice. At this, Diantha, Rafael, Stella, Blu, Jewel and Bia exchanged tearful glances. Then Diantha took up the request. Shakily taking up her weakening mate's wings in her own and gazing into his loving brown eyes, Diantha closed her eyes and launched into a soft song and began to sing one of her and Tom's favourite romantic songs. It was a song that Tom and Diantha, along with some other couples such as Carla and Justin, sometimes listened to, to commemorate their travels together with their chicks (in Diantha and Tom's case, Lillie, Gladion and Aurora) such as to and from Rio from the Sanctuary de Amazon, and their visiting of the places between those two locations on those trips.

"Never was a leader… never had a thing for fairytales…" began Diantha as she began to sing, her eyes weeping a larger flood of tears, the others listening. In the air, Zephyr and company also listened; tears falling from their eyes while Dalek, a short distance away, flinched with disgust. It seemed that he detested sweet moments, but his glare was specifically on the macaws, most especially Blu, Bia and Jewel on the ground. A rancorous hiss filtering through his mouth, the chameleon left to get something.

Tom continued gazing into the starry sky that continued to be polluted by a mist of smoke from the fire as it consumed the trees bordering the clearing. In his vision, the outline of Diantha with her beautifully vivid orange, black, lime green and magenta beak, the result of Rafael and Eva's genes being expressed together in her massive bill and making it look like a colourful piece of fruit, along with Rafael's outline and orange beak, Stella's white outline and the blue outlines of Blu, Bia and Jewel as they gazed into his eyes, began to smear into a blurry mess. In the background was a colourful cloud, the forms of Zephyr and company as they watched their toucan friend's life ebb away to the song 'Capital Letters' sung by Diantha. Then suddenly, a white mist seeped into the black sky and the shapes of Rafael, Diantha, Blu, Jewel, Stella and Bia's heads smeared into a formless mess, before becoming clear again. However, Tom noticed that his peripheral vision had begun to darken, the forms of Rafael, Diantha, Blu, Jewel, Stella and Bia's heads, along with the stars in the sky and the orange glow from the fire in the background, melting away and in the centre of the blackness, a small bright white light appeared, like a large star against a black void canvas. Then that light began to expand in size as though Tom was irresistibly drawn to it. The light grew… and grew… and grew until it finally enveloped Tom's vision and completely engulfed the blackness…

"For worst or for better… gonna give it to you… in capital letters…" murmured Diantha in a sombre voice. At that moment, Tom's chest fell and he became very still, his eyes gazing blankly into the sky. As soon as he saw this, Blu placed a talon onto Tom's neck, the others looking on as his brown eyes began to flood with tears.

"That's it?" asked Diantha tearfully. Blu gazed at her, Rafael, Jewel, Stella and Bia, great tears falling from his eyes. Zephyr and the others in the air looked on, the realisation having dawned upon them.

"I-I-I'm sorry," he whispered in a low voice. The moment Diantha and company's brains registered this; tears began to fall from their eyes, especially from Rafael and Diantha's ones. Then Diantha felt something crack hard within her. Burying her face into her now-lifeless mate's chest feathers, sobs of anguish and heartbreak began to erupt from her beak, with Rafael, Jewel and Bia putting a comforting wing on her shoulder, tears also falling from their eyes. In the air, Zephyr and the others looked away, tears also falling from their eyes like rain, and Stella gently closed Tom's eyelids.

"He was like the son I had never had…" murmured Rafael as he continued to comfort a seriously sobbing Diantha, before he, too, broke down. Blu, Bia and Jewel then shared a very tearful hug and some of the others in Zephyr's group had also descended to offer the six, especially Rafael and Diantha, their condolences. Carla, with gazed at the tearful Diantha as she continued to sob uncontrollably.

"I-I-I'm… so sorry…" said she slowly. Diantha only replied with hard sobbing and was pulled into a hug by Carla. The others then bowed their heads, tears also falling from their eyes, over the loss of their friend/uncle/son, even though Tom was not a macaw or related to Alnitak and the other chicks, as Rafael, Blu and Jewel gently laid Tom's lifeless body down onto its back. However, the moment their wings departed from the toucan's body, the moment of mourning was immediately shattered by an extremely loud hiss that pierced the air like a scream. At this, everyone jolted their heads up and shot horrified looks in the direction of the hiss's source and the moment their eyes landed on it, Gertie, Petunia, Vega, Winona, Jason, Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka, Perdita, Aldebaran, Arcturus, Regulus, Denebola, Oceano, Carmen, Sylvester, Achilles, Alegria, Pitaya and Ferdinand all emitted piercing screams of extreme fright. Then the talons and wings of Carla, Zephyr, Venus, Io, Titan, Brooke, Diantha (despite her shattered heart over Tom's death) and Rafael appeared, hooked onto the chicks and pup, and pulled them away as a small fireball on a stick flew from the hissing creature and landed in the exact spot where some of them had been a second before. Augustus and Soren then climbed back onto Zephyr and Rafael's backs as they and the others carrying the chicks and Ferdinand launched into flight as another small fireball on a stick appeared and flew at them, only to miss and land on the ground. Blu, Jewel, Bia and Stella hastily launched into flight as a third fireball on a stick flew in and struck a rock on which Stella had climbed and jumped into flight. One of the fingers of the fireball caught Blu's tail feather and it started smoking, much to his immense horror, while Bia identified the thrower of the fireballs on sticks.

"It's the CHAMELEON!" cried she, "And it's got SANDALWOOD, BELLATRIX AND CONNIE!"

Indeed it was. Dalek, who held the still gagged and bound Sandalwood, Connie and Bellatrix in his tail, was launching the fireballs on the sticks at Blu's group. His rational thinking had been utterly consumed by the fires of pure insanity now and he was armed with a box of matches he had picked up during Diantha and company's mourning of Tom as he was dying in their wings. He struck another match's red head against the rough strip on one side of the box, setting a flame on its tip and then subsequently flung it at Blu and company.

Blu continued trying to put out the small flame on his tail when Stella came in with some water-soaked moss she had seized, dipped in the nearby stream, and returned, and then as soon as she was near Blu's smoking tail, the albino flying fox clamped the wet moss on the tip and put out the fire, much to Blu's relief and gratefulness. Then Blu barked at Zephyr and the others to flee, especially as the wall of trees had begun to go up in flames almost entirely. Commanding the kids in their talons and on their backs to hang on, Zephyr and the others launched into flight for the unlit area of trees in the clearing's wall, while more flaming matches on sticks flew from Dalek at them, only to miss and crash onto the floor. Dalek, with his three hostages in his tail, continued chasing Zephyr's group, lighting one match after another and throwing them at them, especially the parrots in the hopes of setting them on fire and burning them to death. As he continued to throw the flaming matches at Zephyr and company, the kids screaming in terror, especially at the bound Sandalwood, Connie and Bellatrix in Dalek's tail, tree blue comets and one white one appeared and pounced on him. Blu went for the matches while Jewel, Bia and Stella viciously went for Dalek himself to snatch Sandalwood, Connie and Bellatrix from his tail.

"GIVE US THOSE THREE KIDS, you SCALY WORM!" snarled Stella and with that, she lashed her foot claws at Dalek's face and inflicted three scratches on his cheek while Jewel jumped onto Dalek's back and began to tear her claws through his flesh. However, Dalek, his wrath consuming him explosively, retaliated by lashing his harpoon like tongue at Stella to knock her back, bolted Jewel into the air and slapped Blu and Bia hard across the faces to knock them away, all the while holding his three terrified hostages tightly in his tail. Then Dalek lit another match, put it into his tongue and launched it at Zephyr and company.

"Look OUT!" cried Zephyr when he saw the fiery comet on the pink harpoon fly at them. At this, the group, with the kids on their backs and in their talons, scattered but one of them didn't move fast enough. As Zephyr's group then regrouped after scattering, they heard screams of agony and terror which plunged their hearts and blood, especially Titan's into pure ice.

"BROOOOKE!" cried Titan when he saw a fireball erupt on a flapping form. Brooke then began to writhe as the flames rushed up her aqua blue and yellow plumage for Dalek's tongue, with the flaming match in it, had struck her before she could get out of the way, and in her frenzied panic, she had tossed Ferdinand, whom she had seized, into the air, and had begun to stall. Ferdinand screamed but then a reddish and black winged blur came in and plucked him out of the air; Melissa had caught him but before she could dive down at the flaming Brooke, the parrot had already plunged into one of the shrubs that had just caught fire, leaving little chance of saving her. Titan, an anguished scream escaping his beak, tried to follow but Rafael stopped him for it was too dangerous. Then the group was forced to flee with the twenty kids in tow as the fire had nearly consumed the entre tree wall of the clearing.

"Go, go, GO!" barked Blu, "We'll rescue Sandalwood, Connie and Bellatrix."

With that, Zephyr commanded the others to follow him and as fast as they could, the group rocketed off but Carla was reluctant, especially as she saw Blu, Jewel, Bia and Stella launch themselves at Dalek and viciously attack him, Blu having managed to yank the box of matches from the chameleon's grasp and throw it aside but only for Dalek to retaliate and rush off into the burning trees with Bellatrix, Sandalwood and Connie, still tied up, in his tail.

"NOOOO!" cried Carla and was about to follow the four but Melissa appeared and ushered her after Zephyr's group.

"Come on," she said, "It's too dangerous."

Carla, at first, hesitated but then she went along with Melissa's orders and flew off after the others in Zephyr's group.

In the inferno, Dalek darted to a tree that had not yet caught fire and began to scurry up it with Sandalwood, Connie and Bellatrix held tightly in his tail. Behind him, three enraged Spix macaws and one flying fox swooped after him like hawks. Jewel, despite her phobia of fire, then tried to launch her first attack. She hurled herself at Dalek and brandished her barb-like claws and aimed for the chameleon's throat but the chameleon continued up the tree trunk, sending Jewel's talons slamming into the tree bark instead. With an enraged screech, Jewel resumed her pursuit of the chameleon. Then Stella swooped in.

"Give us back my son, that grey-headed pup and MATILDA AND TIAGO'S DAUGHTER!" screeched she and with that, she tried jumping onto Dalek's back only to miss as Dalek hopped to one side, sending Stella slamming into the bark. Sandalwood emitted a muffled, "Mother!" as Dalek carried him, Bellatrix and Connie away again. Then Blu and Bia tried to tackle the chameleon but they missed also. Bia launched a bite attack at Dalek's tail to try and get him to drop Bellatrix, Sandalwood and Connie but Dalek dodged that attack as well. However, Bias's beak had clipped the vines binding Bellatrix's feet together and had created a snip in the tendrils. When she saw that Dalek had dodged her attempt at seizing the three kids in his tail, Bia flew away and tried another attack. As Dalek continued dodging one attack after another from Bia, Jewel, Blku and Stella, Jewel's claws missing Dalek's eyes by inches only for him to knock her away with a tongue attack, Bellatrix's foot vines became loose and they fell away, and Bellatrix soon realised that she was able to move her feet. When Dalek stopped to attack Blu and fling him away with another tongue attack, Bellatrix quickly reached up with her feet, hooked the vines binding her beak shut and yanked it away before doing the same with Sandalwood but the trio found themselves moving again. Bia, Blu, Jewel and Stella continued their relentless attacks on Dalek until finally, Dalek was on the first branch he had managed to find. After this, he tore into the clutter of vegetation by running along the branch, being careful not to run into the fire which was dangerously close. Blu, Jewel, Stella and Bia gave chase, also keeping away from the fire but as Dalek entered a narrow clutter of branches and twigs too big for a macaw or a flying fox to get through, the four were forced to break off the chase. Jewel, Bia and Stella let loose enraged screeches when they saw Dalek retreat into the dense clutter of twigs and leaves but Blu prompted them to not give up.

"We'll attack from the above," he said and with that, he began to lead the three girls skyward and into the treetops. In his hiding place, Dalek peered out and saw no one, much to his devilish relief. He then turned his fiendish glare at Sandalwood, Connie and Bellatrix as he set them down on the spot where the branch joined the tree trunk, a fiendish grimace spanning his entire face with saliva dripping from it. However, his devilish glee flashed to horror when he noticed that the vines binding Bellatrix and Sandalwood's mouths, and Bellatrix's feet, were missing. Then Bellatrix, a look of thunder plastering her face at what Dalek had almost done to Alnitak and the others, and also to Tom, suddenly lurched at Dalek's face and slashed him across the forehead. Dalek let loose a pained hiss as a wound was opened on his forehead. As the padded hands of the chameleon went to his forehead where Bellatrix had struck, Bellatrix whirled round and untied Sandalwood and Connie as fast as she could. Then as soon as Dalek, his padded hands streaked with blood from the wound on his forehead, turned to shoot Bellatrix an extremely rancorous, wrathful look, Bellatrix shot him a scornful glare.

"Didn't see THAT coming did you, iguana face?" she crooned. Dalek, at this, threw on a look of immense surprise at Bellatrix's rapid movements in untying Sandalwood and Connie and both of those bat pups were glaring bitterly at him as well. Behind Dalek, the fire continued to consume the trees and was heading this way. Dalek then began to feel his anger at being outsmarted; especially by an individual of a bird kind he despised the most, boil within him. He began to tremble and his eyes became engulfed with the fames of wrath and rancour as they pierced Bellatrix. Connie timidly huddled against Sandalwood as she watched the chameleon continue to tremble with rage, Bellatrix also becoming wary of his boiling temper. Then with an extremely loud hiss as the pressure of his temper finally reached boiling point, Dalek crouched and lunged at the trio like a pouncing cat.

"Look OUT!" cried Bellatrix and with that, the Spix macaw chick and two bat pups dove to either side with Bellatrix diving to the left and Connie and Sandalwood to the right, sending Dalek's face slamming against the tree bark. Dalek then shot enraged glares this way and that until his turret-like eyes landed on a flash of blue on an adjacent branch. Bellatrix let loose a shriek of horror when she saw the chameleon, a rancorous hiss escaping his beak, and then spring himself off the branch and towards her.

"BELLATRIX!" called Sandalwood as he and Connie watched from another nearby branch, the one they had leaped onto. Bellatrix launched into the air as Dalek's padded hands and feet landed onto the spot where she stood, before flapping into flight. Not wanting to be outsmarted by an individual of his most detested type of bird again; Dalek opened his mouth and sent his tongue flying straight at Bellatrix. Bellatrix screamed as the pink, sticky-ended harpoon flew straight towards her. Above the trio's location in the treetops, Jewel, Blu, Stella and Bia heard Bellatrix's screeching. At this, they stopped and began to listen and trace the scream to Bellatrix's location. Back in the canopy, Bellatrix had been caught on the sticky end of Dalek's tongue and as soon as he had caught her like a bug, Dalek swung his head to the left and swung Bellatrix towards another branch, where she slammed hard against the arm. Sandalwood and Connie looked on in utter horror as Dalek then swung his head to the right and sent Bellatrix attached to the end of his tongue flying to another tree and slam into its trunk.

"We must do SOMETHING, SANDALWOOD!" cried the grey-headed flying fox pup as she saw Dalek then swing Bellatrix hard into the branch again with his tongue, "Or he's gonna kill BELLATRIX!"

Sandalwood, in response to this, dashed towards the branch's parent tree's trunk, scarpered up it and without hesitation; he launched himself at Dalek, a screech of wrath exploding from his beak. Dalek was about to turn round to face the screecher but before he could do that, Sandalwood was right on his back. As soon as he was on the chameleon's back, Sandalwood began to savagely sink his teeth as hard as he could into the chameleon's neck and back.

"You release Bellatrix this MINUTE, you SCALY RAT!" bellowed the flying fox pup and with that, he plunged the dagger-like canines of his upper jaw right into Dalek's back, sending excruciating pain erupting through the chameleon, making him hiss in agony and release Bellatrix from the tip of his tongue, sending her flying through the canopy. Bellatrix screamed and flailed and then managed to pull herself out of the chaotic trajectory by flapping and stopping herself. As soon as she had done this, a cerulean blur appeared and plucked her out of the air. At first, Bellatrix let loose a scream and plunged her beak into whatever had grabbed her, which was a talon toe.

"Ow, Bellatrix, it's only ME!" cried a familiar voice, prompting Bellatrix to release the toe and gaze at it and the feathers above the talon. When she saw that it were only Bia, she breathed a sigh of relief. Bia then carried Bellatrix up and out of the treetops and towards Blu, Jewel and Stella.

"I've got one of them," she said, "I'm gonna go back for Sandalwood and Connie."

And with that, she handed Bellatrix to Jewel and returned to the spot where she had caught her niece.

"Don't be too long down there," called Blu, "The fire's getting dangerously close."

Jewel, Bellatrix and Stella shuddered as they watched the sea of flames approach them at an alarming rate.

Back below the treetops, Sandalwood continued to savagely bite and plunge his teeth into Dalek's back, making the chameleon hiss and writhe in pain. Sandalwood had never felt so furious before and had never been so violent. As he continued to bite Dalek and draw more blood by inflicting more and more puncture wounds, Sandalwood shouted, "THIS IS FOR NEARLY DROWNING MY FRIENDS, YOU SAVAGE SCALE-RAT, AND ALSO KILLING TOM!" and with all his might, plunged his teeth into Dalek's tail when it came to grab him, drawing blood. From the adjacent branch, Connie continued to watch on in horror. Suddenly, a padded hand appeared, seized Sandalwood and before the amber flying fox knew it, he was slammed on his back against the branch and he was soon on the receiving end of an extreme apoplectic chameleon glare. Dalek then gazed down at Sandalwood and pressed him HARD against the branch, drawing the breath out of the little flying fox pup's lungs. Connie saw that Sandalwood was now in danger. With the urge to save her friend from getting killed by Dalek and fury tearing through her, the grey-headed pup dropped into the air from her branch, flew over to Dalek's back and landed on it.

"Let him GO, you SLIMY LONG-TONGUED RODENT!" she bellowed and with that, she began to try and do what Sandalwood did: biting him but before she could make her first mark, Dalek, a vicious hiss exploding from his mouth, whirled his head round, seized Connie with his sticky harpoon-like tongue and with all her might, flung Connie towards another tree. Sandalwood, under Dalek's pad-like hands watched in immense horror as Connie screamed as she was thrown against the tree trunk. Then with a loud SLAM and with Dalek's releasing of Connie from his tongue, Connie slumped down onto the tree branch but then she felt an excruciatingly agonising pain rip through her left wing. At this, the grey-headed bat pup gazed at her wing and saw that it was kinked.

"My WIIIIING!" she screamed in extreme pain and with that, her other membranous wing rushed to clasp her injured one. Dalek, upon hearing this, rolled his eyes as if to say, 'Ooops' but then he burst into a sadistic hissy laugh. Above the treetops, Blu (who had Bellatrix in his talons), Jewel, Bia and Stella continued to search for Connie and Sandalwood.

"I can't see them ANYWHERE!" cried Jewel hysterically especially as the fire continued to approach them.

"Keep looking," said Blu. Jewel nodded and continued the search.

Sandalwood gazed in horror as Connie as she twisted her face in agony, her eyes weeping tears and her right wing clasped her injured left, before directing his gaze at Dalek as he continued laughing at Connie in the most sadistic way. That did it. The bubble of extreme rage within Sandalwood volcanically exploded. Seeing the pink tongue in Dalek's mouth as he continued emitting hissy laughs at the injured Connie and the flames of wrath at what he had done to the bat flaring within him, Sandalwood struggled under Dalek's padded hands, freed his wings, reached up and without hesitation, seized Dalek's own tongue, catching Dalek off guard. Then with a powerful bite to his padded hands to the point of drawing blood, Sandalwood forced Dalek into releasing him. Then, as soon as he was free and with his wings still grasping the chameleon's tongue, the little amber flying fox pup, his eyes blazing green firestorms, darted around Dalek and began to entangle the chameleon in his own tongue, much to the chameleon's horror and astonishment. Dalek then tried to writhe his limbs became bound together by his own tongue. Connie looked on in surprise as Sandalwood then stopped by Dalek's astonishment-laced face and shot the chameleon a scornful look.

"Now let's see how YOU like being tied up in your own tongue, snake-face!" hissed the flying fox pup in an extremely acidic voice and before Dalek could act, the flying fox pup then stuck the sticky end of Dalek's tongue onto his face and shoved him off the branch, sending a horrified and struggling Dalek, his limbs tied together in his own tongue, careening through the canopy, the cruel fingers of the twigs and leaves slashing and clawing at him on the way down. Jewel, Bellatrix, Bia, Blu and Stella continued desperately looking for Sandalwood and Connie, aware that the fire was getting dangerously close and the instinctive urge to fly for it boiling within them. Then a few seconds later, Dalek slammed hard against another tree branch below, landing on his side where he lay there, out cold. Back on the branch above him, Sandalwood glared down the side of the branch in the direction in which Dalek had fallen.

"I think he's well and TRULY tongue-tied in his own tongue of spite now, eh, Connie," he crooned triumphantly. Connie managed a small smile but then the sound of roaring alerted the two flying foxes, pulling their attention to the source of the sound. To their horror, they saw that the end of the branch had caught fire and the orange flames were along the wooden arm right towards them at an alarming rate. Above, Blu, Jewel, Stella, Bellatrix and Bia were eventually forced to put off the search for the two missing flying fox pups, the fire now too dangerously close to them.

"Let's go," said Blu with a tug on a tearful Stella's wing. Stella flashed the Spix macaw an anguished look and refused to obey. She screamed and cried for Sandalwood and Connie down into the igniting trees as Blu began to haul her away in his talons. Back below the treetops, Connie gazed worriedly and fearfully at Sandalwood as the fire neared them, the polluting smoke belched by the monster of fiery fingers causing the two flying foxes to cough and splutter.

"I don't think we're gonna get out of this mess now, Sandy," she said in despair, her gaze on her injured wing. Sandalwood was about to reply when suddenly, a flake of charged wood flew in and landed right onto Connie's other wing, the uninjured one, causing the grey-headed flying fox pup to yelp and jump in pain as the cinder burned the skin of her wing, to Sandalwood's horror. Then Connie staggered towards the side of the branch and the next thing the amber flying fox pup knew, Connie had rolled off the branch with a scream.

"SANDALWOOD!" she cried desperately as she caught hold of a small twig sticking out from the branch side with the thumb of her unbroken and slightly burned wing other wing, while her left wing hung limply by her side. Sandalwood, horror consuming him, rushed over to the helpless Connie as she hung on for dear life.

"CONNIE!" cried the amber flying fox pup and reached out his wings to grab Connie's right wing but before his wings could clasp onto hers, the twig on which Connie was dangling from snapped and Connie was sent plummeting towards the forest floor, a scream exploding from her mouth and her right wing flapping in a vain attempt to pull her out of the fall. Sandalwood gazed down the drop as Connie receded further away and knew he had to do something. However, when he saw the drop from the side of the branch, he froze to the spot, a terrified look on his face; his fear of heights surfacing violently and gripping him hard once again. But then the urge to drop into the air after Connie took hold, especially as her screams of distress triggered something inside of him. As this happened and trembling violently, Sandalwood closed his eyes, leaned forward and let gravity take him off the branch. As he entered space, a flashback played in his mind, the flashback of the incident and ordeal Isabella and her comrades had put him through when they knocked him off the end of that branch with his wings and feet tied together. Sandalwood felt his wings tied to his sides and saw the water approach him at an alarming rate in his mind as the rush of air ruffled his fur as he hurtled though space. But then Sandalwood was pulled back into reality as he opened his eyes and found himself falling through space towards Connie, the fire burning the trees nearby. Screaming in fear, the amber flying fox pup flapped his wings madly, turned his body vertically to accelerate his freefall and as soon as he had caught up with Connie, he seized her and wrapped his wings around her, refusing to let go.

"Sandalwood, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" screamed Connie in astonishment, "YOU KNOW FULL WELL YOU'RE AFRAID OF HEIGHTS AND FLYING!"

"I'm NOT GONNA LET YOU DIE," retorted Sandalwood, "AFRAID TO FLY OR NOT, I will NOT LET YOU GO! I WISH WE WERE TIED TOGETHER SO THAT WE COULD BOTH DIE TOGETHER IF WE HAVE TO!"

Connie, at this, felt extreme awe and emotion overtake her and without hesitation or thinking, she pressed her muzzle against Sandalwood's mouth and locked him in a kiss, much to the amber flying fox's surprise. The kiss continued for a few seconds as the flying foxes continued plummeting towards the flaming forest floor but then as Connie broke the kiss, something amazing happened. Sandalwood felt a strange feeling bloom within him, a feeling that had been buried and suppressed by his fear of heights and flying for quite some time now. First, he suddenly felt his fear of heights and flying receding and then releasing Connie and seizing her in his foot claws, the wing-fingers in Sandalwood's wings then slowly spread out, opening the net of membranes and as they continued to extend, Sandalwood's eyes suddenly burst open. Connie saw the forest floor approaching the pair of flying foxes and shut her eyes and expected to feel a painful slam into the floor. However, it didn't happen and Connie felt the rush of air through her fur move from vertical to horizontal. At this, she opened her eyes and observed her surroundings. To her amazement and surprise, she saw that the surroundings were moving horizontally, the forest floor sweeping below her. Then she was pulled up from the forest floor as Sandalwood, who carried her, flapped his wings to gain height.

"Wow!" cried Sandalwood in amazement, "Am I really…"

"Yes, Sandalwood, you're FLYING!" cried Connie in utter joy. Sandalwood was indeed flying. His membranous wings swept out from his amber body like a cloak and he was flapping with Connie in his feet. A blaze of pure ecstasy and jubilation flashed within Sandalwood as he experienced the joy of flying in ages since his incident with Isabella and company had led to his fear of heights and flying that buried his desire to fly for so long.

"I CAN'T BELIEEEVE IT!" cried the flying fox pup in utter joy as he flapped his wings, "I'm FLYING! I REALLY AM FLYING!"

As Sandalwood relished the joy of flying for the first time in days, Dalek recovered from his fall and slowly looked up. His tongue still tied around his legs. When his eyes landed on the flash of amber with black wings through the trees with a grey and black form below him, the chameleon's daze flashed to pure volcanic rancour, and the determination to chase Sandalwood and Connie soon took over. Springing to his feet, Dalek untangled himself of his tongue and darted off after the two flying fox pups, an extremely loud cat-like hiss exploding from his mouth.

Sandalwood continued flying with Connie in his feet and began to ascend up the canopy towards the treetops, especially as the wall of fire approached them. Sandalwood swung from side to side to avoid the flakes of burnt wood and fire from landing on his wings and continued to ascend. Above the treetops, Jewel was now in hysterics, the closeness of the fire finally triggering her pyrophobia while Bia, Bellatrix, Blu and a hysterical and tearful Stella continued scanning the unlit trees for Sandalwood and Connie. Then suddenly, Bellatrix saw a flash of movement amongst some trees.

"Aunt Bia, Grandpa, Grandma, Mrs Stella, LOOK!" she crowed and pointed a talon to it. At this, the four adults followed the chick's point and to their astonishment, they saw an amber form with black wings emerge from the treetops near the fire and begin to approach them. All five especially Stella, felt jubilation and relief flash within them as they watched Sandalwood emerge from the sea of trees with Connie in his feet.

"SANDALWOOD!" cried the albino bat and with that, her grey-white wings sprung into action and propelled her towards her son. Blu, Jewel, Bia and Bellatrix followed.

"Sandalwood's flying," said Blu as he examined Sandalwood fly on his own, and without fear, for the first time in days, "He's REALLY FLYING!"

Sandalwood continued flapping his wings and carrying Connie towards his mother and the macaws as they also approached him. However, before the amber flying fox pup and his injured grey and reddish cargo could reach Stella who was at the front, a pink harpoon suddenly darted from the treetops and struck Sandalwood hard in the side, much to the horror of Stella, Blu, Jewel, Bia and Bellatrix.

"SANDALWOOOOD!" cried the five as Sandalwood, stunned by the thwack of the pink whip, was jolted out of the air and began to plummet towards the treetops, losing his grip on the injured Connie in the process. Connie began to plummet again but a cerulean blur flew in and caught her in her talons, Bia having swooped down and seized her but Sandalwood, his wings grasping his side where the tongue had struck, his face twisted in agony from the pain, continued to plummet towards the trees with Stella and Blu diving down at after him.

"SANDALWOOOD!" cried Bellatrix and Connie together. Then suddenly, a massive hiss exploded from the treetops, the exact spot where the tongue harpoon had been fired, the moment Blu managed to pluck Sandalwood out of the air. At this, Stella and Blu, along with Jewel, Bellatrix, Connie and Bia, turned in the direction of the volcanic hiss and landed on a scab-marked green form perched on the highest branch of the tree, his turret-like eyes focussed on them with an extremely corrosive concoction of rage, rancour, vengeance and insanity boiling within them. When the little group saw Dalek continue to hiss rancorously at them, Connie, despite the pain in her broken left wing, rolled her eyes in irritation.

"Does that chameleon ever admit defeats?" she muttered. At this, Jewel glared volcanically at the chameleon.

"I don't know but he's definitely causing us a lot of bother, I can tell you," she muttered and with that, the Spix macaw rocketed off to confront the chameleon.

"Mom, DON'T!" cried Bia as Blu and Stella flew in with Sandalwood but Jewel didn't hear them and continued rocketing towards Dalek. At this, Blu handed Sandalwood to Stella and said, "Take care of Sandalwood while Jewel and I finish this."

"Can I help?" asked Sandalwood.

"No, Sandy," said Blu and with that, he charged off after Jewel, much to Sandalwood's frustration.

"Look, you've been in enough danger as it is," said Stella firmly. Sandalwood disgruntledly didn't reply.

Dalek glared at Jewel and Blu as they approached him and got ready to strike, a fierce hiss of pure rancour leaving his gritted mouth. Jewel, her eyes blazing teal fire, then flared her claws and got ready to slash Dalek with her talons but as she got close, Dalek quickly opened his mouth and in a blink of an eye sent his tongue launching like a harpoon at Jewel. Jewel did not have time to react when the sticky end of the tongue caught her face and as soon as she was in his tongue's grip, Dalek heaved his head toward the fire and flung Jewel towards it. Blu looked on in horror as he watched his mate careen towards the thing she detested most besides Nigel.

"JEWEEEEL!" he cried as he watched the cerulean form of his beloved mate disappear into a tree as it caught fire. Above, Bia, Stella, Sandalwood, Connie and Bellatrix also let loose horrified cries but then they turned their attention to the fiery confrontation about to unfold between Blu and Dalek as Blu approached the chameleon but the sight of seeing his mate get thrown towards the fire had triggered something within Blu. His brown eyes suddenly became engulfed with flames and his blue feathers bristled, along with a volcanic look appearing on Blu's face. Dalek looked on and got prepare for action, a devilish smirk on his face as Blu then let loose an extremely loud screech of rage, the most enraged screech he had ever erupted in his life, and charged like a blue comet towards Dalek. Then Bia handed Connie to Stella and prepared to fly down.

"We've gotta help!" she said to Stella, who had Sandalwood, the injured Connie and Bellatrix on her back but the flying fox pup seized Blu and Jewel's daughter by the wing with her own membranous one.

"That's a bad idea, Bia," said she, "If you try and help, that chameleon could send you flying into that fire with his tongue where you'd get cooked."

At this, Bia relented and put off the idea, turning to watch Blu as he slammed into the branch before Dalek and began to watch from a distance.

Blu then glared fiery at the chameleon, the most volcanic look he had ever harboured in his life plastering his face.

"So, you despise parrots, do you, rat-face?" hissed the Spix companion of Linda in a stormy voice, "Well, I absolutely DESPISE ANYTHING AND ANYONE WHO THREATENS MY FAMILY, DESTROYS THINGS AND ENDANGERS MY JEWEL OF THE FOREST OR ANYONE ELSE BUT MOST ESPECIALLY HER!"

And with an extremely loud screech, Blu crouched and with a powerful spring of his talons, he launched himself at Dalek, his talon claws flared and ready to inflict injury. However, the sneaky Dalek ducked and dived out of the way; sending Blu's talons slamming into the tree bark and miss instead. Then Dalek whirled round and launched his harpoon-like tongue at Blu and whacked him like a pink whip in the face, knocking Blu over and withdrew his weapon into his mouth. As soon as Blu was on his back, Dalek leaped on top of him and began to viciously attack him and rip out his feathers but Blu heaved the chameleon off of him with his wings, sending the chameleon flying back on the branch. After this, Blu stood up while Dalek rose to his feet. The Spix macaw and the chameleon then glared daggers with each other before the former releasing a screech and the latter an extremely loud hiss. Then the two enemies charged towards each other and clashed, locked in a vicious wrestle. Dalek shoved Blu back and jumped further back himself, somersaulting in the process. Blu then lurched at Dalek and attempted to slash the chameleon's face only for Dalek to dodge by jumping back again and have Blu plunge his talons into the wood. Blu then fluttered back and glared volcanically at his opponent. Then both Dalek and Blu leaped into the air at each other and collided again, in mid-air, before forcing one another back in opposite directions. Blu fluttered up and attempted a dive attack at Dalek only for the chameleon to whirl round and slap Blu across the face with his whip-like tail. Blu was sent spinning backward from the force of the tail attack and slammed hard onto another branch. Dalek then rushed over to Blu and screeched to a halt before him, his tongue ready to fire at the Spix macaw as Blu opened his eyes.

With a vicious hiss filtering through his beak, Blu heaved himself into the air, hovered and dove at Dalek again, his claws poised to attack the chameleon but Dalek launched his tongue and struck him in the abdomen. From their stand, or hover, point, Bellatrix, Stella, Connie, Bia and Sandalwood watched on as the chameleon and Bia's dad then engaged in a vicious sword-like duel with Dalek using his tongue and tail and Blu hovering in the air and using his talons to deflect Dalek's tongue and tail attacks while at the same time lurching at Dalek to slash him with his claws only for Dalek to deflect his attempts with his tail or tongue. The sword-like duel continued with Blu's talons and Dalek's tongue and tail clashing until Dalek, his tail struggling against Blu's talons, then whirled round and heads-butted Blu right in the face, sending the Spix macaw flying backwards and crashing on his back against another branch. Then as he began to struggle to his feet, Dalek, a rancorous hiss exploding through his mouth, aimed his tongue at Blu and launched it like a harpoon at the Spix macaw. Blu, battered and bruised from Dalek's vicious attacks on him, raised his head and upper body with his wings just in time to receive a sticky end of a pink harpoon latch onto his forehead. Bellatrix, Connie, Bia, Stella and Sandalwood all screamed in horror as Dalek then yanked his head and pulled his tongue with Blu stuck on the end of it, from the branch and send Blu flying towards a nearby cluster of leaves in an adjacent tree, releasing him from his tongue's sticky end. Blu screamed as he spun wildly and slammed into the leaf cluster, a small shower of green flat things and blue feathers drifting gently from his crash site. Dalek looked on with a devilish glare as he withdrew his tongue, a moment of silence except for the fire's roar hung over him and the watchers (Bia and the other five) but then the leaf cluster in which Blu had crashed shuddered… and then a blue form exploded violently like a bullet flying from a gun and shot towards Dalek at an extremely fast rate.

Dalek looked on in shock as the blue comet charged towards him but before he could act, Blu had smashed into the chameleon's face, head-first, and heaved the reptile into the air. Then Blu, his volcanic wrath consuming him and his eyes blazing the largest brown fires he had EVER allowed to blaze in his life, seized Dalek by the tail with his beak, and began to slam the chameleon hard on the hard surface of another branch. Bia, Stella, Bellatrix, Sandalwood and Connie watched on as Blu violently slammed the chameleon several times on the branch by swinging his head and yanking on the chameleon's tail to lift Dalek in the air and bring him down, again and again. After this, Blu tossed Dalek onto another branch, where he crashed, and then charged towards the chameleon. While Dalek was dazed, Blu hovered before him, flared his talon claws and without hesitation and with an extremely loud screech, scored them right across Dalek's face. Dalek's blood splattered onto some nearby leaves and another branch as the chameleon received the slash across the face from the Spix macaw. Then there was silence. Blu, puffing and panting and still completely incensed and his talon claws splattered with Dalek's blood, then touched down and glared at his enemy as he, is face weeping blood from the new set of claw marks Blu had given him across the entire width of his face, then begin to struggle to lift his body up with his padded hands and feet. At first, Blu, Bellatrix, Connie, Bia, Stella and Sandalwood all looked on, thinking that Dalek was showing signs of surrendering, but what happened next proved them wrong, very wrong. With blood pouring from his claw marks and his legs struggling to hold his body up, shakily supporting his weight, Dalek's turret-like eyes then flared open and began to blaze even larger fires of wrath. Then an extremely loud hiss escaped his mouth; so loud that it echoed through the unlit trees and the sea of flames and also made Bellatrix, Connie, Bia, Stella and Sandalwood flinch violently. Blu looked on, his fury still consuming him and prepared for action, completely unfazed by Dalek's volcanic eruption in the form of the hiss as Dalek turned his now-apoplectic and untold wrathful glare towards him. However, before the chameleon could launch himself at Blu again which would result in another, perhaps more bloody and violent brawl, an explosion in a burning tree occurred behind Blu. Then a feathery comet, this time a cerulean one, erupted from that tree, zoomed around Blu and Dalek such that she was behind the latter and began to charge towards Dalek as fast as a bullet. Then before Dalek had chance to turn round, he was violently smashed in the side by the cerulean comet and thrown clean off the branch in the direction of the burning tree, the exact same one Dalek and flung Jewel into with his tongue.

Blu, the fires in his eyes being replaced by joy, watched on as Jewel, an extremely loud screech exploding from her beak and her eyes blazing teal firestorms; then charged at Dalek as the chameleon spun and careened towards the flaming tree. Then as soon as she was near Dalek, Blu's mate then released another volcanic screech, flared her claws and as she passed over the spinning chameleon, slashed them right over Dalek's back to send him careening into the fire. Blu, along with Bellatrix, Sandalwood, Stella, Connie and Bia all flinched when they saw a splatter of blood fly from Dalek as Jewel savagely clawed him. Then after Dalek had crashed into a cluster of leaves near the fire and with her claws stained in Dalek's blood, Jewel swerved round and flew towards Blu, her anger dying down as she approached her mate. Then after sharing a 'well done' talon bump together, Blu and Jewel took off and approached Bellatrix, Sandalwood, Stella, Connie and Bia, who looked on and smiled at their remarkable dealing with Dalek. However, that relief would have to wait for the seven had noticed how close the fire was getting to them.

"Let's get outa here before those flames trap us," said Blu. At this, Stella commanded Sandalwood to cling onto her breast fur while Connie and Bellatrix were handed back to Bia and Blu.

"Can I fly by myself, Mom?" asked Sandalwood.

"No, Sandy," said Stella, "You're too small to out-fly the fire. Wait until we carry you to that Aviary."

Sandalwood sighed and latched onto Stella's fur as she prepared to depart with Blu, Jewel and Bia, Bellatrix and Connie in Blu and Bia's talons respectively. However, before the three Spix macaws and the flying fox could leave, they heard a frightening sound which plunged their blood into ice. At this, the heads of all seven of them whirled round and to their horror; they saw a small flock of black, brightly coloured beaked forms rush towards them, some of them carrying sticks lit with flames and with the parrot feathers tied to the ends, in their talons. A piercing scream erupted from Bellatrix, Sandalwood and Connie and Blu, Jewel, Stella and Bia shuddered violently as the small flock, which were a flock of toucan chicks, charged straight towards them, screams exploding from their mouths and the small orange orbs blazing on the sticks of the torch carriers.

"Don't those TOUCAN CHICKS EVER LEAVE US BE!?" snarled Bia in frustration.

"Never mind about that," snapped Blu as the little flock of now-feral toucan chicks approached them, "FLY LIKE THE WIIIND!"

And with that, the air shook as four pairs of wings, three blue feathered and the other grey-white membraned, flapped hard as Blu, Jewel, Bia and Stella, three of them carrying a terrified Sandalwood, Connie (who was injured with a broken wing) and Bellatrix, charged like comets and for their lives, in the direction of Tulio's Aviary as the small flock of toucan chicks, all screaming, then began to chase them. These chicks were obviously too dangerous for Blu and company to deal with.

As Blu and company charged away with the torch-carrying and screaming toucan chicks pursuing them, there was movement in the tree as it continued to be consumed by the fire. Dalek, his head and back severely bloodied from Blu and Jewel's savage attack on him, struggled along a branch as the flames consumed it. However, due to the extreme pain of his injuries and the loss of blood taking its toll on the chameleon, he had no chance of escaping alive. Dalek continued to struggle along the branch when suddenly, the branch above him, which had caught fire, creaked and then collapsed on top of the chameleon, crushing him and forming a burning grave for the evil parrot-detesting lizard and ending his psychotic quest to kill parrots once and for all.


	82. Chapter 81

**Chapter 81- emergency rushes**

 **Back at Tulio's Aviary and its surroundings**

Dash, Ginger, Eduarda, Esperanza, Avellana, James, Danny, Ebony, Worf and Rusty, together with Broccoli, Collette and Daisy, Travis, Sunset, Eustace, Milo, Rosa, Clemont, Serena, Vincent, Yolanda, Bruno, Peach and Oscar and Velocity and Riker, Cometa's family apart from Orion, Hermione and Spike, Velocity and Orion's younger brother and Zelda, Velocity's daughter, having come to check on the birds and other casualties at Tulio's Aviary, help to escort any injured birds to the place after they had managed to escape the fire in the forest, and to help out with other things where necessary, sat under a tree not too far away from the outskirts of Tulio's Aviary's carpark, horrified eyes at the enormous flickering orange monster of the fire as it scoured the night sky like a giant fiery ghost above the treeline.

"I hope Blu and the others are alright," murmured Broccoli worriedly. Then a look of pure outrage overtook Velocity's face.

"Those toucans are seriously gonna get it now," she growled in disgust, "I can't believe that Marco and the others would do this to that poor lot over there…" and with that, the peregrine falcon's gaze travelled to a gathering of birds, among them Mercury, Sapphire, Mars, Chiquitita, Jupiter, Ruby, Saturn, Orquidea, Uranus, Esmeralda, Neptune, Ultramarine, Ceres, Cobalto, Pluto and Lapis Lazuli, as they continued to stand near the building, anxiously waiting for the return of Blu and the others with the missing kids. Velocity could see that among the crowd, most of the missing kids of Bia's group, among them Austin, Diego, Deneb, Lilac and Polaris who rested in Felix, Turquesa, Lavender and Garret's wings, and also Mira in Trixie and Enceladus's wings. Behind the crowd of birds, Tulio's team was busily tending to the casualties brought in by the animal rescuers who had managed to save a variety of animals from the fire, while a fireman and two of his group members were present providing important details of the progress in quelling the blaze. Velocity let loose a sigh and resumed gazing at the burning jungle.

"Blu and the others should either be back by now or have found refuge from that fire," said Dash. He then shuddered at the thought of those macaws and flying foxes, especially Jewel who was deathly afraid of fire, being trapped in a wall of flames with no way out. As Dash thought about this awful possibility, Riker, Clemont and Serena saw some forms approach the lit clearing above the carpark of Tulio's Aviary, emerging from the dark treeline of the jungle which fortunately had not been set ablaze.

"Hey, aren't those incoming birds some of them now?" Riker asked.

"I believe Diantha and Tom are amongst them," put in Clemont.

"And it looks like they may have found some more of the missing kids," put in Serena. At this, the other greyhounds, birds and cats followed Riker, Clemont and Serena's gaze and also spotted the incoming flock of birds. However, Velocity noticed something a bit off with the size of the flock.

"I don't think those birds are any of Blu's group, you three," she said. Then Broccoli darted in and glared furiously at the birds as they swarmed towards Tulio's Aviary, recognition of these birds, especially as they entered the shafts of artificial light from the streetlamps, firing up within him.

"Absolutely not, but they are definitely some of Bia, Carla, Tiago and company's offspring's kidnappers," snarled the Veggie lookalike and with that, he charge doff with Collette and Daisy following despite their still-healing injuries from the claw and bite marks the toucans had given them during the skirmish leading to those kids' capture yelping at them in pain. The greyhounds and birds were alarmed.

"Broccoli, girls, HEY!" cried Dash and with that, he rushed off after them with Ginger, Velocity and Riker following, leaving behind Eduarda, Esperanza, Avellana, James, Danny, Ebony, Worf and Rusty with the cockatoos. Travis and Sunset then came forward, a dozing Peach, Bruno, Oscar and Yolanda in their wings, glares at the seven animals as they rushed off to intercept the flock of birds, which Broccoli had identified were some of the many, many toucans and the kidnappers of Carla, Bia, Tiago and company's chicks and pups.

"Well, those big billed brats are gonna face a capturing and caging once they arrive at Tulio's Aviary, I can tell you," Travis told the others, who nodded in agreement.

"Especially if they're gonna play with dangerous things," put in Eustace as he stood with Milo, Rosa, Clemont, Serena and Vincent, scowls on their faces. It was clear that the first five hadn't forgotten the incident in which Marco had deliberately set their birdhouse alight and almost roasted them alive, together with the cockatoo chicks except Vincent when some of the toucans viciously attacked Tulio and Linda's cottage and wreaked havoc the other night.

At the edge of the bird crowd, Justin, Virgil, Tiago and Matilda stood by themselves, gazing into the dark seas of trees and at the fire rising into the sky. With them were Sonia, Spica, Melody, Sirius, Einstein and Miles, Músculo who was Charlotte's mate and Kira, the cousin of Carla, Bia and Tiago and Jojo's mate, and Roberto and Brisa.

"Uncle Blu still hasn't returned, has he?" asked Kira sadly as she held Sirius in her wings.

"Ju-Ju's still missing as well," murmured Roberto as he shuddered at the blazing orange monster continuously clawing at the sky.

"How could the fire have got its start?" asked Justin as Sonia, Spica and Melody, his daughters, stood around him.

"Don't ask, my nephew," said Brisa with a frown, "But one thing is clear, something or someone has been messing with fire-starting things that has caused this. And I sure hope it's none of those humans…" she shot the working humans dotting the surrounds of Tulio's Aviary a glare as she said this.

"Yes, absolutely," put in Roberto as he followed Brisa's glare with one of his own.

"I'm sure it's not their responsibility, Aunt Brisa and Uncle Beto," said Virgil, trying to assure the pair and defend the birds' trust in Tulio and his team, "Those guys are usually sensible with their fire-starting and fire-related items like matches anyway."

"Especially the things they call cigarettes," put in Músculo, "Tulio has a designated area for the humans who smoke them to ensure their smoking of those things are confined and kept well away from the aviary," he turned to Roberto and Brisa, "I've heard that if those things are discarded and are still lit after use, they can start a fire, you know."

"Correct, Músculo," said Brisa, "In fact, ANY human item that uses fire should ALWAYS be handled with care to prevent that destructive force from wreaking havoc and causing destruction, and it is NOT for us birds to mess with especially if we don't know how to control it," her gaze then turned to Andromeda, Eragon, Spyro and Marella as they watched over the bat-birds, "Although the archaeobirds are an exception since they have managed to master it and know very well how to control it and keep it within its confines…"

As she said this, the sounds of dozens of wing-flaps flooded the group's ears. At this, Sonia gazed at Justin.

"What's that sound, Daddy?" she asked.

"Sounds like a flock of pigeons," replied Justin. At this, Virgil, Tiago and Matilda came in with Sirius, Einstein and Miles, a frown on their faces face.

"Heading in this direction," he question suspiciously as the wing-flaps increased in loudness.

"Especially if those wings sound large," put in Tiago. As he spoke, Roberto slowly turned his head in the direction of the source's sound and the moment his blue eyes landed on it, they inflated in alarm and his crest spiked out.

"Quick, Justin, Brisa, Virgil, guys, kids!" he barked, "GET OUT OF THE WAAAAY!"

The moment these words were picked up by Justin, Sonia, Spica, Melody, Virgil, Sirius, Einstein, Miles and Tiago, Matilda, Músculo, Kira, Felix, Lavender, Turquesa, Garrett and Brisa, Justin, Diego, Deneb, Lilac and Polaris all began to scramble to scatter out of the path of the incoming flock of birds, Tiago, Matilda, Kira and Brisa seizing the kids as they screamed in fright. Squawks also exploded from the beaks of the Spix macaws as they darted off in different directions but Roberto, Garrett, Felix and Lavender did not move fast enough and were overrun by a flock of flapping bundles of black feathers with cream-red fronts, all adorned with vivid orange, black, lime green and magenta bills. As these five were caught up in the blurry flood of feathers, Mercury, Sapphire, Mars, Chiquitita, Jupiter, Ruby, Saturn, Orquidea, Uranus, Esmeralda, Neptune, Ultramarine, Ceres, Cobalto, Pluto and Lapis Lazuli, accompanied by the other birds, among them Europa, Athos, Ganymede, Mimas, Callisto and Byron, also backed away, the kids with them, among them Canopus and Katniss, being swept up in their parents' wings as they watched the rather large flock of toucans rudely barge past Roberto, Garrett, Kira, Felix and Lavender and flock like flies into the entrance of Tulio's Aviary.

"OUTA OUR WAY!" barked some of the toucans as they knocked Roberto over. Another whacked Garrett in the tummy with his bill while yet a few others kicked Kira, Felix and Lavender over with their feet.

"Good GRIEF!" bellowed Jupiter in utter flabbergast.

"What a bunch of utterly RUDE AIR-HOGS growled Ruby. Then Uranus and Esmeralda glared at the flashes of colour in the flock, especially as some of the toucan crash-landed just outside Tulio's Aviary's entrance due to the chaos of the rush. In the entrance, one of the women was knocked over, the food she had for the birds outside thrown up in a shower of fruit, seeds and nuts that then crashed in a scatter on the floor around her as she landed on her backside, some of the fruit splattering all over Cometa and Lightning as they were following Amy to outside only to dive to the side as the toucan flock rushed in. Jupiter's group flinched when they saw the poor lady, who was Amy, one of Tulio's employees, then struggle to sit up, her face twisted in pain with her teeth gritted. Mercury, Sapphire, Phoebe, Squaw'tagnan, Jasmine, Annette, Pluto and Lapis Lazuli rushed off to her to help her to her feet. Athos glared at the others while Canopus and Katniss, his two chicks, cowered in Callisto's wings.

"Bad toucan manners, as always," Athos grunted. Then Jupiter's glare turned to the toucans that had crash-landed from being jostled by the others as they hurried into Tulio's Aviary.

"Marco, Anastasia and some of the others," he hissed, his vermillion feathers bristling. Ruby then gazed at the dazed Roberto, Garrett, Kira, Felix and Lavender as they struggled to their feet from being battered by the toucans like trees in a wind.

"You go and see to those wretched big-nosed delinquents while some of us see to those five," said she. Jupiter nodded and with that he, Ruby, Mimas, Ganymede, Byron, Athos and Europa left to confront Marco and some of his friends and also help Roberto and the other four back onto their feet. Callisto glared on with Katniss and Canopus in her wings, her vermillion feathers also bristling.

"You're in DEEP TROUBLE, now, you bunch of MURDEROUS MOBSTERS, now that you've returned after making off with our kids a second time," she hissed as Saturn and Orquidea came in and also glared at the struggling toucans.

Marco, Anastasia and seven other toucans then began to shakily stand and help each other to their feet, dizziness from the crash swamping them. However, devastation was saturating their faces too.

"I hope the kids that we have rescued are gonna be alright," said Marco worriedly and distressfully.

"I can't believe the fire has brought them to this, especially some of Sofias's dear little babies," murmured Anastasia. However, as these words left her break, a furious voice rang out.

"We could tear you big-nosed hoodlums _limb from limb!"_ it growled. At this, the nine toucans shot stunned gazes this way and that until one of the female friends of Marco and Anastasia landed on a slate grey form with a black-striped ivory underside festooned with brightly coloured fruit flesh saunter towards them from the entrance to Tulio's Aviary, her bulbous eyes blazing like frightening onyxes. Another, smaller slate grey bird with a black-striped ivory underside was right behind her, and he too was smothered in fruit flesh and juice, and his bulbous eyes were onyx firestorms like the larger female bird's. Marco then shot the speakers, which were a furious fruit-smothered Cometa and Lightning, a stunned look.

"Cometa, Lightning?" he said.

"Maybe we should like how we butcher our pigeon and duck prey during our mealtimes, eh?" hissed Lightning stormily, before a mock-scornful look came upon his face, "Or perhaps we should do that to your 'dear little babies' instead after taking them away like how you did Carla, Bia, Tiago and the others' kids," then the falcon's genuinely look of thunder returned when he saw Marco's face form a "You wouldn't" frown, "And see how YOU LOT feel about losin' them… as well as stand back AND WATCH YOU LOT CRY IN ANGUISH OVER THE LOSS OF YOUR LITTLE 'UNS as your HEARTS BREAK INTO PIECES!"

"That's what you tried to do to the hearts of poor Carla, Bia, Tiago and the others, isn't it?" continued Cometa, "You tried to tear THEM into pieces by taking those poor little children away from them and perhaps kill, eh?"

Marco didn't answer; neither did Anastasia and the other seven toucans, and all nine just put on indifferent and defiant smiles. Cometa hardened her furious glare.

"EEEH!?" screeched the mother of Velocity, Orion and Spike.

"And then you barge into Tulio's Aviary, knock over Amy when she was bringing some food out to Tiago and company while they continue to wait the return of Blu and the others and splatter their meal everywhere!" growled Lightning, before he showed the nine toucans the mess of his and Cometa's plumages. As the male falcon yelled this to Marco and the eight toucans with him, including his mate Anastasia and also showed the fruit smothering his and Cometa's feathers, Broccoli stormed towards the nine toucans, a look of thunder of his own saturating his face and his fur completely puffed out like an inflated pufferfish's spines. Boldly making a beeline for Marco, the tabby cat seized the toucan by the throat and slammed him HARD against the wall of the building, his back to the wall.

"You BUNCH of MURDEROUS, DIABOLICA, BARBARIC big-beaked COCKROACHES!" snarled Broccoli as he held Marco off the ground by the throat with a front paw, making the toucan grab his paw with his wings and bulge his eyes out from the discomfort the cat caused in his neck. Cometa and Lightning stood back and looked on as two more cats resembling white tabbies with a calico pattern thrown into their coat stripes, Collette and Daisy, stormed towards Anastasia and the other seven toucans, flared their claws and threatened to slash them, much to the eight toucans' alarm and backing away. Then Riker, Velocity, Dash and Ginger came in.

"Broccoli, Collette, Daisy, DON'T!" said Dash when he saw the three cats threaten Marco and the other eight.

"Yes, Broccoli, put Marco down," commanded Ginger when she saw Broccoli hold Marco by the neck. However, Broccoli was so consumed with the fires of wrath against Marco and the other toucans after what they had done to Carla, Bia and Tiago and company by stealing their kids that he deliberately ignored the ginger greyhound's order.

"I wouldn't bother if I were you," said Cometa to Ginger, before her fiery glare snapped to the struggling Marco as he continued to grip Broccoli's wrist and gasp rapidly as though Broccoli was going to strangle him, "Those wretched delinquent toucans have REALLY crossed the line."

"In MORE WAYS THAN ONE!" put in Lightning furiously. However, Ginger still was not going to have Broccoli injure Marco and she glared at the tabby cat to put the toucan down. Broccoli continued holding Marco by the neck against the wall with his feet lifted off the ground for a few more seconds, especially as Roberto and the Spix macaws came in with Ruby, Ganymede, Mimas and Athos until finally; the tabby cat reluctantly relented and put Marco down and withdrew his paw from his throat, allowing Marco to rub it and gasp while Collette and Daisy retracted their claws and backed away from Anastasia and the other seven toucans, some of Marco and Anastasia's comrades.

"Thank you," said Ginger as she watched Broccoli then turn round but satisfaction was immediately shattered when Broccoli whirled back round at Marco, raised a paw but did not flare its claws, and with all his might swiped the toucan across the face, screeching wrathfully as he did it, much to Dash and Ginger's astonishment and horror.

"BROCCOLI!" barked Ginger and Dash together. Marco yelped as the impact of the swipe sent him flying into a large bucket full of soapy water nearby for a window cleaner had come to clean Tulio's Aviary's windows, in a tremendous splash. Roberto and the others except Cometa and Lightning flinched as a fountain of water globs and suds erupted from the bucket and rained down within a foot or two radius of the bucket in a shower. Then Collette seized Anastasia by the head feathers, making her screech and writhe, stormed over to the bucket and without hesitation shoved her into the bucket with her mate, making another splash. Then Broccoli, Collette and Daisy stood back and looked on unsympathetically as Marco and Anastasia, gasps for air entering and exiting their beaks at a fast rate, along with coughing, then struggled in the bucket, their feathers sopping wet with soap suds all over their plumages. The other seven toucans went in to help but Broccoli, Daisy and Collette darted forward, seized them and shoved them into the bucket with Marco and Anastasia as well, before backing away to watch the nine big-beaked birds struggle in the soapy water.

"Oh, this stuff tastes REVOLTING!" screeched Marco as some of the soapy water got into his mouth during the struggles. Three or four of the toucans then began to discharge bubbles from their beaks as they coughed and spluttered to rid the foul-tasting stuff from their mouths.

"Just like YOU LOT, if you were rotten fruit and vegetables, which you lot ARE!" snarled Collette scornfully in response to Marco's complaining about the taste of the soapy water. Then a sopping wet and soap sud-festooned Anastasia shot the three cats an enraged glare.

"You're gonna PAY FOR THAT, you FLEA-BITTEN FELINE WEASELS!" she snarled, and began to struggle her way out of the bucket only to slip and slide and land back into the soapy water and on the other toucans, much to the snickers of the three cats and some of the macaws, among them Matilda, Tiago, Virgil, Justin and also Sirius, Einstein, Miles, Sonia, Melody and Spica. Velocity, Riker, Cometa and Lightning also launched into a fit of giggles as well.

"Will you lot just SNAP OUT OF IT!?" barked Ginger, before shooting Dash a glare as the greyhound was also about to erupt into a laughing fit. Dash managed to stifle it and turn away with a paw over his muzzle to disguise the smile. Then poor Marco, Anastasia and the other seven toucans began to feel shame and humiliation swamp them like the soapy water as they continued to hilariously struggle to climb out of the bucket full of soapy water and also cough, splutter, gasp and blow bubbles of soap from their beaks as well as spit out the foul-tasting soap water as well, much to the laughter of Cometa and some of the others.

"That's _exactly_ what those Nigel toucans need," snorted Daisy slightly scornfully, "Some hot soapy water to wash their feathers out."

"Daisy," snapped Ginger in rebuke when Marco's eyes flashed with hurt as he clung to the side of the bucket. Then the window cleaner came round and when he saw some struggling bundles of waterlogged, sudsy feathers with brightly coloured beaks splashing about in his bucket, he immediately and crossly walked over to the bucket, picked it up and tipped out its contents.

"Pesky birds," he snarled disgruntledly as the soapy water and the nine toucans spilled in a diverging torrent towards Broccoli and company. Marco and Anastasia slid before the three cats while the other seven toucans wound up at the feet of Velocity, Dash, Ginger and Riker. As the nine soaked toucans struggled to their feet, Broccoli and his sisters refusing to help, Marco gave the three cats and the others a furious stink-eye as a scornful smile appeared on Broccoli's face.

"I've always wanted to dunk you wretched toucans into some water for a long time," crooned the tabby.

"Especially after YOU almost burned Eustace and his family to death by setting fire to their birdhouse," put in Collette and with that, she hurled a glob of saliva onto the floor at the foot of the sudsy and waterlogged Marco and his group, their feathers drooping from the water, much to their disgust. Behind Roberto, Tiago and Matilda watched on, frowns on their faces as Anastasia stepped forward, a look of scorn and hatred plastering her face as she used it to scour Broccoli and company.

"I've always DESPISED you lot anyway," she growled, "You always remind me of a pile humans call a compost heap; you're nothing but a bunch of rotting fruit, veg and meat, STUFFED WITH WORMS!"

"OOII!" barked Dash and Ginger as this scathing comment stung them.

"What DID YOU JUST CALL US!?" shouted Cometa while the eyes of the others, including Roberto and Brisa, flashed with disgust, hurt and anger.

"You obnoxious BRAT!" hissed Jupiter angrily. Then Collette shoved her face into Anastasia's.

"YOU'RE the ones that are the rotting fruit and veg, NOT US," snapped she. Anastasia retorted by butting the caliby in the nose with her large bill. A few drops of water and soap suds flew everywhere as she struck Collette.

"Get your UGLY CAT FACE OUTA MINE, you CAT-FACED FURBALL!" the toucan snarled as Collette flinched and grabbed her impacted nose, a furious glare on her face aimed at the toucan while Broccoli and Daisy arched their backs, puffed out their fur and screeched back at Anastasia, making Marco's mate flinch. Then Broccoli turned his face away.

"I cannot even LOOK AT YOU, you BUNCH OF HORRIBLE TOUCANS!" snarled the cat, refusing to return his glare at the still-sopping wet and sudsy Marco and the other eight, "I normally love having birds for friends and find it a privilege to do so, like my father Veggie and mother Catina did before me, Collette and Daisy, and Thomas, but birds like NIGEL and DELIQUENT TOUCANS like YOU LOT…" Broccoli's body began to tremble violently as disgust tore through him, his face still turned away from the toucans, "To call YOU lot our friends makes us SICK… to our STOMACHS!"

"Those macaws behind you," snapped Anastasia, referring to Tiago, Felix and Lavender and their respective mates Matilda, Turquesa and Garrett and also Justin, Kira, Músculo and Virgil as they held Sirius, Einstein, Miles, Sonia, S0piuca and Melody close to them, and the other macaws such as Ganymede and Mimas, "havin' KIDS is what MAKES US SICK!" Anastasia's fiery glare raked over Tiago's group, "I WISH YOUR CHICKS HAD NEVER HATCHED!"

At this, and as hurt tore through Tiago and company, something inside Matilda snapped and without thinking, she surged past Broccoli, Collette and Daisy and pounced onto Anastasia, bowling both herself and the waterlogged toucan over and sending a few drops of water and suds flying from Anastasia. Then a large grey greyhound appeared, seized Matilda with his front paws and pulled her off of Anastasia before the two could erupt into a brawl of claws tearing out feathers and opening scratch wounds.

"Right, that's ENOUGH!" barked Dash as he returned Matilda to the Spix macaws who then backed away, before his glare turned to Marco and his eight comrades, "YOU LOT leave before YOUR presence causes ANYMORE outbursts and fights."

Marco, Anastasia and their seven comrades, their feathers still sopping wet and sudsy, glared bitterly at Dash and left. Dash then directed his glare at Broccoli and his sisters, "While YOU THREE, you oughta hold your tongues and stop spewing insults, otherwise we WILL we throw a penalty at you…"

In response, Broccoli, Collette and Daisy glared at Dash and then directed their glares at Marco and the other eight toucans, released a scornful hiss each and left. As both parties departed and a deeply hurt Matilda was handed over to Brisa to be comforted while Roberto, Sapphire, Mercury, Jupiter and Ruby tried to soothe the hurt feelings of the other macaws that had been within range of Anastasia's venomous tongue, Cometa and Lightning, their plumages still covered with fruit, glared angrily at Marco's group as they left in one direction, with Dash, Riker, Velocity and Ginger.

"I couldn't even look at those toucans either," muttered Cometa, "In fact; their very presence makes me sick."

"I'm utterly ashamed to have been friends with that numskull when we were adolescent birds," muttered Riker as he stood with Velocity, "Especially after what a HORRIBLE MENACE he has become!"

"So is Vulcan the kestrel," put in Velocity, "Especially after what those brats keep doing to Tiago and the others."

"As much as we are angry with Broccoli and his sisters for dunking those nine toucans into that window cleaner's bucket of soapy water," said Ginger, Dash nodding in agreement, "I'm utterly furious with those toucans for all the trouble they have caused ourselves, especially in regards to the lack of discipline they had given their numerous kids who seemed to have followed in their horrible footsteps."

"Since those grown-up toucans have set a bad example to them," put in Dash. Just then, a familiar voice screeched out, "BRISA, ROBERTO, JUPITER, GUUUUYS!"

Velocity shot the other three peregrine falcons and the two aging greyhounds a horrified look.

"That was TRITON!" she said, "And he sounds PANIC STRICKEN."

At this, the two greyhounds and the four peregrine falcons whirled round and to their surprise, they saw two large macaws, both with navy blue plumages but then Riker noticed that one of them had a violet shade to her feathers and that the other macaw had scarry tiger marks running up the left side of his face and that both macaws had yellow skin rings around their eyes and another behind their lower beaks, hover before Jupiter and Ruby and some of the other older adult macaws including Pluto and Lapis Lazuli, something clutched in their talons and their faces laced with untold horror and urgency. However, the commotion cloud was too thick for the peregrine falcon and his girlfriend to pick out whatever the two macaws had in their talons but then the other macaw, the female, spoke as Jupiter, Ruby, Mercury, Sapphire, Lapis Lazuli and Pluto fired her and the other macaw, a male, a question, answering Riker and Velocity's question as to what were in their talons. Behind the six aging macaws, Brisa, Roberto, Dash and Ginger ordered the crowd of macaws, among them Virgil, Tiago, Matilda, Kira, Lavender and Felix, to back away while Broccoli, Collette and Daisy rushed to Jupiter's side to see the cargo in the two hyacinth macaws' talons.

"It's BETELGEUSE AND RIGEL!" cried the female hyacinth macaw, which was Iris based on her purple feathers, "Rigel's got a SHARD OF WOOD IN HER SHOULDER AND Betelgeuse is UNCONSCIOUS WITH A BURNED TALON!"

Horror tore through Riker and Velocity as Cometa and Lightning, having shaken their plumage of the fruit, then rushed to Iris and the other hyacinth macaw, Triton, and when they saw the two bundles in the two hyacinth macaws' talons which Velocity and Riker assumed were Betelgeuse and Rigel, the two peregrines shot Triton and Iris an urgent look.

"GET THEM TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM!" commanded Cometa. Without hesitation, Triton and Iris rocketed through the main entrance to Tulio's Aviary with Lightning and Cometa in tow. Riker and Velocity tried to follow but found themselves blocked by a greying light grey greyhound and his ginger furred mate while the others were blocked from entering the aviary by Mercury, Sapphire, Roberto, Brisa, Saturn, Orquidea, Mars, Chiquitita, Uranus, Esmeralda, Pluto, Lapis Lazuli, Ceres and Cobalto while Neptune, Ultramarine, Jupiter and Ruby rushed on foot, Jupiter's broken wing in his cast and the other three's wings still missing their flight feathers still grounding them, into Tulio's Aviary. Behind the crowd of macaws, the other greyhounds; Eduarda, Esperanza, Avellana, James, Danny, Ebony, Worf and Rusty and the cockatoos Travis, Sunset, Eustace, Milo, Rosa, Clemont, Serena, Vincent, Yolanda, Bruno, Peach and Oscar had rushed in but then their attention was drawn to something else approaching the large group from the direction that Triton and Iris had flown in.

"You two stay here," said Dash firmly.

"What's happening!?" demanded Velocity, the stress of the situation flaring confusion within her.

"Two of the chicks have been severely injured in the fire?" asked Riker. Ginger was about to reply when suddenly, Jupiter's voice exploded from within Tulio's Aviary through its main door entrance,

"Oh, THUNDERBOLTS!"

"What do you MEAN ALL THE EMERGENCY FACILITIES ARE FULL!?" yelled Ruby's voice.

"WE'VE GOT TWO LITTLE RED MACAW CHICKS in URGENT NEED of MEDICAL ATTENTION!" shouted Cometa's voice.

"AND THERE MIGHT BE MORE CASUALTIES on the WAY HERE!" put in Lightning's voice. At this, Velocity and Riker shot each other a dreaded look while Broccoli, Daisy and Collette pounced in, volcanically outraged looks on their faces.

"Those WRETCHED toucans and their TOO-MANY-TO-COUNT KIDS!" hissed Broccoli stormily.

"They must have taken up AAALL the available space in the Aviary," put in Collette. Then an outraged look came upon Velocity and Riker's faces, especially as the thoughts of the health of the two macaw chicks, which they now know to be Betelgeuse and Rigel, boiled within their minds.

"Par-thet-TICK!" spat Velocity disdainfully and with that, her wings darted out and lofted her into flight. Riker followed, much to Dash and Ginger's alarm.

"Riker, Velocity, where are you GOING!?" barked Dash.

"GET BACK HERE!" shouted Ginger but the peregrine falcon couple shot the two greyhounds a defiant look.

"We are NOT gonna have IO AND SHELDON losing THEIR TWO GIRLS like how ORION AND HERMIONE have lost their son Hunter and how I HAVE lost MERLIN because of those SELF-CENTERED INSECT-BREEDING TOUCANS and their NUMEROUS CHICKS!" retorted Velocity and with that and before Dash and Ginger could stop them, both peregrine falcons lifted themselves further into the air and charged into Tulio's Aviary, leaving Dash and Ginger to bark in extreme irritation and frustration and resume trying to calm down the other macaws and birds.

While the commotion continued outside Tulio's Aviary, some more birds and bats eventually arrived, puffing and panting from flying so fast but could not keep up with the much larger Triton and Iris. As Sheldon, Charlotte, Jojo, Rhea, Aramis, Wilbur, Luna, Sebastian and Anabelle arrived and collapsed in a heap near the building, they were immediately swallowed up in a colourful wave of feathers as Roberto and the others came to hug them in relief and joy. Then another group of birds and bats turned up; Carla, Zephyr, Venus, Io, Titan, Diantha, Augustus, Melissa and Soren, together with Rafael and Gylfie, had arrived carrying Jason, Petunia, Vega, Winona, Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka, Perdita, Aldebaran, Gertie, Arcturus, Oceano, Carmen, Sylvester, Achilles, Alegria, Pitaya and Ferdinand, many who were still sopping wet, safely in their clutches and were met by the utterly joyful and relieved crowd of birds as well and the returned chicks and Ferdinand were rushed into Tulio's Aviary only to be met by the same obstacle of full medical facilities. However, since these chicks did not require emergency treatment, they were taken aside by Dash and the other greyhounds and wrapped up in dry towels to dry their feathers and fur and warm them up, but then it was noticed that there were a still a few missing individuals, and Greg and Sardonyx, the parents of Steven and Kevin, had noticed that Connie was one of them, while Rafael had explained that Eva and the fifteen good toucan chicks were hiding in the forest to prevent Tulio and his team from catching them out of the assumption that they were like the majority of the other toucans, many being Rafael and Eva's descendants.

While Ferdinand and the other returned kids were being wrapped up in towels to dry their fur and feathers and warm them up, exhausted and frightened looks plastering their faces as their relatives and friends fussed over them, Ferdinand being fussed over by Sebastian and Anabelle and Aldebaran and Perdita being fussed over by Umbriel, Benjamin and Cecil and also Esmeralda, Uranus, Miranda, Aramis, Ariel, Titania, Oberon, Ash and Tethys, Andromeda, Eragon, Spyro and Marella looked on with the bat-birds, smiles on their muzzle-like beaks when Roberto and Brisa came in.

"Hey, Andromeda, folks, have you seen Blu, Ju-Ju, Bia and Stella?" asked Roberto, "They're still missing."

"As are Connie, Sandalwood and Bellatrix," added Brisa, "Tiago, Virgil, Carla and Matilda are looking frantically everywhere for Bia and Bellatrix as are Greg and Sardonyx for Connie and Soren for his mate and Sandalwood."

Andromeda was about to reply when suddenly, sounds of wing-flaps reached the ears of the group. At this, the four archaeobirds and two Spix macaws turned in the direction of the source of the sounds and to their surprise; they saw a cockatoo with black feathers and a bright red tail underside fly in at an alarming rate, but it was not Ónix's presence that surprised them for he had been helping out at Tulio's Aviary. Rather, it was his panicked state that surprised the six birds, especially based on his fully erect crest. As Ónix landed clumsily before Andromeda and Roberto, startling the bat-birds somewhat and forcing Eragon, Marella and Spyro to calm them while Brisa rushed forward to help the red-tailed black cockatoo to his feet, Augustus and Melissa walked in.

"Is that black cockatoo bird alright, my dear?" asked Melissa, "He looks as though he has seen a ghost."

"Or rather had a close brush with the fire," said Augustus with a frown, "I hope that city bird hasn't flown into the burning forest."

As Brisa helped the puffing and panting Ónix to his feet, Roberto said, "Are you alright buddy?"

"No," replied Ónix as he managed to get some words out. Then as soon as he had caught his breath, he began to speak without having to pause and enter a rapid breathing fit.

"There are some creatures approaching this location in the forest, carrying what I believe to be branches of FIRE!" squawked the red-tailed black cockatoo. This sent horror tearing through Andromeda, Eragon, Roberto, Brisa, Marella and Spyro, and made Augustus and Melissa flinch and the bat-birds let loose frightened whimpering squeaks.

"Have you seen the carriers of those flaming branches?" asked Spyro.

"No," said Ónix, "I was too far away to catch a glimpse of them but all I know that the carriers of the branches on fire appear to be chasing something heading here…"

Andromeda shot the other five with her an alarmed look as Augustus came in.

"We gotta intercept those fire branch carriers and rescue whatever they are chasing before they reach here and potentially set something in this human area ablaze and cause even more destruction…" he said urgently and darted off to find an elevation to get airborne with Melissa following while Andromeda, Spyro and Marella jumped onto their bat-birds with Brisa and Roberto. Eragon darted off in the direction of Tulio's Aviary.

"I'll get any of the humans with water ready as well as warn the other animals in that human construct they call a building," he said as he rushed off, his wing claws grasping his casted shoulder of the other wing as he left. As Eragon left the earshot range, Andromeda shouted to her bat-bird, Rouge, to take off while Roberto held on to her. Brisa rode on Spyro's bat-bird, Garnet, with his rider and Marella commanded her bat-bird to take off as well, Brisa riding on the little pterosaur with her. Then as soon as Augustus and Melissa, now airborne, had joined the bat-bird riders, Andromeda shot Ónix a stern look.

"Take us to where you found those fire branch carriers RIGHT AWSY!" she shouted. Ónix nodded, whirled round and charged off, Andromeda's group following close behind. Roberto hung onto Andromeda, a look of worry inflating his eyes and spiking out his head feathers.

"I hope the chased aren't who I think it is…" he cried worriedly.

"Well, we'll find out, Robbie," said Brisa as she hung onto Marella. Then Andromeda's group disappeared after Ónix in the direction of the forest, most of it still ablaze in the distance. Not far behind, Rafael had appeared but when he saw Andromeda's group leave after Ónix, he gasped and followed.

 **Meanwhile**

The fire branch carriers, which were in fact a small flock of toucan chicks, were scouring the unlit trees for any flash of colour. The colourful clusters of parrot feathers tied to the ends of their sticks flashed in the moonlight and the light of the fire in the distance as well as the light from the flames but this was no beautiful decoration. As the toucan chicks continued to menacingly scan the trees like a group of hunters, a certain group of macaws and flying foxes hid under a tight cluster of branches and leaves, their terrified eyes gazing at the prowling bunch of toucan chicks. Blu, Jewel, Bia and Stella, together with Sandalwood, Bellatrix and Connie, her broken left wing carefully folded against her side in Bia's talons, shuddered and continued to watch the fire-branch armed and menacing toucan chicks as they continued to scour the trees for them. Sandalwood huddled against his mother Stella's breast while Jewel kept a firm grip on Bellatrix, and Blu was doing most of the watching, his brown eyes inflated with fear. Stella also gazed at the toucan chicks and felt something else boil within her. It was boiling so violently that it also made her stomach cringe with nausea setting in, especially as the albino flying fox's eyes examined the sticks on fire held in the talons of the toucan chicks, how the parrot feathers were tied to their ends and how the toucan chicks were scouring the environment. Besides fear, disgust and revulsion were boiling within the white flying fox, for the behaviour of the toucan chicks and how they wielded their 'new weapon' decorated with the parrot feathers reminded her vividly of how the colony flying foxes carried their weapons, such as sharp-sticks, most of which were decorated with the feathers taken from the bats' avian victims after they had killed them, and attached to those clusters as trophies, would hunt for any terrified hidden bird victim they were after. The toucan chicks and how they were prowling around clearly resembled those flying foxes out on the hunt for some bird to slaughter and harvest their feathers. As she continued glaring at the toucan chicks' behaviour, Bia spoke to her in a quiet voice.

"Their behaviour reminds you of your former colony flying foxes and their feather decorated weapons; don't they?" she whispered sympathetically. Stella nodded while Connie looked up from Bia's talons curiously.

"Mon and Dad are gonna feel utterly sickened and outraged when they see what insensitive ideas those toucan kids have concocted," Stella hissed. She flinched as some of the leaves near her flickered in movement as she exhaled. Sandalwood huddled timidly against her breast.

"How many are there, Blu?" asked Jewel quietly, Bellatrix cowering in her talons. Blu continued to examine the number of toucan chicks as they continued scanning the environment with their parrot feather-decorated torches.

"I can't get an exact number but I'd say about… forty or more, if my calculations are correct," whispered Blu. This made the skin under the facial feathers of Jewel and Bia and the fur of Stella drain of blood and go a deathly pale colour, and Sandalwood and Bellatrix began to tremble violently. A small group of seven individuals, three kids and four adults, against _forty_ reckless toucan chicks armed with a dangerous weapon… NOT a good matchup. Then Blu shuddered when he saw some of the toucan chicks begin to move in his and his group's direction, the flaming branches in their talons. He knew that the light from those torches would light up their hiding place and expose them.

"They're coming this way, Dad?" asked Bia. Blu then began to slowly creep towards the other six, being quiet so as to avoid brushing against clusters of leaves which would cause a small rustling sound and alert the toucan chicks. Blu then gazed at his mate, daughter and flying fox 'niece' (due to Augustus and Melissa being two of their closest friends thus Sebastian, Stella, Luna and also Soren and Anabelle becoming like a nephew, nieces and in-laws to him despite their drastic difference in species, thus making Sandalwood, Ferdinand and Acerola Blu and company's 'great-nephews and nieces' as well) as the three held his granddaughter and two young flying foxes in their clutches, a dark look on his face.

"Let's sneak away before those torches' lights in those toucan kids' talons light us up," he said in a whisper, a glance flashed at the toucan chicks as they continued to scan the trees, some of them moving their way, "We'll start off slowly but when those feral chicks spot us, I will shout 'fly' and we will all fly like the wind," his gaze turned to Connie in Bia's talons, Bellatrix in Jewel's talons and Sandalwood on Stella's breast, a firm and serious look on his face, "You three hang on tight. A sudden burst into speed is likely to be imminent…"

"What's 'imminent' mean?" asked Connie.

"It means in a very short while," replied Bellatrix in a low voice.

"It could even be sudden," said Sandalwood. Then Blu quietly and quickly sneaked over to the other side of Jewel, Bia and Stella and their cargo and began to lead them carefully away, especially as some of the toucan chicks slowly crept dangerously close to their hiding place, the flickering orange orbs on the tips of their torches in their talons. However, they hadn't spotted Blu and the other six… yet. Carefully, the three adult Spix macaws and flying fox, the two younger flying foxes and chick in their clutches, began to slowly skulk away as the toucan chicks continued to close in on their location. All four adults were very careful not to enter the range of the torches' light and had to duck in order to avoid their silhouettes and shadows showing up in the lights. Then a short talk between the kids began to shake the nerves of all seven of them.

"Can any of you see anything?" asked one of the chicks. The others scoured the trees and branches

"No, nothing," replied another. Blu, Jewel, Bia and Stella continued to creep away, Bellatrix, Sandalwood and Connie cowering in their clutches but before the four adults could reach the end of the branch, three of the toucan chicks happened to turn their scanning gazes their way.

Blu continued to lead the other three adults and their cargo away when suddenly, "THERE THEY ARE!" exploded from nearby. That was it; Blu knew it was time to deliver the escape signal.

"FLYYYYYY!" he screeched to Jewel, Stella and Bia. Then without wasting another second, all four flying animals, the three kids clinging in the talons or on the breast of three of them, launched into the air and began to make a mad break for it. Behind them, a loud screeching of berserk toucan chicks shook the air which was then subsequently sliced by dozens of small black, orange or lime green, and red-cream blurs with orange fireballs above them as the small flock of toucan chicks began to chase down Blu and the other three like a harpy eagle after its prey. Then a wild chase erupted as four comets, one white and white-grey and the other three blue and cerulean, charged through the trees, a swarm of smaller comets with flaming fireballs right behind them. Blu led Stella, Jewel and Bia upward until they were out of the treetops for Blu knew that if the group were to fly through the canopy, the clutter might slow them down for one and one or two of the adults might crash into an obstacle, such as a tree branch, for another and potentially lose their cargo and injure themselves. Certainly not good for Connie with her broken wing as the impact might do her more serious damage. Then as soon as they were out of the trees, Blu, Jewel, Stella and Bia, with a terrified Sandalwood, Connie and Bellatrix in their clutches, began to fly for their lives, faster than they had ever flown before. Behind them, the small flock of screaming toucan chicks chased them, their little wings flapping and their talons carrying the blazing torches which continued to deform into fireball comets with the gust of air from the flight. With their hearts racing and their wing muscles straining as they flapped like mad, Blu, Jewel, Bia and Stella rocketed through the night air above the forest. Sandalwood clung onto his mother's breast while Bellatrix and Connie hid in Jewel and Bia's talons respectively. Bellatrix flashed a glance from Jewel's talons at the chasers and their frenzied, warped facial expressions and stifled the urge to scream. In the background of the forest, the fire continued to blaze, continuously belching thick smoke and flooding the night sky with it.

"This is MANIC!" screeched Bia as she continued to flap like mad, "I can't POSSIBLY IMAGINE the Blu Bird Sanctuary becoming home to a BUNCH OF DERANGED TOUCAN CHICKS UTILISING DANGEROUS THINGS like FIRE!"

"More like a toucan version of Cicatriz and his COLONY, Bia," shouted Stella, a glance behind the group at the toucan chicks.

"There are the lights of the carpark surrounding Tulio's Aviary," shouted Blu when he saw the familiar sea of artificial lights which he knew very well to be said building and its surrounding area. Flapping like mad with the three kids in their clutches, Jewel, Bia and Stella followed Blu in that direction, the torch-carrying and screaming toucan chicks hot on their tail like a bunch of hunting flying foxes armed with torches, at least from Stella's perspective.

The wild chase continued on for another few more frightening minutes, and severe fatigue was starting to set in the flight muscles of Blu, Jewel, Stella and Bia as they were pushed to breaking point but the four still continued flapping on like mad. More and more dark treetops continued to flow by beneath the four adults and their cargo and Blu thought it would never end, but as soon as a drop off appeared beneath the quartet and the three kids in their clutches, indicating the end of the forest and the beginning of human territory based on the dark grey manmade floor of tarmac straight below, Blu, Jewel, Stella and Bia folded their wings and swooped downward, only pulling out of the dive as they were about a foot above the tarmac. Behind them, the torch-carrying, screaming toucan chicks followed, the small flock resembling a cluster of fireballs swooping down after Blu and the other three. Blu and the other three continued surging towards a certain familiar building but when they saw some familiar forms up ahead, as well as a few more forms fly in towards them from the side, fatigue finally took its toll on their wing flight muscles and they burned out, sending Blu and the other three into plummeting towards the hard ground and crash-land… right at the foot of a crowd of familiar macaws and other animals, among them Saturn, Orquidea, Mars and Chiquitita, and Dash and Ginger. Blu, gasping and panting, slammed onto his front and stopped just inches from Mars and Chiquitita's talons, much to the surprise and utter alarm and shock of the green-winged macaw pair, while Jewel, Stella and Bia, also puffing and panting furiously, crashed nearby. Before hitting the ground, the three managed to rotate so that they were belly-up and ended up crashing onto their backs, with their wings folded in and with Bellatrix, Sandalwood and Connie safely on top and out of harm's way during the harsh landing. However, the painful impact of the hard tarmac on the backs of all three female adults as they hit it was enough to make their faces screw tight shut and they gritted their beaks or, in Stella's case, teeth and the breath was drawn out of them. Then some familiar voices shouted their names.

"BLU, JEWEL, BIA, STELLA!"

The small group that had flown in from the side which had been Ónix and Andromeda, Roberto, Brisa, Marella and Spyro on the bat-birds, and Rafael, Augustus and Melissa, flew in and touched down, before rushing over to the collapsed and heavily puffing and panting Blu, Jewel, Stella and Bia while the other macaws and animals began to help the four dazed animals to their feet and also see to Sandalwood, Connie and Bellatrix. Greg and Sardonyx, who had seen the four final animals return and crash-land, rushed forward to Bia to see to Connie.

"STOP, I'VE A BROKEN WING!" shouted Connie before the two scarlet macaws could snatch her from Bia's talons. At this, Sardonyx and Greg stopped and gazed at Connie's kinked left wing and the grey-headed flying fox's pained face. Then Sardonyx carefully lifted the grey-headed flying fox pup from Bia's wings and talons while Carla, Tiago, Virgil and some others began to help Bia, who was pained and still heavily breathing with aching flight muscles, to her feet.

"We'd better take you inside to get that fixed," said Sardonyx and with that, she and Greg left while the other animals sought to Jewel, Blu, Stella, Sandalwood and Bellatrix and while Virgil and Carla helped Bia to Tulio's Aviary for a check-up for any injuries. However, amidst the commotion, the group was made aware of the sounds of frantic screaming, so they froze. Ónix, Andromeda, Roberto, Brisa, Marella, Spyro, Rafael, Augustus and Melissa also froze, their faces morphing into looks of confusion as to why there was a sound of screeching.

"Sounds like some more panicked animals," said Marella. Suddenly, a piercing scream erupted from someone nearby and all of a sudden, a stampede of talons, greyhound and cat paws and flying fox feet erupted as the whole crowd rushed back, the other kids swept up in wings and Blu, Jewel, Stella, Sandalwood and Bellatrix seized and rushed away, leaving only Ónix, Andromeda, Roberto, Brisa, Marella, Spyro, Rafael, Augustus and Melissa to stand in a cloud of dust for they were late to react. However, before they could retreat as well, Jason came in with Charlotte, Músculo and Petunia, the family reunited at last.

"Mrs Andromeda, Uncle Beto, Aunt Brisa, Uncle Rafael, guys, LOOOOOK!" shouted Petunia and Jason together with a talon point each before their parents came in and seized them and scolded them. At this, Ónix, Andromeda, Roberto, Brisa, Marella, Spyro, Rafael, Augustus and Melissa shot the two chicks a confused look, just as the screeching of a small flock of birds increased in loudness but then stopped abruptly. Then the nine slowly turned in the direction of the abruptly cut off screaming and as their eyes landed on it, extreme shock tore through them, especially at the things held in the talons of those little birds, making them flinch violently and jump into the air as though they had been stung by a colony of biting fire ants.

"THUNDER AND LIGHTNING, what in the WORLD are those TOUCAN KIDS DOING WITH THOSE BRANCHES ON FIRE!?" bellowed Andromeda in extreme shock.

"Not to mention those clusters of feathers attached to the bottom ends of those sticks," put in Augustus, his and Melissa's disgusted and extremely offended glare on a certain location of said sticks. Brisa, Roberto, Ónix, Marella, Spyro and Rafael only looked on speechless, the extreme shock at the sight freezing their brains in place for them to even form a word, much less speak a series of them. In the background, Carla, Tiago, Dash, Ginger, Saturn, Orquidea, Mars, Chiquitita and the others also looked on in extreme astonishment and disbelief.

Blu, Stella, Bia and Jewel's chasers, which were the small flock of toucan chicks holding the parrot feather decorated torches, the flames flickering on the ends of the branches held by them, gazed back at the crowd with utterly and equally shocked and terrified look, especially at their grandfather Rafael, and Andromeda, Spyro, Marella and Augustus and Melissa.


	83. Chapter 82

**Chapter 82- fiery outbursts of rage at the toucans responsible**

While the extreme shock continued to hover above those outside as they continued to gaze at the toucan chicks holding the branches with flames and parrot feathers, inside Tulio's Aviary, some of the members of Blu's group, Jupiter, Ruby, Sheldon and Io and also Triton, Iris, Riker, Velocity, Cometa and Lightning, stood outside the operating theatre, seriously worried gazes plastering their faces, especially Io and Sheldon. In the rest of the main medical room, the majority of the toucans had been captured and caged while many of the toucan chicks were being treated, also in cages with their parents. Only a few of the toucans, Diantha, Gladion, Lillie, Aurora and of course Rita and Carlos and a few others that had reformed had left the Aviary to prevent being caught by mistake by the humans, so that only the badly behaved toucans could get caught. Tulio and his team had planned to leave a few of the toucans on the sanctuary after reducing the population to a reasonable level for the other birds and animals.

As Triton and Iris had rushed Betelgeuse and Rigel, both who were unconscious, Rigel from exhaustion and Betelgeuse also from exhaustion but also from the extreme trauma she had been put through, not to mention the injuries both the sister had suffered (Betelgeuse with her severely burned left talon and Rigel with the shard of wood embedded in her shoulder), the hyacinth macaw couple, along with Cometa, Lightning, Jupiter and Ruby, had run into a barrier caused by the lack of availability of medical facilities and room, thanks largely to the toucans and their many, many chicks, many of which had been badly burned or injured in the fire, much to the six birds' outrage, especially since the large number of toucans, among them Sofia, Marcel, Marco and Anastasia who had returned inside, refused to budge. That was when Velocity and Riker had rushed into the Aviary and against Sofia and company's wishes and with the help of Atreyu who had been outside his cage with Mumble, Balthazar and Ginny, and also Sardonyx and Greg after they had placed Connie in the hands of a bat vet to have her broken wing fixed, and their sons Steven, Kevin, and some other birds including Gylfie despite the heartbreak over the loss of Aurum, and the persuasion from some of the humans such as Lucy and Susan who had recognised Betelgeuse and Rigel and were horrified at their condition, some of the toucan kids had been removed to allow room for these two red macaw chicks and also for Connie and Regulus, whose lower back had been burned, and the treatment they desperately needed. Then after the chaos had calmed down, Jupiter, Ruby, Sheldon, Io, Triton, Iris, Riker, Velocity, Cometa and Lightning had either touched down or climbed on top in Ruby and Jupiter's case because of the latter's broken wing and the former's tattered wings via a small bird's ladder set there by one of Tulio's employees, of a table and gazed at the closed door of the operating theatre in which Betelgeuse and Rigel had been rushed.

Io stood in Sheldon's wings, devastation and extreme worry plastered all over her face and making her eyes weep anguished tears as well as her body shake. Though she had not seen her two daughters and the state they were in directly, Sheldon, Triton and Iris had explained everything to her and included how they, along with Charlotte, Jojo, Rhea, Aramis, Wilbur, Luna, Sebastian and Anabelle, had found the two girls near the Chinesa Vista before it caught fire, but Sheldon, Iris and Triton had absolutely no idea of how Rigel ended up with a wood splinter embedded in her shoulder and had begun to cook up all kinds of assumptions. Not to mention the fact that Jupiter, Ruby, Cometa, Lightning, Riker and Velocity kept bombarding the hyacinth macaw couple and Sheldon with a plethora of questions, and they still kept firing one question after another at Triton and Iris.

"Could Rigel have fallen into a thorn bush or something after she and Betelgeuse had managed to escape those horrible toucan kidnappers, only to fall through the canopy since Betelgeuse could not fly with one of her wings missing some of its flight feathers?" asked Jupiter, a short glance on Io as she continued to sob in Sheldon's wings.

"I'm telling you, Uncle Jupiter, we _don't know!"_ snapped Triton, his left facial side with the scars and clouded eye still on show for he did not have his bandana and had not stopped to have one fashioned for him due to the panic of the crisis. He was clearly sick and tired of being cross-examined by the vermillion scarlet macaw, his mate and the four falcons, as was Iris.

"We said we only found those two chicks near the Chinesa Vista," added she as she stood near her boyfriend. Then Sheldon gazed at Jupiter, Ruby, Cometa, Lightning, Riker and Velocity as he continued to hold the sobbing Io, "We weren't there when Rigel had impaled her shoulder on that piece of wood shard, so we cannot say."

As he said this, Sofia slowly peered around the corner. She was yet to be caged and has had her wings clipped to prevent her from flying away (as had many of the other badly behaved toucans), and was having her minor injuries treated by a nurse who had left to tend to another job. Then a scowl formed on Velocity's face.

"I wonder if any of those toucan kidnappers had deliberately dropped Betelgeuse and Rigel and left them for dead in that fire," she growled. At this, Sheldon and Io, the latter teary-eyed; shot the daughter of Lightning and Cometa a horrified look and Io nearly launched into an anguished wail but Triton intervened.

"Now let's not jump to conclusions," he said, "Like I've said before, we don't know how Betelgeuse and Rigel ended up in those states."

"Except the fact that they may have somehow escaped their kidnappers since they did not have any of those toucans chasing after them," put in Iris. As she spoke, two pairs of flapping wings alerted the group as Sardonyx and Greg appeared and touched down beside Triton and Iris.

"Are Betelgeuse and Rigel doing alright?" asked Greg, his face laced with concern. Sardonyx also shuddered for this seemed familiar, especially as she gazed at the sobbing Io and the distraught and worried Sheldon huddling together.

"We heard what had happened to those two poor little poppets," said she.

"They've just been sent into surgery," said Jupiter, "and will be in there for a good while until their injuries are fixed."

"Have you been in the artificial habitat chamber yet?" asked Ruby, "I heard Gylfie has been escorted into there…"

"You mean that gold and yellow fruit-eating hawk?" asked Greg. Then his face fell, "Not good, I'm afraid. She's been badly traumatised, and is under the care of one or two of the bird studiers."

"Their leader, Tony or something," said Sardonyx.

"Tulio," said Jupiter.

"Tulio is very worried about the other one," continued Sardonyx, "the male by the name of Aurum. He's hoping that the male fruit-eating hawk is still alive…"

"I hope Gylfie and him have mated since they are the final two golden fruithawks of their species," said Ruby worriedly. Just then, another commotion was stirred, and Jupiter, Ruby, Cometa, Lightning, Riker, Velocity, Io, Sheldon, Triton, Iris, Greg and Sardonyx all flinched when shouts erupted from some humans.

"GET SOME WATER or a FIRE EXTINGUISHER, QUICKLY…" shouted one. Then the group of twelve birds all turned and to their surprise, they saw several of the humans rush about for a red canister thing with a black snake-like tube, called by humans a fire extinguisher, while several familiar birds flapped about to help search for some containers of water.

"What on earth," asked Ruby.

"NOW what's up!?" snarled Cometa furiously. Then two of the familiar birds, Ellie and Frodo, the parents of Sylvester and Olivia and adopted siblings Achilles, Pitaya and Alegria, appeared and seized a plastic box from near Jupiter's group.

"What's happening?" demanded Triton.

"No time to explain, Triton," said Frodo as he and Ellie, the faces of both of them saturated with alarm, rushed off to find a crater-shaped thing that the humans and the human thing-familiar birds called a wash basin or sink to fill the box up with water. Triton sighed and returned to the group as he watched the two Cuban red macaws rush away. Then as the small group of birds and humans rushed outside with either buckets or plastic boxes of water or a fire extinguisher in their clutches, Lightning looked on, knowing that the hasty acquisition of water and fire extinguishers meant one thing.

"Sounds like a small fire has started nearby," said he.

"A small fire?" repeated Jupiter with a frown, "Especially after the whole sanctuary almost is engulfed in flames?"

Lightning did not reply except with a shoulder shrug, especially as everything in the medical room calmed down again. Then the worries for Betelgeuse and Rigel returned as all twelve gazes of Jupiter's group returned to the door of the operating theatre.

"This honestly reminds me of what happened to our son Lars back at that fake sanctuary place," murmured Sardonyx sombrely.

"He was eaten by those nasty caracals and servals, wasn't he?" said Ruby, "Sirius, Sandalwood and some of the others told us that."

At this, a pang of pity flashed within Cometa, Lightning, Riker and Velocity and the falcons shot Sardonyx and her mate a sympathetic look. Then Sardonyx's saddened eyes travelled to the weeping Io in Sheldon's wings, "If those two precious chicks of that scarlet macaw pass away," she said in a hushed voice, "She's likely to be very heartbroken, possibly for months on end, along with her green-winged mate."

"Sheldon's actually half green-winged," said Iris but Sardonyx and Greg were too swamped with concern for Io and Sheldon to reply.

From her distance, Sofia continued watching the twelve birds consisting of six red macaws, two hyacinth macaws and four peregrine falcons as they continued to talk, and cautiously backed away when she bumped into a lanky, rich pink leg.

"Oi, watch it, you little toucan brat," snapped the owner of the leg, which turned out to be a rosette spoonbill, Kipo's cousin Orton who had travelled from the other Blu Bird Sanctuary's evacuation spot with Cometa, Lightning, Riker and Velocity to visit Tulio's Aviary and check on their friends including Blu and company. Then Orton's glare morphed into a look of suspicious hostility, "Not planning on any more mischief, are we? Especially after all the trouble you, your mate and friends and your chicks have caused!"

Sofia did not reply and began to back away from the tall pink spoonbill as he continued piercing her with his glare, his spoon-shaped bill also pointing at the toucan.

"My brother Murphy has lost his mate to the fire while she was out on a foraging trip for some fish and fruit with some other rosette spoonbills in the forest, you know," he hissed, "They were meant to bring back the food for our spoonbill chicks and the chicks of some of the other birds but had run into that inferno and were immediately trapped…"

Still Sofia didn't answer, much to Orton's frustration.

"Murphy has a clutch of five chicks, and yet YOU, and many of your SIBLINGS have a vast HOARDE of chicks, numbering perhaps in the hundreds for some of you…" continued Orton, his rage at Sofia and her mate Marcel's breeding, and that of so many of their other siblings, boiling within him, "Not to mention the fact that SO MANY of your kids are downright DELINQUENTS."

Still Sofia remained silent and turned her face away, making Orton roll his eyes and glare back at her, "You sure are a proud, defiant little brat, ain't you, as always," he hissed. Just then, the pattering of several pairs of talons came by. Orton and Sofia both looked up and saw Iris, Triton, Sheldon, Io, Greg and Sardonyx walk by, saddened looks on their faces, and Io was especially weeping and trembling.

"It just doesn't make any sense at all," murmured Sheldon in a shaky voice as he continued to hug his sobbing full scarlet mate and his eyes threatening to weep tears, "Rigel can't possibly have landed onto that wood shard by herself, especially if she was able to fly and carry Betelgeuse, who cannot fly with her tattered wing, to safety," his face turned to the other five, "Could a tree have exploded and sent that piece of wood into her shoulder?"

"That sounds unlikely, Sheldon," said Greg, "Wood shrapnel sent flying from explosions usually spell death for little chicks such as your two daughters."

"Based on how that piece of wood is embedded into your daughter's left shoulder," said Sardonyx, "and not completely impaled all the way through implies that she may have had an accident during her attempted escape with her sister in her talons if the theory of her attempt to fly to safety is correct…"

Orton flinched as he heard Sardonyx say this while Sofia shuddered and began to back away. Then a look of pure outrage formed on the faces of Triton and Iris.

"Well, it seems that the possibilities point to those kidnappers that are them rotten toucans as being the responsible cause of Rigel's injury and her and Betelgeuse's struggle through that fire," growled Iris, her unusual violet feathers bristling, "and if we find out who are responsible, we're gonna FLAY THEM!"

"Yes, and SO WILL I," put in Io, a surge of anger breaking through her distress briefly. Sheldon nodded in agreement, a furious look of thunder also saturating his face. Sofia flinched harshly at how Iris and Io shouted their words and how Sheldon nodded and began to tremble violently. Then the six macaws turned round and returned to Jupiter, Ruby and the four falcons, leaving Sofia standing alone with Orton, whose face had morphed into a look of suspicion, especially as he watched the toucan tremble like a leaf and lose control of her breathing. Then as Sofia, her futile attempts at trying to conceal her fears making her stumble towards the wall then shakily sat down, Orton hardened his suspicious look.

"I do believe you're hiding something, Sofia," he said in a low voice. Sofia shot the spoonbill a stunned look.

"What, n-n-no I'm not, Orton, I'm just w-w-w-worried for my own kids' wellbeing that's all," she said, trying to deny her nerves and unease. However, Orton saw right through the façade.

"Huh, YOU'VE got MORE KIDS than you know what to do with and yet Io and Sheldon," his wing gestured in the direction of the couple, "only have two daughters, both of which are in critical condition, especially the one with the shard in her shoulder," Sofia gazed up at the pink spoonbill as he folded his wings, "not to mention the fact that the rest of the group, including Blu and Jewel's own three first-brood offspring, have only two or three or even rarer, four chicks as well, all of whom were nearly lost in the fire…"

Sofia kept quiet, her tongue stuck in her beak but then her nervousness began to boil dangerously within her, especially as Orton proposed the next question, sending her nerves into a violent jolt.

"Sofia, did you drop Rigel from the canopy while in that forest, especially with that fire tearing through the trees?" asked he, making Sofia shoot a frightened look in his direction.

"Wh-what?" she snapped.

"Look, the question as to how Rigel and Betelgeuse were found by themselves in the forest… totally _ablaze…_ with one of them having a shard in her shoulder and the other a burned talon and _both_ being _unable to_ FLY and escape to safety has been plaguing the minds of those macaws and their friends, especially their parents Io and Sheldon," said Orton angrily, "and they wanna know how those two poor girls ended up by themselves… in those STATES in that FIRE… and I'm wondering if you and/or your comrades had anything to do with it," Sofia's gaze darted back at Orton, "so I'm asking you again… what happened, Sofia?"

No reply. Orton hardened his glare, "What happened?"

Still no reply, except Sofia began to tremble violently all over, as she feared the consequences.

"Tell me right NOW!" growled Orton in a louder and more pressing voice, "What happened!?"

"I'm telling you, I DON'T KNOW!" snapped Sofia. However, Orton refused to budge. He knew full well that Sofia had something to hide and was determined to dig it out.

"Look, I can tell, based on your body language, that YOU were THERE to witness the incident in which both Rigel and Betelgeuse were left alone to fend for themselves…" said Orton. Still Sofia refused to answer but as Orton's anger began to boil all the more and as the spoonbill shoved his face towards hers, such that Sofia flinched, she was eventually forced to divulge what had happened to Betelgeuse and Rigel in the flaming forest at her and her group's clutches.

"W-we were taking those two chicks through the forest, me and my mate Marcel and some of our siblings and in-laws," said Sofia in a shaky, quiet voice, "when we saw the fire up ahead and some of our own chicks carrying those branches lit with flames…" at this, the colour drained from the skin under the pink feathers of Orton's face as disbelief and flabbergast consumed him, and his long spoon-shaped bill dropped open.

"WHAT!?" he shouted. Sofia then timidly looked up at him.

"And we were so shocked and horrified that we accidentally dropped Betelgeuse and Rigel, and were forced to see to our chicks as the flames from the branches they were carrying began to burn them alive…" said Sofia shakily, her muscles and nerves really shuddering now, "and we then rushed away with them in our talons to escape with them from the fire…"

"Did you return to find Betelgeuse and Rigel in the process, especially if they tried to call to you for help while the fire was burning the surrounding trees and vegetation?" asked Orton, his temper threatening to erupt. Sofia, at this, hesitantly shook her head.

"We might have heard them but…"

"But what!?"

"Th-th-they weren't our problem…" Sofia timidly murmured. Orton raised his head and neck and stood there, gazing down at Sofia in utter astonishment, especially at what she had just said about Io and Sheldon's only two daughters and that she would say such a thing. Then the rosette spoonbill stood up completely and rushed off in the direction of Jupiter's group. Sofia saw where Orton was heading. Alarmed, she stood up and tried to flee but ended up crashing into two scarlet macaws as they walked past the corner.

"OOOH-ER!" screeched one of them, Greg, as he was nearly bowled over by the charging toucan only to be caught in time by Sardonyx. Then Greg shot Sofia a furious glare, "What in the WORLD are you TRYING TO DO!?"

Sofia just gazed at him and an equally enraged Sardonyx but then another scarlet macaw voice rang out, this time from a more familiar owner. And that voice was saturated with even GREATER anger.

"SOFIA! I'M gonna TEAR YA APART!" a red comet with yellow and teal-turquoise wings, her face flooded with pure volcanic wrath, shot round and tackled violently into Sofia, knocking her back but then Sardonyx, alarmed, flapped up and seized the fiery-tempered macaw from Sofia as the terrified toucan scrabbled backwards, her face saturated with terror at the wrathful amber-eyed bird.

"I'm gonna SKIN YA ALIVE!" screeched Io as she fought in Sardonyx's grasp to get at Sofia. Then Sheldon, a volcanic look also plastering his face, appeared but was stopped by Greg before he could leap at the toucan.

"YOU UNGRATEFUL, UNCARING…" screeched Sheldon at Sofia and began to bombard her with a caustic concoction of insults and tried to lash his claws at the terrified toucan, who backed away even more while Greg kept a hold of the half-scarlet, half-green-winged macaw's wings and tried to restrain him. Then some more feathered forms rushed round and surrounded Sofia like a group of human medics around a witness of an accident.

"WHY didn't YOU RESCUE BETELGEUSE and RIGEL when they were in their MOST DIRE NEED!?" demanded a furious Jupiter as he, Ruby, Iris, Triton, Velocity, Riker, Cometa and Lightning stood by, all their equally furious glares converging on the toucan. In the background, several more of Blu's group members, among them Blu, Jewel, Carla, Bia and Tiago, and Zephyr, Venus, Justin, Charlotte, Matilda and Virgil, walked in just in time to see the volcanic eruption of rage happening between Sofia and Jupiter's group.

"I'M GONNA SKIN YA ALIVE!" screeched Io as she continued to struggle and writhe in Sardonyx's talons. Sheldon also struggled in Greg's talons, the urge to slash Sofia to a pulp also boiling within him and his beak continuously spewing acidic threats and insults at the toucan. Around the medical room, all the other birds, including Mumble, Atreyu, Ginny, Balthazar, Finnick, Sugilite and Sofia's comrades, those that had been there when and where Betelgeuse and Rigel were dropped, looked on timidly as some humans, among them Linda, rushed in to try and quell the fighting.

"L-l-look, we already had our TALONS FULL WITH OUR OWN KIDS…" replied Sofia in protest but Ruby towered over her, a furious look on her face.

"Oh, you SHOULDN'T have JUST ABANDONED BETELGEUSE AND RIGEL to struggle alone in the fire, Sofia, especially if BOTH OF THEM could not FLY!" screeched Ruby, sending extreme fear coursing like a jolt of electricity through Sofia.

"YOU MURDERER!" screeched Sheldon in Greg's talons. Orton stood back, fear at the blaze of anger rooting him to the spot.

"What's GOING ON!?" bellowed Blu in confusion. Then some human hands appeared and seized Ruby, Jupiter, Iris, Triton, Velocity, Riker, Cometa and Lightning, as well as Io, Sheldon, Sardonyx, Greg and Sofia and pulled the latter away from the others.

"EVERYBODY, CALM DOWN!" barked Jupiter as he realised the humans' intervention, especially as Francisco lifted him carefully away from the others while Linda took away Ruby, Triton and Iris.

"Alright, that's enough, all of you," said Linda as she did it, "we've had enough skirmish and trauma as it is for one night."

As Io and Sheldon were carried away by another human, a young male and one of Fernando, Jack and Jill's friends, they gazed at Sofia, also in another human's hands, with furious and tearful glares.

"Betelgeuse and Rigel, Sofia," murmured Io tearfully, "Our only two daughters!"

Then the scarlet macaw broke down as she was carried away by the human, along with Sheldon. Sofia shuddered in the hands of her holder as she was carried away as well.

 **Around an hour later**

Sofia, Marcel and some of their comrades, those that had not yet been caught and caged by the humans and some of those that had attempted to take Betelgeuse and Rigel away, stood before a small crowd of EXTREMELY angry faced birds and flying foxes outside of Tulio's Aviary and a few metres from the building. The little crowd consisted of Blu, Jewel, Rafael (whose mate Eva was still at the edge of the trees with the fifteen well-behaved toucan chicks, and also Rita, Carlos and some of the other good toucans who looked after Diantha, Lillie, Gladion and Aurora and comforted them over the loss of Tom), Orton, Zephyr, Venus and also Carla, Bia, Tiago, Justin, Charlotte, Virgil, Matilda and Músculo, and Andromeda, Eragon and Augustus. Nearby, Melissa, Stella, Soren, Anabelle, Sebastian, Luna, Ganymede, Mimas, Roberto and Brisa were confronting the parents of the chicks, among them Marco and Anastasia, over the matter involving the sealing of Acerola, the daughter of Anabelle and Sebastian, and Sirius, Einstein, Miles the sons of Bia and Virgil; Ganymede and Mimas's chicks Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine and Thymine; Titan and his deceased mate Brooke's chicks Castor, Pollux and Poppy, and Gladion, Lillie and Aurora, the only three chicks of Marco, Sofia and their siblings' very own sister Diantha and her deceased mate Tom into a burrow in the forest. There were other matters to discuss as well, such as Marco's attempted drowning of Aldebaran, which Umbriel and Benjamin were utterly furious with Marco for and wanted to claw his feathers out. Not to mention the news of the fire being largely caused by many of the irresponsible toucans' chickswhich was yet to spread to and reach the ears of the evacuated residents of the sanctuary at the base of the Christ the Redeemer statue where Nico, Pedro, Rose and Sparkle had escorted them before the fire ripped through the forest and swallowed their homes.

While Blu and company prepared to open up the confrontation with Sofia, Marcel and their comrades, Velocity came in.

"Any updates on Betelgeuse, Rigel and the other kids' wellbeing, Velocity?" asked Blu firmly.

"Including Connie," put in Augustus.

"Rigel's shard has been removed from her shoulder by the surgeons, Connie's in surgery to fix her broken wing, and Acerola's doing just fine, as are some of the other badly traumatised kids that had also suffered, such as Gertie, Ferdinand, and Aldebaran," replied Velocity but then her face fell, "But Betelgeuse is still unconscious, her burned talon bandaged. Tulio has hooked her up to a bird ventilator to keep her alive until she comes out of unconsciousness but Tulio and his bird doctors are unsure if Betelgeuse is gonna survive or not; she's been through such a lot, I'm sorry to say. Sheldon, Io, Byron, Europa, Callisto, Athos, Jupiter and Ruby are severely worried and extremely upset; especially Io and Sheldon."

At this, fear for Betelgeuse's life coursed through Blu and the others and they shuddered, while Sofia and the other toucans with her continued to look down at their feet and the floor, refusing to turn an eye to Velocity.

"Alright, thanks, Velocity," said Blu sadly, before his anger at Sofia and the others returned.

"Now if you don't mind, we've a very serious matter to attend to," said Rafael, before his glare turned to Sofia and the other toucans with her, who shuddered. Velocity nodded, shot Sofia and the others an outraged glare and left to return to Tulio's Aviary to keep an update on Betelgeuse and the others' wellbeing, and also talk with Dash and the other greyhounds, and Riker her boyfriend. Soon, the confrontation with Sofia, Marcel and their comrades had resumed.

"Right then, you lot," growled Rafael in a low, enraged but controlled voice, speaking first. He was utterly furious with his daughter and the rest of his offspring that had failed to discipline their kids sufficiently, as was Eva, who had wanted to help in the confrontation initially but then decided to remain with Rita, Carlos, Diantha, Gladion, Lillie, Aurora and the fifteen good toucan chicks who were the former three's youngest siblings who, like everyone else was badly traumatised by the fire caused by many, many of their older siblings' chicks' antics with the fire. Rafael continued, "Tell us, Sofia, Marcel and the rest of you; what were those toucan chicks doing with those sticks on fire?"

"Not to mention those feathers tied to the other end of those flaming things," put in Augustus, "They were utterly offensive, especially to us flying foxes, INDEED."

Sofia and her group did not reply at first. Shame was clearly boiling within them and they knew full well that they were in deep trouble. More than deep, in fact. However, some of them tried to concoct a slew of excuses to try and escape trouble but that will be futile. Finally, Sofia spoke.

"We… did not know that… our kids would… encounter fire…" she murmured.

"What, so that YOU could allow those hoodlum chicks of yours to explore WHATEVER THING they encountered at their own devices, even if it is extremely dangerous, eh?" asked Justin as he stood with Carla **,** Bia, Tiago, Charlotte, Virgil, Matilda and Músculo, all who had their wings folded and furious glares on their faces.

"Or did you TELL THEM that fire was okay to play with!?" demanded Carla in a more furious voice with a lurch at Sofia, making her jump back.

"Carla," said Rafael, trying to calm her down. Carla did so and returned to Justin's side. Then Eragon came in and glared Sofia right in the eye.

"Sofia," said the archaeobird clan patriarch and Andromeda's mate, "That FIRE…" he gestured with the claws on his wing, the one that was not attached to the still-healing shoulder still in its cast, to the flaming forest in the night-time background, the fiery monster still clawing at the sky and spewing smoke into it, "has wreaked untold DEVASTATION throughout the ENTIRE city forest… and so many LIVES have been lost, among them one of the GOLDEN FRUITHAWKS, and SO MANY MORE put in grave endangerment, amongst them Io and Sheldon's two daughters, Betelgeuse and Rigel."

"Yes, that poor eldest daughter of Jupiter and Ruby and her half-scarlet/ half-green-winged mate are in there," put in Zephyr as he stood with Venus, his wing gesturing to Tulio's Aviary, "sobbing their eyes and hearts out and grasping their older daughter's talon and really HOPING that she doesn't pass away."

"It seems that the smoke has caused her so much damage internally," put in Venus. Sofia gazed at her as the pigtailed Spix macaw hardened her glare, "Not to mention her younger sister suffering that wood shard impalement in her shoulder when you and your comrades," she flashed a glare at Marcel and the other toucans with Sofia, "dropped her and Betelgeuse and sent them plummeting through the canopy. Rigel might never even fly again if the damage to her shoulder is very great and irreparable."

"Even worse, it seemed like a close call based on the sound of what happened to Rigel," said Charlotte.

"That piece of wood would have impaled that poor red macaw chick through the _chest_ during her fall through the canopy, with FATAL RESULTS," put in Músculo and with that, he lurched forward and gave Sofia a hefty shove as a surge of anger got the better of him, sending the frightened toucan into a stumble and a fall since he was a strong macaw with a muscly build. Marcel shot the macaw a glare as Sofia fell onto her backside and uttered a caustic insult at Charlotte's mate as he glared at Sofia with a volcanic look on his face.

"Músculo!" rebuked Blu as the burly mate of Charlotte returned to the little crowd. Then Zephyr came in, his furious glare on Sofia and her group.

"YOU lot have inflicted those two poor red macaws with SEVERE heartbreak and devastation several times before," he growled, before his glare landed particularly on Sofia who struggled to her feet with Marcel and another toucan's help and gazed back at him, "Especially YOU, young lady," a wing point shot out from Zephyr and its feather tip aimed dead-centre at Sofia's forehead, "YOU practically sent Io over the edge with your despicable words about her being stupid in having her chicks… and very NEARLY completely destroyed her relationship with Sheldon," he hissed with disgust as Sofia just indifferently shrugged at this fact, "And now YOU and your COMRADES," he shot Sofia's group another glare, "kidnap Betelgeuse and Rigel and the other kids, and abandon both of Sheldon and Io's daughters… BOTH OF THEM unable to FLY… and leave them to get themselves out of that hellish inferno ALL ALONE… just to focus on your own NUMEROUS KIDS…"

"Our kids were suffering severe burns from messing about with those flaming branches," Sofia protested but Zephyr shook his head.

"That's not an excuse," he hissed, "You should have gone back for Betelgeuse and Rigel especially when they tried shouting for help, but you didn't… and you left those two poor chicks to stare death in the face in the fire," the mate of Venus's glare hardened, "and now one of them might be dying because of your UTTER SELFISHNESS!" he screeched the final two words as he said this, making Sofia flinch.

"And if Betelgeuse doesn't survive this night," added Jewel, her wrath threatening to explode and the urge to claw Sofia's face in threatening to take control of her, "it's likely that the mind of the poor oldest daughter of Jupiter and Ruby would suffer another BREAKDOWN… this time for MONTHS… because of YOU!" still Sofia shrugged, much to Jewel's disgust, and that of the other confronters, especially Rafael, Augustus, Eragon and Andromeda. Zephyr then hardened his gaze, "Now if we manage to pull through this utterly devastating night and if Io enters that potential state, while YOU continue to enjoy your massive family, you'll look back on this night in SHAME!"

Sofia, Marcel and the other toucans with them still shrugged and sighed, much to the utter shock of the confronters, especially at their seemingly lack of guilt and large amount of indifference.

"I can't believe how indifferent you lot are in a crisis like this," hissed Augustus disgustedly, "You don't seem to care one bit at all…"

"Not to mention incredibly selfish," put in Andromeda, "always concerned for their own wellbeing and that of their KIDS and not the kids of OTHERS."

"Those toucans need evicting from the sanctuary for sure," growled Eragon to which Andromeda and Orton, who towered over the archaeobirds due to his species' size, nodded in agreement. Then Carla, Bia, Tiago, Justin, Charlotte, Virgil, Matilda and Músculo stepped in, their furious glares fixed on Sofia and their comrades.

"And we'd be honoured to be the evictors of this bunch of wretched big-beaked WEASELS!" growled Virgil and with that, his talon darted out and seized Sofia by the neck.

"So would I," put in Jewel as she stood back and watched Virgil grab Sofia by the neck with a talon and hoped that he would throttle her real good.

"B-b-but…" began Sofia timidly, her wings clasped onto Virgil's talon but Virgil let his temper flare up, picked Sofia up and threw her at Marcel. Marcel was struck by Sofia and knocked down.

"Does us and everyone ELSE a FAVOUR, you UNGRATEFUL, SELFISH MENACE!" screeched Virgil angrily, his wings spread out, his body crouched and his eyes blazing blue-green fire, "GET OUT of the sanctuary right NOW!"

Bia and Jewel also came in and crouched with Virgil, hisses of wrath filtering through their beaks and their hazel and teal eyes blazing with fire but before the three could leap at Sofia and her comrades, Rafael intervened.

"Stop it Jewel, Virgil and Bia," said Rafael, making the trio, especially Jewel, quell their fires of wrath and stand up. Sofia then backed away timidly from the livid Jewel, her daughter and son-in-law and also Blu and Jewel's other two first-brood offspring and their mates, and Charlotte and Músculo, the eyes of all nine of them blazing with an inferno that was greater than the fire in the forest. Then Andromeda glared angrily and fierily at Sofia, Marcel and her comrades. Fury and extreme disbelief was making the archaeobird's body tremble, her metallic purple and green feathers bristle and tears threaten to well in her eyes.

"When we saw some of your chicks… after Blu, Stella, Jewel and Bia crash-landed before us with Sandalwood, Bellatrix and Connie in their clutches… turn up with those branches on fire… before our VERY EYES…" hissed the archaeobird shakily, "Eragon and I could NOT BELIEVE that those beyond-naughty chicks would get a hold of such a dangerous force… that is especially infamous in causing mass destruction if allowed to escape its confines or if misused…" Sofia just gazed at the archaeobird and her mate Eragon.

"When we archaeobirds teach OUR chicks about fire in our clan back in the Amazon," continued Eragon, "We always, always, ALWAYS teach them about the dangers of it alongside our mastering of the force and other facts, especially if it is allowed to escape its containment… and include the examples of the two fires that had occurred in the Amazon in the history of Jewel and company's tribes, clans and the other bird groups, and of course the flying foxes who also suffered from those two fires," he nodded to Augustus who nodded in agreement, "And we would NEVER allow our chicks to discover it themselves and play with it as they see fit," Eragon then paused as Sofia and her group said nothing, "In other words, we ALWAYS instruct them to manage it safely, especially in acts such as fire-dancing, which requires PARTICULARLY special training to ensure that no-one ends up burned or the fire ends up carelessly in the wrong place where it would spread and cause destruction."

Sofia and the other toucans with her just gazed at Eragon and Andromeda, especially as the former hardened his glare, "In short, SAFE INTRODUCTION! NEVER MIND allowing their curiosity to LEAD THEM TO discover and EXPERIMENT WITH FIRE THEMSELVES with the CONSEQUENCES that you can NOW SEE for YOURSELVES in those TREES!"

Sofia flinched as Eragon shouted this into her face.

"Not to mention the fact that one of your brothers almost used it to set fire to the birdhouse of a certain cockatoo family we know and almost roast them ALIVE when YOU lot attacked Blu and company and also Tulio and his family the other night," put in Rafael, to which Andromeda and Eragon shuddered with even greater fury. The two archaeobirds could not believe that Marco, the one who had almost burned Eustace, Milo, Rosa, Clemont, Serena, and the chicks Yolanda, Oscar, Bruno and Peach alive in that birdhouse by setting it ablaze during the toucans' attack on Blu, Tulio and company that night, would attempt to kill those cockatoos with the exact same thing his offspring had 'discovered' that was now consuming much of the Blu Bird Sanctuary forest. Then an idea as to how some of the toucan chicks that had got hold of the fire thought that it would be fun to play with entered the female archaeobird's head; an idea that made her stomach lurch in utter revulsion. Augustus then stepped in, an extremely ANGRY and deeply offended look lacing his face.

"AND have your chicks tie parrot feathers to the ends of their 'new toys' which was EXTREMELY offensive and UTTERLY INSENSITIVE since it was what the colony flying foxes used to do before they scattered after their defeat at the end of the Great War for the Sanctuary de Amazon, after they had killed an innocent bird and harvested their feathers to attach to their weapons as trophies of those kills," put in the outraged flying fox. Sofia and the other toucans just gazed at him.

"B-b-but…" began Sofia but Rafael finally snapped. He could not stand the sight of his daughter and her comrades and their indifference to the enormous damage they had caused the sanctuary and everyone else, including their own reformed siblings, such as Rita and Carlos, and their parents any longer.

"Just GET OUT OF OUR SIGHT THIS MINUTE!" he barked, "GO ON, SCRAM!"

Sofia, Marcel and the other toucans with them, at this, exchanged timid glances and scarpered, Rafael and the others glaring after them furiously. Then Blu and Jewel shot Rafael, Andromeda and Eragon a horrified look.

"One of the very last golden fruithawks has been killed?" asked the Spix macaw couple. Rafael's face, at this, fell. He had told the archaeobirds about Aurum's sacrifice and death but he realised that he hadn't told the others due to the demands of the situations.

"I'll explain what happened to Aurum," he said to Blu, Jewel and also Augustus, Orton, Zephyr, Venus, Carla, Bia, Tiago, Justin, Charlotte, Virgil, Matilda and Músculo as the group cocked their ears to listen.

Elsewhere, the rest of Blu's group continued to watch over their kids as they continued to recover, but their wrath against the toucans for this whole mess, especially with the fire in the Blu Bird Sanctuary was especially blazing. There were anguish, devastation, heartbreak, trauma and severe wounding, both physically in a few but mental in quite a number of others, boiling within everyone. Diantha, Gladion, Lillie and Aurora, along with the good and reformed toucans including Eva, Rita and Carlos and the good fifteen toucan offspring of Rafael and Eva, were devastated over the loss of Tom; Saturn, Orquidea, Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Titan, Iapetus and Porthos and the rest of their relatives but most especially Titan, Castor, Pollux and Poppy, were devastated over the loss of Brooke who was struck down in a blaze by the deranged Dalek when he threw a burning match at her with his tongue, and Io and Sheldon were outside the door to the emergency care unit where Betelgeuse and Rigel were, sobbing and wailing in anguish over their daughters, especially Betelgeuse who was on a ventilator. Ganymede, Mimas, Europa, Byron, Athos and Callisto kept the couple locked in a tight hug and also wept while Betelgeuse and Rigel's biological cousins, Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine, Thymine Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka, Canopus and Katniss sobbed in the wings of Triton, Iris, Victor, Indigo, Violet, Neptune, Ultramarine, Jupiter and Ruby, the fears for their two cousins and their lives also plaguing them and cutting them deep. It truly was a devastating time for everyone, all thanks to the irresponsible toucans who had let their kids run loose in the night leading to this whole disaster, and amongst the cyclone of negative emotions were also anger and outrage at those toucans, especially at their selfishness, their kidnapping of the kids and the near-death situations they had left them in or almost put them in, such as Marco with Aldebaran.

While the wailing of various birds continued to flood the medical room air, the humans also trying to calm down the birds, Linda especially with Jupiter and company, Marco and Anastasia, their feathers still damp but not waterlogged for they had managed to steal a towel and dry themselves of the soapy water after Broccoli, Daisy and Collette angrily dunked them into the window cleaner's bucket of water, looked on through the entrance fearfully, but their attention was solely on the toucan kids, including their own, and not on the wellbeing of the kids of everyone else. However, the couple was unaware that a certain couple of macaws, one of the interspecies couples, was approaching them with volcanic anger boiling within them.

"I hope Joel, Isabella and the others are alright, my love," said Marco worriedly, his eyes fixed on a certain group of bandaged toucan kids, among them Isabella, placed in a cage, "We've already lost a few dozen of them to the fire."

"This is just horrible," said Anastasia sadly, "We had no idea that the fire would cause this much damage."

Marco nodded in agreement and breathed a sad sigh. Just then, the sounds of two pairs of flapping wings emanated from behind them, followed by the sound of two pairs of talons touching down on solid concrete. Then before Marco and Anastasia could turn round, one of the talons darted out towards Marco's nape and painfully grabbed the toucan by that area. Marco yelped in pain as he was suddenly yanked backward, whirled round and slammed hard against the wall by a pair of turquoise, red and yellow wings while Anastasia let loose a shriek before a green blur rushed in and slammed her against the wall next to Marco. Then Marco found himself glaring into a pair of seething green eyes above a white and black beak but it was not Io, Jupiter, Mars or any of the other red macaws based on his features, especially the other macaw accompanying him and pinning Anastasia by the throat with a talon was a green bird with a red forehead, blue wing flight feathers, a blue and red tail, and yellow wing and tail undersides, and her eyes, coloured dark hunter green, were saturated with a volcanic wrath just like the scarlet macaw's.

"I hope you're PROUD OF YOURSELF, you BIG-BILLED RAVEN!" snarled Benjamin as he had Marco held hard against the wall of the building while Umbriel had Anastasia by the throat next to him, "for almost DROWNING OUR SON ALDEBARAN after you have TAKEN HIM AWAY WITH THE OTHER KIDS," Marco struggled in Benjamin's wrathful grasp while Anastasia clasped Umbriel's leg with her wings as the enraged great green mother of Aldebaran threatened to cut off her breathing.

"NOT TO MENTION allowing your KIDS TO PLAY WITH FIRE AND CAUSE MASS DESTRUCTION to the ENTIRE SANCTUARY!" screeched Umbriel at the top of her voice, so loud and high-pitched that Anastasia's face screwed shut as her ears were assaulted by the great green macaw's screeching as she shouted but it ignited fright in the toucan and her mate.

"How DARE you traumatise Aldebaran," shouted Benjamin into Marco's face, "How DARE you attempt to drown him in that stream…"

"I-I-I was teaching your son a lesson…" began Marco timidly but Benjamin yanked him forward and slammed him hard back against the wall again, jolting his insides and painfully knocking the toucan's head against the hard surface, jolting his skull as well.

"You think it's funny to subject our son Aldebaran to a frightful and traumatic experience, do ya," asked Benjamin sarcastically as Marco twisted his face and groaned in pain from the impact of his head against the wall, "Well, why don't you and Anastasia come with me and Umbriel… and see our poor son who's now coming down with a chill and cringe at the sight of a simple cup of water.. and tell me and Umbriel it's FUNNY!" and with that, Benjamin threw Marco onto the floor on his belly while Umbriel tightened her grip on Anastasia's neck, cutting off her breathing. Then Benjamin let loose a screech and inflicted Marco with a talon swipe across the face, opening a short scratch on his cheek and making him yell in pain. Marco then shot his attacker a glare and grasped his cheek.

"I'm gonna TEAR YA FEATHERS OUT for THAT you wretched…" he shouted and with that, he stood up and prepared to leap at Benjamin but before he could pounce onto the scarlet macaw, a voice shouted, "MARCO, ANASTASIA!"

At this, both Marco and Benjamin looked up to the speaker and saw that it was Rafael and he was accompanied by Blu and Jewel, all three wearing furious faces. Umbriel also saw the three newcomers and released Anastasia, making her drop to the floor and take in some deep breaths and cough. As the three newcomers touched down, Benjamin stepped forward to explain.

"Rafael, Blu and Jewel," he said, "Marco is responsible for traumatising Aldebaran and giving him a chill by dunking him into cold water…"

"Not to mention allowing some of their chicks to mess about with fire…" added Umbriel. Then Rafael closed his eyes and put up a wing as if to say, "We've got it."

Then Marco stood up and gazed at his father and the two Spix macaws.

"Don't listen to those two," he begged the trio, "They're making it up…"

"Their son's deluded them…" put in Anastasia, hoping with her mate that this excuse would mislead Rafael, Blu and Jewel away from the facts. Sadly, the trio were too furious with Marco, Anastasia and the other toucans responsible for this whole disaster and devastation to even care. Then Rafael stormed over to Marco and Anastasia, seized both of them and yanked them past Umbriel and Benjamin.

"Come with me, you two," growled the aging toco toucan with a hefty shove on Marco and his mate, "NOW!"

As Rafael left with Marco and Anastasia, Blu sand Jewel went to console Benjamin and Umbriel as anguish took them over.

"Aldebaran's not the only chick who's been traumatised, you know," said Blu gently.

"I know that," cried Umbriel, "To hear that one of Io and Sheldon's daughters, Betelgeuse's life is on the line is so HEARTBREAKING!"

"AND THOSE TOUCANS ARE RESPONSIBLE for EVERYONE'S MESS!" put in Benjamin and with that, the scarlet macaw and his great green mate broke down in Blu and Jewel's wings. The Spix macaw couple, sadness consuming them, then began to comfort the two macaws.

Not too far away, Rafael began to lambast and yell at Marco and Anastasia, the volcanic anger against these two and so many of his and Eva's other offspring boiling dangerously inside him, and it was the fieriest anger he had ever harboured in his life.

"I don't CARE how your chicks have managed to acquire the fire in the first place," snarled Rafael to a flinching Marco and Anastasia, "I don't CARE about WHAT EXCUSE you try to make to escape trouble. The only thing I CARE ABOUT is WHAT DEVASTATION YOU HAVE CAUSED EVERYONE ELSE, most ESPECIALLY CARLA, BIA, TIAGO AND THE REST, especially IO AND SHELDON regarding their daughters BETELGEUSE and RIGEL!"

Marco and Anastasia could not think of an answer to form, and kept trembling at the outrage Rafael had built up within him. Then at last, Marco looked up at his toco father.

"Aldebaran's freaking out at a simple cup of water?" he asked.

"Why are YOU ASKING ABOUT ALDEBARAN'S newfound FEAR OF WATER WHEN YOU WERE THE ONE WHO ATTEMPTED TO DROWNED HIM in the FIRST PLACE!?" bellowed Rafael, making Marco and Anastasia flinch and tried to come up with another recuse but Rafael wasn't having any of it.

"Don't you DARE try to excuse your way out of this," shouted the aging toco toucan, "For ALL WE KNOW Aldebaran could have well developed A HORRIBLE FEAR OF WATER SO GREAT he might even REFUSE to go ANYWHERE NEAR a body of water, not even a puddle, much less a lake like the one in the Spix tribe's ravine in the Sanctuary de Amazon… because of WHAT YOU'VE PUT HIM THROUGH!"

"He-he's attacked one of my mates who was trying to deal with Triton…" began Marco but Rafael cut him off.

"You think THAT justifies YOUR TRAUMATISING OF THAT POOR CHICK!?" he snapped, making Marco flinch again. Then the urge to escape Rafael took hold within Marco and his mate.

"I think we'd better go," said he timidly. With that, he and Anastasia whirled round and scarpered away.

"Hey, GET BACK HERE!" shouted Rafael. When her got no answer from the two toucans as they scurried off, Rafael let loose an infuriated screech and kicked a stone, inflicting his talon with a sharp pain. However, he was too angry to even care. Boiling with anger at how a lot of his offspring had contributed to the fiery devastation of the entire Blu Bird Sanctuarty as well as the extreme agony of Blu and the others, including his own daughter Diantha regarding how Lillie, Aurora and Gladion, three of the few grand-chicks that were well-behaved, had been forced to go through because of the naughty toucans, Rafael walked back in the direction of Tulio's Aviary to check on Carla, Bia, Tiago and company and the recovering kids.


	84. Chapter 83

**Chapter 83- the final leaves regarding the toucans' destructive behaviours**

The kids of Carla, Bia and Tiago and company were either asleep or resting in their cages and bedding in the recovery room. Regulus and Acerola were resting in two of these cages, the former with his lower back bandaged, his burn having been treated with his sister Denebola and cousin Saiph, and the latter hanging from a special perch with her feet, her wings wrapped around her body with her younger brother Ferdinand sleeping next to her. The other kids were in the cages near the two cages containing the glaucous macaw chicks and Sandalwood's two cousins: Sirius, Einstein, Miles, Sonia, Spica and Melody were in one roomy cage; Bellatrix, Bartholomew, Jason, Petunia, Vega, Winona, Austin, Diego, Deneb, Lilac and Polaris were in another big enough cage; another large cage contained Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine, Thymine, Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka, Canopus, Katniss, Xander and Kayley; Mira was in a smaller cage by herself; Procyon, Peter, Castor, Pollux, Poppy, Fomalhaut and Cressida were in another cage, some of them also wearing a few plasters and bandages and Fomalhaut had a small bandage on his talon for he had had a small scratch on it, apparently caused by the whole ordeal with the nasty toucans kidnapping him and the other kids; Capella, Achernar, Basil, Antares, Perdita, Aldebaran and Cecil were in yet another cage while Gertie was in a separate, smaller cage from the others, and Arcturus, Oceano, Carmen, Olivia, Sylvester, Achilles, Alegria, Pitaya, Bambi and Altair were in their own cage as well. Steven and Kevin, Sardonyx and Greg's two remaining sons were in the main medical room with their parents while Connie, Betelgeuse and Rigel were in the emergency room, and Sandalwood was with his parents Soren and Stella.

While the kids continued to rest, Jack, Jill, Susan and Lucy came by and checked that all of them were present based on the pictures Lucy had taken of each of the families on the slab humans called an Ipod. As Lucy went past the cage containing Procyon and the others, Cressida managed to get a glimpse of the pictures she had stored on her Ipod, the one showing her, Fomalhaut and their interspecies parents, Tethys and Oberon, perched together on a low branch near Lucy and her family's cottage, taken during Blu and company's visit of them before the entire dramatic story.

"She looks so concerned for us, doesn't she?" said Cressida to Procyon, Peter, Castor, Pollux, Poppy and Fomalhaut as they gathered around her, "Especially for Betelgeuse and Rigel."

"I can't believe those horrible toucans would put those two through such a nightmare," murmured Procyon.

"Especially since Betelgeuse couldn't fly due to her tattered wing," put in Peter.

"They could have easily perished in that fire," said Castor and Pollux together.

"Uncle Sheldon and Aunt Io had been so furious with them," said Poppy as she remembered Io and Sheldon's volcanic rage at Sofia a while ago, and she shuddered as the sounds of shouting repeated in her mind. Then Fomalhaut's' gaze turned to some familiar feathered forms as they passed by the open door.

"Looks like Aunt Io and some others are gonna check on Betelgeuse and Rigel now, sis and cousins," he said. At this, Cressida and the blue-and-gold chicks all gathered around him and followed his gaze as Io and some of the others were screened by the wall on the other side of the door. Then the faces of Castor, Pollux and Poppy fell and their eyes began to ooze tears as a certain less fortunate individual macaw came into their minds.

"And I can't believe we're now motherless and Dad is now a widower," murmured Castor in an edgy voice.

"Aunt Brooke died in the fire?" asked Cressida confused.

"Have you not been listening to our dad?" snapped Pollux rather sharply than he intended due to the weight of the heartbreak over the loss of Brooke threatening to overwhelm him. At this, Cressida flinched and backed away. Then the two twin brothers and their sister Poppy began to break down and sob hard with Procyon, Peter, Fomalhaut and Cressida looking on, the heartbreak over Brooke's demise also threatening to open the floodgates of tears within them as well. They, along with Mira, since Brooke was also the sister-in-law to her blue-and-gold father Enceladus and thus her aunt as well, had also been devastated by her loss. And that heartbreak was weighing down on the minds of Enceladus, Mimas, Tethys, Dione, Rhea and Iapetus, and also and especially Titan for Brooke had been one of their closest friends when they were younger, along with Porthos and Trixie the hyacinth macaw, and Saturn, Orquidea and everyone else had also been devastated over the loss of this macaw who was cruelly and gruesomely slain by the savage parrot-detesting chameleon Dalek when he launched a lit match at Brooke with his tongue and managed to set her ablaze alive during Blu and company's escape with some of the rescued kids, leading to her demise in the fiery forest. Ferdinand, who had been held by Brooke at the time, had almost been set alight by the fire that consumed Brooke but if it wasn't for Brooke's quick-thinking action in dropping the flying fox pup before the flames could latch onto his fur, he could have died too and Sebastian and Anabelle would have lost their son and Acerola her brother. Dalek's insanity, along with his sly manipulation of the toucan chicks into playing with fire, had indeed destroyed a lot of homes on the Blu Bird Sanctuary and had broken many hearts, but Dalek was the least of Blu and company's worries and woes.

While Procyon, Peter, Castor, Pollux, Poppy, Fomalhaut and Cressida continued to cry over Brooke's death, Trixie and her blue-and-gold mate Enceladus sat on another table, gazing at them and the other chicks of Carla, Bia and Tiago and company, including their own hybrid daughter Mira, and also Acerola and Ferdinand as they continued to rest in their cages. Outrage was boiling within the blue-and-gold macaw and his hyacinth mate as it was within the other members of Blu's group.

"I cannot BELIEVE some of those wretched toucan chicks would go as far as to attempt to drown some of our kids, among them Ferdinand, four of Ellie and Frodo's chicks and all three of Byron and Europa's triplets," Trixie growled, her eyes threatening to weep tears, "Not to mention a few others almost getting burned alive by a few more of those stupid toucan chicks and their 'new fascination' in the form of that fire. Indigo and Victor had almost lost their only daughter while Charlotte and Músculo had almost lost their son Jason and Jojo and Kira, both of their daughters Vega and Winona…"

"Those four macaws, alongside Sebastian, Anabelle, Byron, Europa, Indigo and Victor and the other parents of the chicks who were almost drowned or burned alive before Blu and the others intercepted and rescued them had been severely upset and utterly OUTRAGED indeed when they were told what their offspring had been put through," said Enceladus equally angrily, before his gaze landed on Acerola, "Not to mention some more of those toucan chicks sealing her and a few of our other chicks, among them Bia and Virgil's three sons Sirius, Einstein and Miles and even three of their own cousins and Diantha and Tom's three, Aurora, Gladion and Lillie, into that burrow."

Trixie nodded in agreement. It seemed that quite a number of the offspring of Bia, Carla and Tiago and company had suffered a LOT at the clutches of those deranged toucan kids and their equally deranged parents, such as when Marco had almost drowned Aldebaran by dunking him into that stream, much to the utter outrage of Benjamin and Umbriel. Then there were Betelgeuse and Rigel who were abandoned by Sofia and her gang to escape the fire themselves. A LOT of volcanic anger was indeed boiling within Blu's group and also their friends such as Rafael and Eva, against Marco, Sofia and the rest involved. Not to mention the devastation many of the toucan chicks had caused the sanctuary via playing with fire, and the other Blu Bird Sanctuary residents evacuated to the base of the Christ the Redeemer statue had yet to hear about it, and the devastation and the trauma left behind by the destructive toucans were likely to scar almost everyone for a long time to come.

While Enceladus and his hyacinth mate continued gazing at the recovering offspring in the cages, Sandalwood flitted by and touched down onto a cabinet to gaze at the group as well, among them his cousins Acerola and Ferdinand. Like everyone else, he had outrage against the toucans boiling within him as well. Then some familiar forms came by, among them a few of the chicks that had sealed Acerola and the other kids with her away and had participated in tying Sandalwood up and knocking him off the end of the branch, and many of them were covered in a few bandages and plasters but a few others suffered worse injuries, especially from the thing that continued to spread throughout the sanctuary in the form of the glowing orange monster scraping the sky and spewing its thick black stinking mist into it and blocking out the moon and the stars. Sandalwood flinched as his eyes landed on the small group of bandaged toucan chicks, especially as their weary eyes flashed him a slow glance, before their gazes returned to the rest of the kids of Carla, Bia, Tiago and company.

"So that reddish bat had managed to find her way out of that burrow with her chick friends, eh?" asked one of the toucan chicks, a bandage over his right eye and a small plaster on his cheek in a low voice, hoping that no other bird or animal would hear him, as he gazed at Acerola as she continued to sleep by hanging from her perch with her feet with Ferdinand by her side, "I thought we rolled that large stone across the entrance."

Some of the other chicks nodded and murmured in agreement. However, although the toucan chick had spoken in a low voice, Sandalwood had managed to overhear him speak and when he heard that some of the ones who had tossed his cousin Acerola and some of the chicks of Bia, Carla and Tiago's group into that burrow and sealed them in, according to Connie, were present, a flash of outrage tore through the amber flying fox pup and make him tremble. His amber fur bristled and he hissed through his gritted teeth. Without hesitation, Sandalwood began to release some of his anger at the chicks through a retort at the comment said about Acerola and how she escaped from that burrow with the chicks with her.

"You lot almost got my cousin Acerola, and several chicks, among them Sirius, Einstein and Miles… KILLED THEN!" shouted the amber bat pup, screeching the last two words. This pulled the toucan chicks' gazes his way. When they saw Sandalwood perched on the elevated top of the cabinet, surprised looks entered their gazes, and the toucan chicks began to exchange glances.

"Is that the bat pup who could not fly and is afraid of heights and flying?" asked one.

"Then what is he doing up there?" asked another. However, Sandalwood wasn't a bit interested in how he had managed to overcome his fear of heights and flying. Leaping off the cabinet top and spreading his wings, he descended towards the group of toucan chicks and landed before them, making them even more surprised. However, those surprised looks were erased from their faces when Sandalwood pierced them with a thunderous look.

"You think it's hilarious to stuff Acerola and some of the chicks into that burrow and seal them in it!?" he growled, "How COULD you!?" his gaze turned to the sleeping Acerola and Ferdinand in their cage, "She and the others whom you had put through such an ordeal might have a fear of enclosed spaces now."

At this, the toucan chicks shuddered but then they began to concoct a slew of excuses to escape blame.

"Oh, it was Sirius's idea," said one, the one with the bandage over his eye and cheek, "He was the one who decided that him and the others with him, including that little bat pup," his gaze turned to Acerola, "to seal themselves away into that burrow."

"We had nothing to do with it," said another, a female and one of the eye-bandaged toucan's sisters. The other toucan chicks nodded in agreement. However, Sandalwood was unconvinced and his body began to tremble all the more with rage. Just then, five penguins: three of which were adults with one of them having the head and upper body of an emperor penguin chick; and two chicks, one of them with a stringy crest emanating from his brow above the eyes came in and when their eyes landed on the toucan chicks, a slightly sarcastic look came upon their faces. Mumble, Atreyu, Balthazar, Ginny and Finnick had come in to check on Sandalwood and had overheard the conversation between him and the toucan chicks.

"Well, well, well if it ain't them big-beaked skua chicks who always seem to behave like that parrot-defeating chameleon Dalek," crooned Finnick scornfully in his silvery voice and with that, he shot the toucan chicks a stink-eye. Confusion washed over the chicks when the macaroni penguin chick said this.

"What's a skua?" squeaked one of them.

"It's a type of seabird that likes to pick out and eat the chicks of other seabirds, including penguins, for lunch," said Mumble in a stern voice, his wing-flippers folded, "I was almost a victim of one of them when I was young."

"Ravenously brutal birds they are," put in Ginny.

"Several of us emperor penguins have sometimes lost our chicks to those marauding sky seals time and time again," added Balthazar, "But we tend to call you tree birds skuas since we aren't familiar with your species."

Atreyu nodded in agreement. At this, offended looks came upon the toucan chicks and they flinched. Sandalwood knew that Atreyu's uncle and parents weren't familiar with land birds as noted to him by some of Blu's group members such as Sheldon, Triton and Iris, the three macaws who had found Mumble, Ginny and Balthazar on Rio beach in the first place, and that they kept referring to tree birds as the birds they are more familiar with, such as skuas and seagulls and obviously did not mean to offend, but based on the attitude and the destructiveness of these toucan chicks apart from a few, Sandalwood knew that the word 'skua' fit these chicks very well.

"Hey, are you saying that WE go round killin' and eatin' the chicks of other birds as well!?" snapped one of the toucan chicks who was very offended.

"Perhaps not to eat them but going around and _killing_ them, it certainly seems that way," said Atreyu with narrowed eyes and folded wing-flippers. This stung the small group of toucan chicks very painfully.

"We'd better go," murmured the ringleader, the toucan chick with the bandage over his eye and cheek, in an intimidated voice.

"Yeah, we won't STAY HERE to be INSULTED!" put in another, a female, "Especially after what WE have all been through."

At this, Sandalwood boldly stepped up to her and glared at her in the eye, "I think you should rephrase that as, 'especially after what WE have put everyone ELSE through with the fire', you destructive toucan chicks."

"WE weren't referring to YOU or ANYONE ELSE, we were talking about OURSELVES!" snapped one of the female toucan chick's brothers and with that, he tackled into Sandalwood and gave him a hefty shove, sending the amber bat pup stumbling towards Atreyu and was caught by him. As Atreyu stood Sandalwood onto his feet and Sandalwood thanked him, the bat pup glared back at the angry toucan chicks.

"Bunch of utterly self-centered BRATS!" he snarled. The toucan chicks, at this, grouped together and pierced Sandalwood, Atreyu, Mumble, Ginny, Balthazar and Finnick with hostile glares, much to the fright of the five penguins and flying fox but then a shout exploded through the air.

"HEY, you LOT!" said the familiar voice loudly, pulling Sandalwood and the penguins' attention to the shouter, a white flying fox with reddish eyes, as she rushed in. She was accompanied by several more flying foxes, two of which were also white and the other four either with brown or reddish fur. The toucan chicks' hostile glares immediately flashed to ones of fright as the seven flying foxes touched down in front of Sandalwood and the penguins and shot them volcanic glares.

"GET OUTA HERE, right NOW, you BUNCH of MARAUDING, DELINQUENT BRATS!" bellowed one of them, Augustus, at the top of his voice, striking fear into the terrified toucan chicks.

"AND STAY AWAY FROM OUR SON!" screeched Stella and Soren also at the top of their voices, so loud that it carried throughout the medical rooms of Tulio's Aviary and attracted the attention of both humans and the animals, among them Blu and company and many of the bad toucans who were still undergoing treatment. Soren and Stella's screeching also jolted awake many of the recovering chicks of Bia, Carla, Tiago and company and Acerola and Ferdinand, the latter almost dropping from the perch as the sound pieced their ears. Then all gazes turned and landed on the incredibly hostile group of bats Stella, Soren, Augustus, Melissa, Luna, Anabelle and Sebastian as they continued to bitterly and hostilely glare at the terrified toucan chicks. The toucan chicks trembled violently and began to weep but then two more forms, both with colourful feathers this time, came by Mumble and Augustus and the others and stood before the toucan chicks with volcanic looks as well.

"WE know what some of you hoodlum toucan chicks had done to THOSE CHICKS and the DAUGHTER OF SEBASTIAN AND ANABELLE!" screeched Mimas at the toucan group, "WHEN SOME OF YOU LOT TOSSED THEM INTO THAT BURROW and SEALED THEM IN!"

"WE ALMOST LOST ALL FOUR OF OUR CHICKS, ADENINE, THYMINE, CYTOSINE AND GUANINE, because of YOU!" screeched Ganymede in the loudest, most volcanic voice he had ever screeched in his life, "and BIA AND VIRGIL had ALMOST LOST ALL THREE OF THEIR SONS."

"Not to mention TITAN AND DIANTHA almost losing their BROODS OF CHICKS AS WELL, after what had HAPPENED TO BROOKE AND TOM IN THE FIRE!" screeched Mimas again. This was enough to bring the terrified toucan chicks to a state of hysteria. Tears fell from their eyes, their breathing rates skyrocketed and they began to tremble violently. Not wanting to stand in the searing, hostile, furious glares of Augustus and his family, and Ganymede and Mimas any longer, the little flock of toucan chicks scarpered and disappeared out of the door.

"MOOOOOM, DAAAAAD!" wailed the cowardly delinquents as they fled, almost running over several more birds, among them Sugilite the galah, in the process. Sugilite flashed the crying toucan chicks a glare. After the toucan chicks had gone and Augustus, Melissa, Anabelle, Sebastian and Luna had left to calm down the startled chicks, Acerola and Ferdinand, Stella, Soren, Mimas and Ganymede shot Sandalwood, as he stood at Mumble's feet, a stern look.

"Some of those chicks were the ones who sealed Acerola and the others into that burrow, Mom, Dad, Mr Ganymede and Mrs Mimas," said the flying fox pup immediately, "and they were surprised at how they had managed to get out…"

At this, the volcanic temper flared up within Mimas and Ganymede again.

"ARE THEY!?" shouted Ganymede expectantly, unintentionally startling Mumble and the other four penguins and also Sugilite as she came in. Then the scarlet macaw and his blue-and-gold mate stormily tore after the toucan chicks, leaving Stella and Soren with Sandalwood.

"Well, you stay away from those delinquents, Sandy," said Stella firmly, at which Sandalwood lowered his ears and bowed his head in shame.

"Yes, they've caused all of us trouble, trauma, damage and who knows what else," put in Soren, "And they're not WORTH talking to."

"To hear that they've been messing about with something that the aliens (humans) have managed to discover and that causes mass damage is utterly horrifying," said Mumble.

"I guess we penguins should be glad that we're fortunate that we don't get dangerous things like 'fire' in our home of Emperor-Land in the Antarctic," said Ginny.

"The only hazards WE get are freezing temperatures, predators such as those skuas, which we're sorry to keep calling you tree birds," said Balthazar, "and those leopard seals."

Atreyu nodded in agreement. Soren's gaze then turned to the penguins.

"Can you flightless seabirds also stay well away from those toucans," he said.

"Two-cans?" asked Mumble confused.

"I do believe they're those tree birds with the large, brightly coloured beaks," said Finnick.

"Yes, that's them," said Stella, "They're BAD NEWS, they are, and are to suffer EXTREME SHAME for what they had done to us and everyone else."

Mumble's face then creased into a scowl.

"Well, they may not be meat-eating skuas but they certainly are murderous ones," he growled. Ginny, Balthazar, Finnick and Atreyu nodded in agreement, turned round and left for the main medical room. Before he left with his uncle and parents, Atreyu turned round and lit up Sandalwood with a smile.

"I can see that you've learned to fly, Sandy," he said, "Congratulations."

Sandalwood flashed the emperor penguin chick a thanking smile back as Atreyu then darted off after his parents, uncle and macaroni friend, leaving Stella and Soren to talk to Sandalwood about staying well away from the badly behaved toucan chicks and their parents.

"Okay, I will," said Sandalwood in obedience to his parents' commands.

"Then make sure you do," said Stella firmly.

"We can see that those destructive menaces are still as self-centered as they had been," said Soren. Stella nodded in agreement. Not too far away, Sugilite shrugged and left and made a note in her mind to stay well away from the badly behaved toucans as well for her safety.

 **In the artificial chamber**

Pluto and Lapis Lazuli were walking through the artificially made habitat, cleverly and artistically constructed to look like a real forest or jungle one. The ceiling was painted an azure sky blue with patches of white, intended to represent clouds, strewn across it, and the skylight, the large window built into the ceiling, was an onyx black for the light of the habitat was switched on. A variety of plants and trees, both artificial and real, decorated the room and there was a small artificial river flowing through the manmade chamber. Rocks, flowers and other objects decorated the habitat to make it look more like a jungle. It truly was a beautiful construct but it was also a construct that stored ten-plus-year-old memories, and Pluto and Lapis Lazuli both felt it all flow back to them as they strolled through the chamber to check on Gylfie who was staying in here.

"I can't believe THIS PLACE is where we first met, Pluto," said Lapis as she admired the plants and trees and other decorations, "Do you remember?"

"Not very much outside this room but certainly in here," said Pluto in a loving voice, "We were the last pair of glaucous macaws known at the time, weren't we?"

"Yes, that's true, before we had our first four chicks Charon, Blueberry, Quincy and Flor," said Lapis Lazuli. Pluto nodded in agreement. Just then a pattering of talons sounded behind the couple, and they turned round and to their surprise, they saw their four grown-up first-brood children standing before them with smiles on their beaks. Charon was accompanied by Neytiri, her wing still in a cast, and Blueberry was accompanied by Aiden.

"You were gonna give us two and the chicks, among them Saiph, Regulus and Denebola, a tour of this room where you first met, weren't you?" said Aiden.

"Only for it to be badly interrupted by those wretched toucans, especially after what had happened to Sandalwood at the clutches of some of those horrible chicks," muttered Neytiri.

"And everything else that followed," added Charon.

"Such as all three of our chicks going missing," put in Blueberry. Then she began to tremble with rage, "And AGAIN when we were supposed to be stargazing only for those hoodlums to attack us and take our kids."

"I cannot BELIEVE that poor Saiph, Denebola and Regulus, along with Ferdinand and some of the other kids, were almost DROWNED by some of those toucan chicks shortly after they had 'discovered' fire and had set the entire sanctuary ablaze," put in Quincy disgustedly. Then Flor put her wings on her stomach and poked her tongue out as though she wanted to be sick.

"It's just nauseating to even think about what those careless and destructive big-beaked destroyers have done to everyone and the sanctuary," she grumbled, "It's just beyond unfathomable and unthinkable that it would eventually come to this."

Pluto and Lapis Lazuli, angry looks on their faces, nodded in agreement. What the badly behaved toucans had done certainly was unforgivable. They had devastated absolutely everyone and traumatised even more in a variety of ways. Pluto and Lapis Lazuli had hoped that those badly behaved toucans would spend the rest of their lives living in disgrace after what they had put everyone through, not just Blu and company's children and grandchildren, including Pluto and his mate's own, but everyone else in the Blu Bird Sanctuary as well, including the clan of Linda's orange bats in which Basil the bat lived which had been rescued from their cave and brought to a safe place by Tulio's bat experts as the fire spread to the trees of their cave as well.

While the family of eight glaucous macaws continued to talk, the rustling of some leaves sounded nearby. At this, Pluto and his family were made alert and began to examine the artificial chamber, and Quincy paced backward towards a bush. Then suddenly, something, a large golden and yellow form that was slightly bigger than Pluto and Lapis Lazuli, jumped out from the bush and pounced onto Quincy and pinned him on his back against the floor with a talon to the neck. Quincy's yelp startled Pluto, Lapis Lazuli, Blueberry, Aiden, Neytiri, Flor and Charon into leaping about a foot into the air and whirl round in Quincy's direction.

"GOTCHYA, you HORRIBLE TOUCAN!" snarled the golden and yellow feathered form at Quincy, her wings spread out, much to the glaucous macaw's whimpering and twisting of his face as he expected a bite to it. However, when the gold and yellow form, which was a fruithawk, gazed at Quincy up and down and lowered her hostility.

"Gylfie!" shouted Pluto's voice as the fruithawk, Gylfie, lifted her foot off of Quincy's neck, allowing him to sit up and cough and rub his throat. While Flor, Charon, Neytiri, Aiden and Blueberry went to help Quincy to his feet, Pluto and Lapis Lazuli met with Gylfie who shot the glaucous macaw couple an apologetic look.

"Sorry, I thought he was one of them marauding toucans from through there," said the fruithawk, with a talon point to the open door. She then directed her apologetic gaze at Quincy as he continued to rub his throat.

"Your beak did look way too small and too drab coloured to one of them," she continued.

"You sure have a lot of strength," said Quincy after he had finished rubbing his throat. At this, a confused look came upon his face. This was replicated on the faces of the other glaucous macaws.

"What?" asked Quincy.

"What do you mean his beak's too small to be one of them?" asked Lapis Lazuli.

"And what's 'them?'" added Neytiri. Blueberry, Flor, Charon and Aiden just exchanged confused glances but then Pluto put on a suspicious frown.

"Are you meaning to say that one of them…" he began but Gylfie nodded her head and timidly backed away into another bush.

"Gylfie," said Lapis Lazuli as the golden fruithawk was enveloped in the shadow of the bushes until her eyes were the only parts of her visible. Then Lapis stood back, a confused look on her face.

"I think it's the trauma of the fire as well as losing Aurum that's made her very timid," she said to Pluto. However, her mate still wore a suspicious look on his face and he began to examine the trees.

"Stay with Gylfie, Lapis," said he, "I smell a tree frog around here."

And with that, he sauntered off, leaving a confused Lapis Lazuli to look after the timid Gylfie under the bush. Then Charon, Blueberry, Aiden, Neytiri, Quincy and Flor came in.

"Something wrong, Mom?" asked Blueberry.

"Gylfie's just a bit scared, that's all, Blueberry. Apparently, there is something in here that is frightening her," said Lapis Lazuli and with that, she directed a sympathetic gaze at the shuddering Gylfie under the bush. Blueberry, at this, exchanged confused looks with the other five glaucous macaws who only shrugged. At the doorway, Sardonyx and Greg were walking in with some fruit in a basket for Gylfie but when they saw the group of glaucous macaws, with one of them sauntering away with a suspicious look on his face scouring the chamber, the two scarlet macaws gazed at each other and left to find out what was going on. Pluto, however, didn't step away from his mate, two sons, two daughters and two in-laws when suddenly, a, "Well, hello, Pluto," made him jump. At this, the glaucous macaw shot confused looks this way and that until his gaze landed on a familiar black, red-rimmed cream fronted form with a large orange beak and black tip perched on a tree branch just outside the hollow. At this, Pluto's face morphed into a look of shock.

"Mabel!?" he shouted, "What are you doing in here?"

As he spoke, Mabel flashed a proud, smiley glance into the hollow and gazed back at Pluto. Nearby, Lapis Lazuli, Blueberry, Charon, Quincy, Flor, Neytiri and Blueberry, and now Sardonyx and Greg as well, walked in and when they saw Mabel, disgusted shock tore through them and Flor retreated under the bush with Gylfie, not wanting to see this bratty toucan loitering around in the artificial habitat chamber. Then Pluto saw that Mabel had flashed a glance into the hollow while he was asking the question.

"What have you got hiding in there?" he asked, approaching the foot of the tree before beginning to ascend it for he was still grounded with his wings still missing some of its flight feathers from the attack earlier. Mabel, at first, spread her wings protectively across the hollow and stonewalled him from access, especially as Pluto got nearer and nearer. However, when she saw the look on the glaucous macaw's face begin to morph into a thunderous one, she relented and dropped her wings.

"I guess you're gonna have to have a look in anyway," she said and stepped aside as Pluto walked towards the hollow hole and craned his neck inside. On the ground, Blueberry and Aiden flashed Lapis Lazuli a worried look while Quincy, Charon and Aiden stood there, disgusted looks on their faces. Greg and Sardonyx, who had both arrived with the basket of fruit for Gylfie, then asked Lapis Lazuli of Gylfie's whereabouts.

"Under that bush," said Lapis Lazuli in a low voice, directing the two scarlet macaws to the bush where Gylfie and Flor were. After saying thanks, Greg and his mate left with the fruit in the bush's direction while Lapis Lazuli resumed her gaze on the tree, just in time to see Pluto retract his head from the hollow and shoot Mabel a surprised gaze but that gaze was also laced with immense disgust and disapproval.

"You've laid another clutch of five eggs," he asked in a stunned and disapproving whisper. Mabel, at this, raised her beak and widened her smile of immense pride.

"Correct guess, Pluto," said she proudly. A flash of even greater disgust tore through Lapis Lazuli and the other glaucous macaws excluding Flor on the ground. Then Lapis stormed over to the tree's foot and began to ascend it. When she arrived at Pluto's side in front of the hollow, Lapis Lazuli shot Mabel a furious look, her wings on her hips.

"Why did you come in here to lay that clutch of eggs then?" asked she in a low growl.

"There's nowhere else to have those eggs," replied Mabel.

"Don't you DARE try to concoct a bunch of lies and excuses, young lady," growled Pluto in an even angrier voice.

"I'm NOT lying or making excuses," retorted Mabel, "this is a nice place and I just wanted to have me and my mate Robbie's next clutch of eggs in here, that's all."

Lapis Lazuli and Pluto gazed in utter shock. Then Lapis Lazuli whirled round and was about to shout a command to Neytiri, Aiden, Blueberry, Charon and Quincy but Mabel interrupted by grabbing her wing.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"I'm gonna get Tulio in here," snapped Lapis Lazuli in an angrier voice.

"Why do you wanna bring in Tulio?" asked Mabel.

"To remove you and those eggs from this chamber."

"You can't do that!"

"Yes I CAN and besides that, this place is strictly reserved for that GOLDEN FRUITHAWK since she's the last female AND individual of her species!"

"Really? I thought there were two of those bizarre vegetarian birds of prey."

As Lapis Lazuli and Mabel continued to argue, Pluto rolled his eyes and put a wing to his face and shook it.

"After all that devastation so many of their chicks have caused the rest of us," he grumbled to himself, "those toucans are insisting on having MORE of them!?"

Mabel continued pulling on Lapis Lazuli's wing to prevent her from shouting to her offspring and two in-laws to leave and summon Tulio. From under the bush, Gylfie peered out and shuddered at the sight of Mabel while Flor, Sardonyx and Greg who were trying to feed her, gazed at the drama between the toucan intruder and the two glaucous macaws, Flor's parents, as it continued to unfold. Then Pluto tried to help Lapis Lazuli and back her up by reasoning with Mabel.

"Don't tell ME you're planning on MOVING INTO HERE to have those EGGS, are YOU!?" snarled he. Mabel smiled and said, "My mate Robbie out in the main medical room suggested it to me."

"Oh, of course he did, and that sounded like a GREAT IDEA (!)" retorted Pluto sarcastically.

"So that YOU can populate THIS habitat… meant for ENDANGERED SPECIES like GYLFIE… and LEAVE NO ROOM FOR THEM!" shouted Lapis Lazuli.

"Well, there's nowhere else on the sanctuary to live now, is there?" said a defiantly proud Mabel, "Since every single tree has pretty much gone up in flames, we plan on moving into every available space we can find in the humans' places, with this room being one of them, and Robbie and I plan on making it our home for our large family."

Shock came over Pluto and Lapis Lazuli, as well as Blueberry, Aiden, Quincy, Charon and Neytiri, but then anger erupted within them, especially the former two glaucous macaws.

"You're gonna move into…" began Pluto but he realised he had already heard what came out of Mabel's big, orange, prideful beak, "You and your countless SIBLINGS' CHICKS had ALREADY BURNED DOWN much of the SANCTUARY by MESSING ABOUT with THAT FIRE and now you DECIDE TO potentially DISPLACE EVERY CITY BIRD from their HOMES by POPULATING them with your HIGHLY UNDISCIPLINED, DELINQUENT CHICKS!?"

"Our chicks are NOT delinquent," snapped Mabel, "YOURS are."

At this, Neytiri stepped forward to the foot of the tree, seething.

"All the other Blu Bird Sanctuary residents had EVACUATED to those trees OUTSIDE the sanctuary's boundaries because of YOU AND YOUR MISBEHAVING CHICKS!" she shouted.

"Not to mention cause competition for food and space," put in Charon. At this, Lapis Lazuli whirled round and shot the couple at the foot of the tree a volcanically furious look.

"Look, Neytiri, Charon, can you and the OTHER THREE GO AND GET TULIO in here THIS MINUTE!?" she bellowed, the result of the toucans' antics sending her over the edge and making it difficult for her to control her temper, making Neytiri and Charon flinch. At this, Charon and his mate timidly whirled to Quincy, Blueberry and Aiden, nodded to relay the command to them and with that, all five glaucous macaws scurried off for the door to get Tulio.

"We need a place to live, Pluto and Lapis," continued Mabel, "And here is…"

At this, Pluto and Lapis Lazuli finally snapped; any attempts to control their anger were instantly vaporised and they both exploded like Eduardo whenever he entered one of his volcanic tempers.

"Oh, SHUT UP!" screeched Pluto, his wings on his head, making Mabel flinch, "SHUT… UP! SHUT UP about your STUPID CHICKS and your STUPID PLANS IN FINDING A PLACE TO LIVE!"

Then he entered a pause, and looked away, before glaring back at the defiant Mabel whose orange beak maintained its prideful smile. From under the bush, Gylfie, Sardonyx, Greg and Flor continued to watch Pluto and Lapis Lazuli finally go ballistic with Mabel.

"You KNOW WHAT!?" continued Pluto at Mabel volcanically, "You REALLY HAVE gone and DONE IT THIS TIME!"

"Yes," put in Lapis Lazuli, "THIS is FINALLY the FINAL LEAF!"

Then Pluto shoved his beak right into Mabel's face and looked her in the eye, "You are an INCREDIBLY STUPID, STUBBORN, SELFISH, SELF-CENTERED little BRAT…" Mabel's eyes only looked away proudly and pretended she hadn't heard as Pluto continued yelling in her face, "and I agree with Flor, YOU make us SICK TO THE STOMACH!"

Then Pluto stormed off, fluttered from the branch and because his wings were still missing some of their flight feathers, he simply flapped down like a chicken and as soon as his talons made contact with the ground, he rushed off to see of Charon, Neytiri and the other three had alerted Tulio. After he had gone, Lapis Lazuli decided to force Mabel to leave the artificial habitat chamber to make a start and without hesitation seized Mabel by the shoulders and began to try and take her down from the hollow but Mabel launched into a bratty tantrum and began to ruthlessly fight back against Pluto's mate's attempts to pull her from the hollow.

"LET GO OF ME!" snarled Mabel as Lapis tried to drag her away from the hollow, "I'm NOT GOIN' ANYWHERE!"

However, Lapis Lazuli refused to listen to Mabel's protests and continued to try and drag her from the hollow. Then from the bush, Greg and Sardonyx sprang into action. Exploding from the bush and leaving Flor to look after the unnerved Gylfie, the parents of Steven and Kevin charged towards the brawling Lapis Lazuli and Mabel and as soon as Mabel had heftily shoved Lapis from the tree, Sardonyx rushed towards Mabel and tackled her square in the torso headfirst while Greg caught Lapis Lazuli before she could lose her balance and totter from the branch.

"Got you, Ma'am," said Greg as he caught the glaucous macaw in his talons. At the same time, Mabel flew past, careened out of the tree and plummeted into an artificially made pool with a mighty splash. Gylfie and Flor flinched harshly as a fountain of water flew upward and rained down all around Mabel's impact point. Then Sardonyx whirled round, entered the hollow and seized the nest containing Mabel's eggs just as Mabel struggled out of the pool but then the toucan's eyes found the scarlet macaw as she removed the nest containing her precious contents.

"HEY!" bellowed the toucan and clambered out of the pool and tried to take off after Sardonyx as she made off with the nest but due to her sopping wet feathers, she could not fly, but then she suddenly found herself cloaked in a shadow. At this, the toucan examined the shadow's appearance and whirled round to face the owner. When she realised that it was a human, horror tore through her and she tried to back away but six glaucous macaws rushed in and blocked her way.

"You're NOT going ANYWHERE, Mabel," snarled Charon as he, Pluto, Quincy, Neytiri, Blueberry and Aiden formed a wall to block Mabel's path and then push her back towards the human. Mabel stumbled and landed on her back and only had enough time to look up at the human, which was one of Tulio's assistants, as she leaned over her with a square-shaped thing in her hands and before Mabel could act, she was encased in total darkness by the box.

 **Meanwhile**

In the intensive care unit of Tulio's Aviary, Betelgeuse lay in a special nest, her talon bandaged and a strange mask fixed over her beak and hooking her up to a special machine called a ventilator. A beeping noise sounded from another machine as a wire was attached, via a tiny special sticker, to Betelgeuse's tiny chest and hooked her to it, indicating her heartrate. From the side of Betelgeuse's nest, Io and Sheldon, together with Rigel who had just come out of being anesthetized for her operation to remove the wood shard from her shoulder which was now bandaged and was being held by Sheldon, gazed at the chick as she continued to lay there, unconscious, hooked up to the ventilator. Ruby and Jupiter then came in.

"She's ever so tiny, isn't she?" asked Jupiter as he gazed at his granddaughter, "Not to mention incredibly vulnerable due to being a chick," a sigh left his beak, "It's hard to believe that she and her sister, and the rest of the kids, had to go through so much trauma over the past week or two."

"Betelgeuse has almost lost her life twice now," said a distraught Io, "First at the so-called Paradise Sanctuary place and now here with the fire thanks to those careless toucan chicks when they played with it, in addition to that BRAT Sofia and her comrades when they dropped her and Rigel through the canopy."

"She managed to escape getting eaten by those wildcats at the Paradise Sanctuary place; now she might not be so fortunate…" put in Sheldon as he gazed at his older daughter. Ruby then formed a smile and put a comforting wing around her older daughter and half-scarlet, half-green-winged son-in-law.

"Well, she's as tough as a coconut shell," she said, "Just like her mother…" her loving gaze then turned to Jupiter, "and her maternal grandfather."

Jupiter managed a small smile in response to this compliment.

"Am I one, too?" asked Rigel in Sheldon's wings.

"Yes you are," replied Ruby, much to Rigel's small smile, the first one she had managed since the toucans' kidnap of her and the other kids of Carla, Bia, Tiago and the others. Then Io stood back with Sheldon who held Rigel in his wings.

"I just cannot believe those horrible toucans would put our most precious gemstones through such a series of hellish nightmares over the past week," murmured Sheldon in disbelief, "First it was Sandalwood on that branch, then it was half of our kids getting kidnapped by those poachers to be given as collectors' items to that bunch of false conservationists running the 'Paradise Sanctuary' in Peru and now this with the fire…"

As he spoke, some wing-flaps alerted the family, prompting the five to look up. Augustus, Melissa, Stella, Soren and Sandalwood came in.

"Hiya," said Augustus as he and the other four flying foxes flew in and touched down by Jupiter and Ruby, Sandalwood flying by himself, much to the amazed joy of Io, Sheldon, Rigel, Jupiter and Ruby.

"How is Betelgeuse doing?" asked Melissa.

"She's still unconscious," said Ruby. Then Sandalwood gazed at Betelgeuse as she lay in the nest with the pieces of machinery covering her beak and chest, a sorrowful look on his face.

"I heard what happened," said he. His gaze then turned to Rigel, "And I see you've come round and had that piece of wood removed from your shoulder."

Rigel gazed at the bandage where the wood shard had been and smiled back at Sandalwood.

"Yes, the doctor said it would heal in a few weeks," she said.

"That's good," said Augustus with a smile, before his face fell as his gaze turned to Betelgeuse, "And I sure hope she makes it as well."

"Apparently, smoke inhalation, as well as exhaustion and trauma, was what knocked her out," said Jupiter, "I just hope that she hadn't suffered too much damage."

Stella was about to speak when suddenly, there was commotion and shouting outside the intensive care room, bringing the group's attention to the entrance.

"What in the world…" asked Jupiter. Then Melissa and Soren dropped from the worktop and flew over to the entrance where they peered around the frame.

"What's going on, you two?" asked Ruby.

"One of the toucans has been hiding in the manmade jungle chamber by the looks of it," said Melissa.

"And that toucan is viciously attacking the humans trying to remove her from the room…" said Soren. The two flying foxes then flinched when the toucan bit down on one of the human's hands, making her scream. Just in the doorway to the jungle room, a few familiar grey-headed blue forms stood, and Soren identified them as Pluto and some of his relatives, and all of them wore volcanic looks on their faces. Then Sandalwood flitted in and joined his father and grandmother in watching the scuffle.

"Looks like Pluto, Lapis Lazuli and I think Charon, Neytiri, Blueberry, Aiden, Quincy and Flor have been in that room to help remove that toucan from there as well," Soren said. Then while the scuffle was happening, a few more toucans had been examining a black slab Melissa and Soren had learned was called a laptop, on another table, but what happened next sent shock tearing through the mate of Stella and Melissa's son-in-law. While Tulio and some of his assistants continued to struggle with the toucan (Mabel) that had been hiding in the artificial chamber, two or three of them receiving either a face full or armful of scratches and bites from the angry toucan, the toucans on the table glared at something on the laptop screen before moving to one side of it. Then as Soren, Sandalwood and Melissa watched; the toucans then pushed against the laptop and moved it towards the edge of the table. They continued pushing the laptop until most of its base was finally off the table's surface and beyond its edge. Then came a point where gravity finally took hold of the laptop and pulled it right down to the floor where it crashed in a small shower of sparks and broke. As this happened, Tulio, his face marked with two sets of bleeding claw marks inflicted on him by Mabel, finally managed to help his assistants seize Mabel but then he realised that a laptop lay on the floor in two large pieces and in a few sparks. At this, his temper flared.

"WHO BROKE MY WIFE'S LAPTOP!?" he bellowed. In response to this, the toucan culprits threw on innocent smiles and directed the blame to a small group of birds nearest to them, which were Mumble, Sugilite the galah, and Ginny, Finnick, Atreyu and Balthazar. When they saw the toucans pin the blame on them, the penguins and galah let loose outraged squawks. At this, Soren and Sandalwood shared an angry look, nodded and then fluttered from the doorway and charged in the direction of the shattered laptop and Tulio's group as they left to remove the still-screeching and restrained Mabel from the scene. Then the father and son touched down before Tulio and another assistant and by the shattered laptop, before pointing a wing-finger each at the TRUE culprits: the toucans that had shoved the laptop onto the floor to save Mumble and the others from potential trouble. At this, Tulio's glare turned to the small group of toucans and they flinched. They tried to convince Tulio that Mumble and his little group were responsible, much to their angrier squawks but Tulio wasn't convinced, for he was very good at reading birds' body language and the mood in their squawking, besides identifying them by tasting their feathers. He then hardened his glare on the true culprits.

"That does it, you lot," he growled at the toucans with a point of his index finger shot at them like a laser, much to their horror and timidity, "Let's get you CAGED!"

At this, the toucans flinched but then they found themselves on the receiving end of a smug glare from both Soren and Sandalwood as the pair continued to stand there by the laptop the toucans had damaged and nodded in agreement to Tulio's statement.

It appeared that even Tulio's team have reached the end of the branch regarding the badly behaved toucans' destructive antics.


	85. Chapter 84

**Chapter 84- the devastating aftermath of the fire**

 **Sunrise and morning**

As the sun rose into the sky opposite Copacabana Beach of Rio, its reflection shimmering like a pool of honey in the sea stretched out below it, the trees of the Blu Bird Sanctuary continued to smoke but the fire had died down; the firefighters had managed to get the orange, glowing beast under control in some areas of the forest while in some other places, the fire had burned itself out, the fuel having been consumed. Only a few small clusters of flames remained but the majority of the forest had been reduced to blackened skeletal structures stripped over their greenery and other colours such as from fruit and flowers. They were now nothing more than smoking black pieces of burned wood and the forest floor was a desolate bombsite with streams of smoke rising lazily from the remains of what were once ferns and shrubs and young trees, several clusters of little orange fingers still dancing in a few patches and pieces of blackened wood still simmering with red edges. A the greenery of the undergrowth at this level had been totally consumed by the fire last night, and the trees the Blu Bird Sanctuary residents called home were also nothing more than black skeletal structures, like trees straight from an arid desert. It truly was a disaster zone in the sanctuary.

At Tulio's Aviary, Tulio's team continued to work and keep an eye on the bird and other animal casualties while some of them, such as Tulio and Linda, had left to get some rest outside. The majority of Blu and company's group had also tried to get some rest last night but the traumatic activities last night, especially with almost losing all of their kids, had prevented them from actually getting off to sleep. While the activities of the humans continued, some of Blu's group members had decided to take a trip into the burned forest for it was now safe to enter the jungle since the fire had been quelled or had burned itself out. Andromeda and Eragon, together with Blu, Jewel, Rafael, Augustus, Melissa, Zephyr and Venus were some of the group members and they had decided to get out a bit for it was now dawn and morning. As the nine flew along, with Andromeda and Eragon riding on their bat-birds, they began to survey the damage to the forest the fire had left behind. When it had been dark, the damaged trees were only seen as a glimpse but now it was morning, the sun's rays bathing the devastated forest in its golden light, the full extent of the damage could clearly be seen and what Blu and the other eight surveyed sent shivers down their spines. The sea of ashen trees and lack of greenery, together with the smoke rising lazily in thin streams from some areas brought to Blu, Jewel, Zephyr, Venus, Augustus and Melissa's minds of what the Sanctuary de Amazon looked like after the previous fire ripped through the jungle in the Amazon. It was honestly like a tree graveyard, and a number of large, ashen trunks slanted diagonally to the ground and leaning against the other trunks, indicating that these trees had fallen during the fire, brought to mind a deforested area in which some trees were uprooted by the loggers and their machines or blown at their base by explosives called dynamite and sent toppling over.

"This is exactly the devastation we always discuss with our chicks back in our clan if they EVER mishandle fire and it gets severely out of control," whispered Andromeda in utter awe at the sea of blackened trees. Rouge, her bat-bird also whimpered timidly at the sight of the blackened trees and the few streams of smoke rising here and there.

"I-I-I just cannot believe that so many of my and Eva's sons and daughters are so careless in telling their offspring about fire and fire-related things," said Rafael as he took in the horrifying scene, "like matches, and how dangerous they can be if they mess with it."

"NEVER play with matches," said Blu seriously. He remembered rebuking Carla, Bia and Tiago this when they were about to send the first fireworks into the sky on New Year's Eve when they were only chicks, and Zephyr and Venus had also severely disciplined their four first-brood chicks, Justin, Charlotte, Matilda and Virgil when they were playing about near some candles when they were little as well and they were visiting Tulio and Linda's cottage and they had some candles set up during a power cut at the time. It was absolutely true; you must NEVER, EVER… mess with matches or any other fire-starting items AT ALL! As the nine continued to fly on, Zephyr looked ahead but when his gaze landed on a familiar spot, his green eyes widened and he drew in a horrified breath.

"Oh, dear…" he breathed in utter horrified awe. At this, Andromeda, Eragon, Blu, Jewel, Rafael, Augustus, Melissa and Venus followed Zephyr's gaze and when they also landed on the familiar spot, the faces of all but the archaeobirds and the flying foxes morphed into looks of utter disappointment. Coming into view was the spot where the Chinesa Vista was built and Blu and the other eight could see that it was now nothing more than a collapsed pile of charred wood and straw. This monument had obviously been con summed by the fire with the trees and had collapsed, just when Sheldon and some of the other birds were rescuing Betelgeuse and Rigel. Blu, Jewel, Rafael, Augustus, Melissa, Zephyr and Venus, and Andromeda and Eragon on their bat-birds, all descended to the rubble that was once the Chinesa Vista and touched down to survey the smoking debris up close.

"What an utter MESS!" cried Venus in disbelief as she began to dig through some pieces of flimsy, burned hair, obviously remains of the straw roof of the building. Nearby, Zephyr, Jewel and Blu examined the pieces of burned wooded beams and slabs until Blu's talon landed on something circular. At this, Linda's best friend whipped round and when his brown eyes landed on the thing, his body shuddered and his face changed to a look of utter disappointment.

"What is it, Blu?" asked Zephyr when he saw Blu gaze at something. At this, Blu looked up at him and stepped aside to show Zephyr what he had found.

"It's the Blu Bird Sanctuary plaque with my face on it," he said in a saddened voice, "It's been completely obliterated."

At this, Zephyr and Jewel, together with Rafael, Venus, Augustus, Melissa, Andromeda and Eragon and the two bat-birds came in and examined what remained of said plaque. The circular plaque which once read the name of the sanctuary and had Blu's face in its centre was now nothing more than a burned piece of wood. The letters only read 'Bl- -i- Sa-r-' for most of the letters had been charred off, and only a small portion of Blu's face was visible in the charred centre. At this, Zephyr put a comforting wing on Blu's shoulder.

"I'm sure Tulio will build and fashion a new Chinesa Vista when the time comes to rebuild it, Blu," he said. Blu just breathed a sad sigh and continued to gaze at the remains of the plaque.

"Those toucan chicks and that chameleon have absolutely ruined everything," he said, "Not just the Chinesa Vista but the homes of all the other locals on this reserve as well."

"Chameleon?" asked Andromeda confused.

"He was that reptile that had followed us from that Paradise Sanctuary place in Peru to here," explained Augustus, "According to Sandalwood, his name was Dalek and he had an extremely deep-seated grudge against all parrots," his face then morphed into a frown, "he must have been the one to have hatched this diabolical plan to set the whole sanctuary ablaze…"

"And must have recruited, or rather manipulated, a small, delinquent flock of a certain type of bird," put in Venus, "to do his bidding."

"And those birds were those toucan chicks," said Rafael.

"Exactly," said Jewel angrily with the others nodding in agreement. Just then, a familiar voice shouted, "Blu, Jewel, Zephyr, Venus, Rafy, what are you guys doing out 'ere?"

"With those large dog-like bats and those bizarre birds and beaked bat-like creatures," put in another. At this, Andromeda, Eragon, their two bat-birds, Blu, Jewel, Rafael, Augustus, Melissa, Zephyr and Venus all looked up to the speakers, which were a canary with his bottle cap hat and his cardinal friend, descend from the sky with several other birds, among them a toucan but of another species (chestnut-billed), a rosette spoonbill and a familiar peregrine falcon with the recognisable spot pattern resembling the 'belt and sword' part of the constellation he was named after on his belly.

"Nico, Pedro, Dino, Kipo, Orion, guys," said Rafael as Pedro's group touched down and walked over to them.

"What are you doing here?" asked Blu.

"Dat was the question I asked," said Pedro in his usual rapper voice but without the cheerful tone. His head then moved about so that his gaze could scan the destroyed Chinesa Vista, "I believe dis is the Chinesa tower, am I right?"

"I'm afraid it is," said Blu sadly, before his gaze returned to the remains of the plaque, "And this is what's left of the sign of the sanctuary's name."

Dino, the chestnut-billed, or mandibled, toucan, came over and gazed at it, before issuing Blu a sympathetic look.

"At least it can be replaced," he said comfortingly. Blu nodded in agreement.

"How are the evacuated residents doing?" asked Augustus as he stood with Melissa, Andromeda and Eragon, and the two bat-birds. Nico turned to the large flying fox.

"'Dey're doin' just fine, my doglike bat friend," he said, "Just utterly devastated over the mess caused by the fire."

"Not to mention the loss of their homes," put in Kipo. Then his face morphed into a scowl, "According to Orton my cousin, it is found that the major cause of that fire last night was you-know-who…"

"We know," said Andromeda with an angry look, "We saw some of those big-beaked hoodlums with those branches set afire."

"A parrot-detesting chameleon apparently manipulated those toucan chicks into playing with those lit branches," put in Venus. Shock tore through Nico and Pedro's group.

"A CHAMELEON!?" shouted Orion incredulously. At this, Zephyr put up a wing.

"It's a long story," he said, "And also complicated. Now is not the time to talk about it."

"Yes, we gotta focus on searching for some places for the other locals to stay until the sanctuary restores itself," said Nico as he removed his bottle-cap hat and began to fiddle with it. Then Orion's gaze morphed into a glare and he began to scour the surrounding charred jungle with it.

"Speaking of troublesome toucans," said Hermione's mate, "While we were flying through the incinerated jungle, we discovered some burned carcases, both on the floor and in some hollows, which we identified must be some of the toucans," his gaze returned to Blu's group, "It seemed that some of those troublesome toucans had tried hiding in the hollows only to end up trapped and roasted, while those that had died on the floor did not make it out in time…"

"Or were likely burned alive by the branches some of those chicks carelessly carried," put in Dino, his wings folded.

"That's what happens when you play with fire like that, especially without guidance and knowledge of the dangers of it, such as how to handle it safely," said Eragon firmly, "It can turn deadly and cause damage such as this," he gestured to the sea of smoking and ashen trees stripped of their greenery with his wing, the wing that was not in a cast unlike the other one whose shoulder was still healing.

"Correct, Eragon," said Blu. He then felt it was time to return to Tulio's Aviary, "Now if you guys don't mind, we'd like to head back. Thanks for stopping by."

"No problem Blu," said Pedro with a cheery smile, "By the way, how are your grandkids doin'?"

"We heard from Orton that some of them, among them both of Io and her hybrid green-winged/scarlet mate's daughters had been through a horrific ordeal thanks to those wretched toucans, such as one of them having that piece of wood embedded in her shoulder," added Orion.

"Rigel's had that wood shard removed from her shoulder but Betelgeuse is still unconscious," replied Zephyr, "I believe it was smoke inhalation that overwhelmed her greatly."

"That's dreadful," said Nico sympathetically, "I sure hope she's alright."

"She's actually stable," said Blu, "We were actually on edge for her life."

"Thanks for asking anyway," said Jewel with a rare small smile due to these times.

"An' I sure hope that the other kids are alright too," said one of the accompanying macaws, a blue-and-gold (not Saturn or Orquidea). Blu's group nodded to this.

"Right, we'll let you get off and return to Tulio's Aviary while we continue to look for survivors who had not moved with us to where we stayed due to toucan trouble," said Dino as Blu and his group opened their wings and lofted into flight with Augustus and Melissa dropping into the air and Andromeda and Eragon mounting their bat-birds, "We'll see you again anytime soon."

"Okay, see you," said Blu as he began to lead Andromeda, Eragon, Jewel, Rafael, Augustus, Melissa, Zephyr and Venus back in the direction of Tulio's Aviary. Jewel then turned to Orion and said, "Tell Hermione we wish you good luck with your new clutch of eggs."

Orion smiled and nodded as Blu and the others left. Then Nico, Pedro and the others with them also took off and continued their search for survivors, leaving the rubble of the Chinesa Vista as they disappeared into the blackened, smoking trees.

 **Meanwhile, at Tulio's Aviary**

Tulio's team continued their jobs in treating the bird and animal casualties and looking after those in recovery, and some of the animals present were snoozing but not sleeping. Outside the intensive care unit, a certain family of red macaws, one a blue-and-gold and a daughter of Saturn and Orquidea, were huddled together, snoozing but were just waking up. Jupiter and Ruby, together with Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto and their respective mates Sheldon, Byron, Mimas and Athos, stretched their wings while the chicks Rigel (her shoulder where the wood shard had been embedded in bandages), Adenine, Thymine, Guanine, Cytosine (Ganymede and Mimas's chicks), Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka (Byron and Europa's chicks), and Canopus and Katniss (the two scarlet/green-winged chicks of Callisto and Athos) stirred. All these chicks except Rigel had been allowed out of their cages from the recovery room for those cages were needed for recovering bird casualties and they had joined with Jupiter and the others to wait for Betelgeuse to come round.

"I still cannot believe that Betelgeuse had managed to struggle through that fire and help her sister all by herself," said Athos as he gazed into the intensive care unit as a woman walked out with a slab called a clipboard, "I think that's why she eventually collapsed."

"The trauma of the fire, plus smoke inhalation, plus struggling with her badly burned talon, plus helping Rigel with an impaled shoulder," said Ganymede, "It's no surprise."

"I've never known a chick to push herself to such extreme measures as those to save herself and her sister when the odds of survival in that burning forest were stacked massively against her," added Mimas. Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine and Guanine shuddered at the thought of this, as did Canopus and Katniss. They could not imagine themselves being in that situation. Then Io came in, a furious scowl on her face.

"I just cannot BELIEVE that that inconsiderate, selfish SWINE Sofia, her mate Marcel and their comrades would just abandon both of our daughters to struggle out of that fire themselves, especially at their most DIRE need," she growled.

"It's probably even worse than being trapped in a burrow with the entrance sealed by a heavy rock," put in Sheldon, to which Adenine and his three siblings shot a disbelieving glance. To them, being sealed in a burrow with a savage monster in the form of destructive orange flames belching out smoke and ripping through the forest was just as terrifying as Betelgeuse and Rigel's ordeal but then the four Catalina chicks remembered that the two of them had been unable to fly to escape the danger, so they were forced to agree with Sheldon's statement. Nearby, Byron, Europa, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka came in.

"I think your eldest daughter has inherited your toughness, Io," said Europa, trying to cheer Io up, "At least that's what Mom said."

"Especially pushing herself to extremes," added Byron, before his gaze turned to Jupiter, "Don't you remember your father facing his fear of rushing water when that deranged bat dropped your mother into it to drown?"

Io and Sheldon turned their gazes to Jupiter as he stood with Ruby and nodded.

"I would likely do the same thing if Io were thrown into that life-endangering situation," said Sheldon. Io shot her ruby (scarlet/green-winged hybrid) mate a moved smile, the first one she had managed since the beginning of the fiery mess starting with the toucans making off with the kids. Just then, Saturn (his injured talon from cutting himself on a shard of glass in a broken window in a fresh bandage) and Orquidea rushed out, ascended the ladder attached to the table and appeared before Jupiter and his family. The faces of both of them were laced with excitement and joy, the first real burst of those positive emotions since last night. At this, Jupiter and company turned to the two newcomers who were the maternal grandparents of Adenine and his siblings.

"Guys, Io, Sheldon, Rigel!" cried Saturn excitedly.

"Betelgeuse is coming round!" added Orquidea. At this, amazed glances were exchanged throughout Jupiter and company.

"Is she?" asked Io hopefully. Saturn and Orquidea, wide smiles and sparkling eyes on their faces, nodded. Then without hesitation, the group of scarlet and Catalina macaws and Mimas left the table, climbed down the ladder and hurried through the door and into the intensive care unit.

Within moments, the group had gathered around Betelgeuse's nest with Io, Sheldon and Rigel right by the side of the little chick. The ventilator mask was still over her beak and the sticker with a wire attached to a heart machine was still present on her torso, her talon was still in its bandage but Betelgeuse was stirring.

"Oh, oh my baby," cried Io, her wing on her older daughter's head. Then Betelgeuse's amber eyes slowly flickered open and turned to look at her mother who stroked her head.

"Mo… Mommy?" squeaked the chick. At this, Io leaned forward and kissed her forehead.

"Oh, Betelgeuse, my sweetheart," cried Io in utter relief, the second wave of relief she had felt since Betelgeuse, Rigel and the other missing kids including Sandalwood had been found at the fraudulent Paradise Sanctuary, "You're alright," Io kissed Betelgeuse's forehead again, "You're okay. Your mommy, daddy and sister are here, okay?"

Betelgeuse's eyes then flickered to Sheldon and Rigel, both of who smiled and walked in to stroke Betelgeuse's head and hug her.

"You sure had us seriously worried, my girl," said Sheldon as he gave Betelgeuse a hug.

"Is… Rigel alright?" asked Betelgeuse in a small voice. At this, Rigel came in and showed her sister her bandaged shoulder.

"The wood shard's been removed," she said. At this, Betelgeuse managed a small under the ventilator mask. Close by, Jupiter, Ruby, Saturn, Orquidea and Europa, Byron, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka; Ganymede, Mimas, Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine and Thymine; and Callisto, Athos, Canopus and Katniss looked on and smiled. Betelgeuse then slowly turned her gaze to these macaws standing behind Io, Sheldon and Rigel.

"Uncles Byron, Ganymede, Athos," she wearily but happily said, "Aunts… Europa… Callisto, Mimas… Grandpa Jupiter… Grandma Ruby… cousins…"

Jupiter nodded and smiled back. Just then, the sounds of wing-flaps reached their ears, prompting Jupiter and company to look up. Carla and Bia had just flown in.

"How is she doing?" asked Carla. At this, Io, Sheldon and Rigel backed away and revealed an awakened Betelgeuse to the two Spix macaws. When they saw that Betelgeuse had come round, relief flowed through Carla and Bia as well. The two Spix macaws touched down and took it in turns to hug Betelgeuse with Bia going first.

"Oh, Betelgeuse," cried Bia with a kiss on Betelgeuse's head, "You're alright. We were SO WORRIED for you while you were in that coma."

"We thought we were gonna lose you," said Carla as she took her turn to hug and kiss the chick as well. Then after Carla had landed another kiss on Betelgeuse's forehead, Saturn came in and placed his wings on the two Spix macaws' shoulders.

"I think it's time to leave Betelgeuse to get some rest, girls," he said gently. Bia and Carla flashed him a smile and gazed back at Betelgeuse.

"We look forward to seeing you back with us, my little wildflower," said Carla. Even though Betelgeuse was a red macaw, she was like a niece to Carla and Bia, just like the other chicks of Carla and company, as well as Sandalwood, Ferdinand and Acerola and of course Gladion, Lillie and Aurora. Carla and Bia flashed one last smile at Betelgeuse before they finally turned and left with Saturn and Orquidea, leaving Jupiter and the others to stay by Betelgeuse's side for a few more minutes.

As the four entered the main medical room, Carla said, "So it's true that Betelgeuse had helped Rigel through that life-and-death ordeal after that wretched Sofia abandoned her, is that right, Uncle Saturn?"

"What Betelgeuse did was an extremely brave and courageous thing, Carla and Bia," said Saturn with a smile.

"In fact," added Orquidea, "both sisters helped each other. When Betelgeuse fell unconscious, Rigel was the one who called Sheldon and his group in," she flashed a gaze at Jupiter's group just as they were about to leave Betelgeuse to rest in the intensive care room, "but even then, those two would have likely died if Sheldon and his group had not been in the right place at the right time…"

Saturn, Bia and Carla nodded in agreement. Had Sheldon, Triton, Iris and Charlotte, Jojo, Rhea, Aramis, Wilbur, Luna, Sebastian and Anabelle not been nearby, it was likely that both Betelgeuse and Rigel would have died in the fire, resulting in Io and Sheldon losing their daughters permanently. The outrage at Sofia and her gang for leaving those two chicks to fend for themselves in the fire was still burning within these four macaws and the rest of the members of Blu's group as well, and Rhea and Wilbur had also lashed at the toucan a while ago, shortly after Blu had left with Andromeda, Eragon and their bat-birds, and Jewel, Rafael, Augustus, Melissa, Zephyr and Venus for a flight out to check on the damaged and burned forest of the sanctuary, and while the rest of the badly behaved toucans were being caught and caged though some had managed to escape. Rhea had given Sofia an extremely hard punch to the belly with a clenched talon like a fist outside Tulio's Aviary while she and some of the other toucans, among them Marco, Anastasia and Marcel, were fleeing the Aviary with many of their kids, resulting in Sofia curling up on the floor with her wings clasped on her stomach and had to be carried away by her comrades. Rhea, Io, Sheldon and Wilbur and the rest of Blu's group, were still extremely livid at the toucans for what they had done to Sandalwood, Betelgeuse and Rigel and the other kids, as well as the other beyond-wicked and careless things they had done, and the news that the fire was caused by the toucan chicks playing with fire will soon spread to the other residents of the sanctuary who were staying either at the foot of the Christ the Redeemer statue, Luiz's garage or anywhere else in the city of Rio.

While Saturn, Orquidea, Bia and Carla continued to think about these things, a small group of macaws resembling blue-and-gold macaws but without the green forehead and the blue mark replacing the black 'bib' on the throat under the beak, and their blue back plumage often a much darker colour, walked in. Ceres, Cobalto, Wilbur, Aurelio, Azul and Fernanda who were accompanied by Oceano and Carmen, had been in the artificial chamber to check on Gylfie who was now kept a strict eye on by two or three of Tulio's team members. At the same time, one of the ornithologists walked over to Saturn, Orquidea, Bia and Carla and gently picked Saturn up off the floor.

"Looks like my healing talon's going to have another check-up," said Saturn as he was carried away, leaving the other three with the blue-throated macaws. Ceres gazed after Saturn as he was taken to a worktop where some more injured birds with bandages and casts were resting.

"I still cannot believe that Saturn had slashed his talon open on that piece of glass during that hasty evacuation from Tulio and Linda's cottage the other night," said Cobalto in utter awe at Saturn's bandaged talon.

"When those wretched toucans initiated a savage attack on us," muttered Ceres angrily.

"And I still cannot believe that they would even go for Tulio, Linda, Fernando and baby Tommy as well," added Azul. Wilbur and Aurelio gazed at him, Fernanda, Oceano and Carmen. They had been told about that incident after they had arrived from the Amazon to check on things and before Blu and company arrived back from Peru with Tulio, Linda and the other humans with Sandalwood and the other kidnapped kids safely in their clutches, as well as the two precious fruithawks Gylfie and Aurum and some other birds and animals like Atreyu. However, Gylfie's wellbeing was fuelling worry within the blue-throated family and their faces were sombre.

"How is Gylfie doing, Ceres?" asked Orquidea.

"Not good I'm afraid," said Ceres sadly, "She's been utterly devastated and severely traumatised by what has happened over the past week, and she is weakening from a severely broken heart."

"Especially after what has happened to Aurum," added Azul.

At this, worried shock ignited within Orquidea, Bia and Carla and they exchanged glances.

"She's _unwell!?"_ asked Bia.

"Exactly," said Fernanda as she held Oceano and Carmen, but then a glimmer entered her eyes, "But on the upside, and to the joy of the ornithologists, it is likely that she may be expecting a clutch of eggs."

"Especially based on her behaviour, such as restlessness, moodiness and the desire to eat a large amount of fruit and calcium-rich foods," added Wilbur.

"But she is determined to save her strength for the vitally important time," said Aurelio. When small smiles appeared on Orquidea, Bia and Carla's beaks, Cobalto came forward.

"And you'll be surprised to know that she and Aurum used to be chick-hood friends before humans came along and decimated their clan," he said, "We asked Gylfie about her past and she told us that, but then for some reason, the two grew to hate each other and separated when they were young adults."

"It was only recent that the two had made up and decided to start a family to preserve their species," added Ceres, "Especially when they realised that they were the only two golden fruithawks left in the entire world…"

"But now with Aurum gone," put in Fernanda sadly, "Gylfie has been left with an irreparably damaged heart, especially at the thought of being the very last individual of her species, but she is trying her best to keep up her strength for the sake of her and Aurum's offspring…"

At this, Bia shot Carla and Orquidea a furious look.

"Looks like those rotten toucan chicks have done a good job in adding one of the most precious individuals to the list of shattered hearts, folks, with their stupid messing about with the fire," she said sarcastically.

"Some of Tulio's team is out there in the incinerated jungle desperately trying to search for Aurum," said Orquidea, but then her face fell, "But they have yet to find out that he has died in the fire…"

"Let's hope that the golden fruithawk species is pulled from the brink of extinction in time," said Carla. The others nodded in agreement while Carmen and Oceano huddled against their mother Fernanda's chest feathers, glad to be safe and sound in the grasp of their family and friends once again.

 **Hours later, past midday**

Firefighters continued to tackle what was left of the fire that had been ravaging the vast majority of the Blu Bird Sanctuary for the past day. Streams of smoke continued to rise lazily from the blackened trees and other vegetation which were now nothing more than mere skeletal forms lacking their green leaves or colourful fruit and flowers. The evacuated Blu Bird Sanctuary residents had been surveying their damaged homes in utter consternation and outrage for they had been told by Orton and several other birds from Tulio's Aviary that the major cause of the fire was the toucan chicks messing about with sticks and branches set alight. After this news had reached the ears of the locals, this was the final nail in the coffin for the badly behaved toucans, and almost all of them had been finally caught and caged by orders from Tulio, much to the gladness of the other locals and Blu and company. Though the badly behaved toucans had lost individuals to the fire as well, this did not leave them a reason for any sympathy from the other birds and animals whatsoever.

While the activities were going on in dealing what was left of the fire, surveying the aftermath, the injured birds treated at the Aviary, and more and more of the badly behaved toucans were caught and caged, and the looking after of Gylfie in the artificial chamber, a few certain birds and three cats were walking down the path, or sidewalk, of the road leading to Tulio's Aviary decorated with a line of trees on each side. Despite the devastation that had ravaged the sanctuary over the past day and the sea of anger that continued to boil against the badly behaved toucans for this whole mess, there was a glimmer of joy and hope penetrating through the black clouds like a ray of sunlight, and this was felt by this group of birds and cats which consisted of Rafael, Eva, Diantha, Io, Sheldon, Europa, Byron, Ganymede, Mimas, Callisto and Athos, and Chiquitita, Phobos and Deimos, and Broccoli, Daisy and Collette, as they continued to walk down the sidewalk. Cometa, Travis, Sunset and Lightning had left to look after the good toucan chicks with Rita, Carlos, and the other toucans who were goodly behaved or had reformed, in a part of the forest that had not caught fire in order to prevent getting accidentally caught by Tulio and his team, though Tulio had decided that a few of the toucans will stay, especially based on Rafael and Eva's good behaviour and that of Diantha and her three chicks, Gladion, Lillie and Aurora, and since Diantha was favoured by some of the humans such as Susan, Bernardo and Lucy, and has helped Tulio and his team to locate the badly behaved toucans to catch and cage. As the fourteen birds and three cats walked along, thrilled smiles, the first ones since the start of the incident last night involving the kidnapping of the kids by the badly behaved toucans, glowed on their faces.

"I'm so glad that Betelgeuse is alright and that Connie is out of surgery with her wing fixed, Rafael," said Chiquitita as she walked with Phobos, Deimos, Broccoli, Daisy and Collette.

"We've been SO WORRIED for the former in particular," said Phobos.

"Some of us kept thinking that Betelgeuse wasn't gonna make it," added Deimos, "Especially us two and Alexandre."

"When we heard that she had been hooked up to a ventilator in the intensive care unit, we were worried as well," said Broccoli.

"We knew that she was in serious condition," said Collette.

"From the amount of fire and smoke she has been exposed to, along with Rigel," said Daisy.

"Well, she's finally stable and her breathing's fine, you five," said Io, "Which is a good thing."

"Yeah, but she is severely traumatised from the whole ordeal, similar to Rigel and the rest of the kids," said Rafael worriedly.

"And there is particular worry for her left talon which had been badly burned;" put in Eva, "For all we know Betelgeuse may have had surgery on her foot to treat it."

"It was terrible, I can tell you," said Sheldon who continued to shudder at the sight of his older daughter lying unconscious under that shrub when he and the others with them, including Triton, Iris, Sebastian, Luna and Anabelle, had found her and Rigel, as well as Rigel's impaled shoulder. Then Broccoli began to tremble with rage again.

"After hearing how that Sofia brat and her comrades have left those two poor chicks in the fire is the final fish for me, Collette and Daisy," he hissed, "not to mention the fact that some of their chicks were involved in spreading the fire through the forest and causing the damage."

"Yeah, they've practically destroyed everything for everyone," said Eva sadly, but then a frown came upon her face, "But not only have those badly behaved sons and daughters of ours and their mates and chicks have destroyed everything for everyone else, but they have brought themselves into the disaster too," a sigh escaped her beak, "based on the reports from some of the surveying groups of birds, dozens of toucan carcases have been discovered in the burned forest, among them Miguel and Monoela who have been trying to hide in a log with a lot of their kids…"

A sob then escaped her throat as anguish over what so many of her sons, daughters, in-laws and grandkids have come to threatened to erupt.

"Didn't you two tell your countless sons and daughters about the dangers of fire and fire-related things like cigarette lighters and matches?" asked Europa as she walked with Byron and Diantha, whose heart was still in tatters over the loss of Tom last night.

"We did," said Rafael, but then his face fell, "We taught all of our kids about those things and that they should not be messed with but it seemed that they hadn't passed on this important knowledge to their kids," his saddened gaze then landed on Diantha as she continued to point her beak and gaze to the ground, a tear falling from her eye, "Not like how she and her mate, along with Carlos, Rita and a few others had done anyway."

"Gladion, Lillie and Aurora knew full well of the dangers of playing with fire as well as the destruction it causes if it gets out of control, anyway, especially after what happened in the two previous fires that tore through the Sanctuary de Amazon years ago," said Byron. He then put a comforting wing on Diantha's back as she released more sobs and tears. The rest of the gang nodded in agreement. Then something else entered Chiquitita, Ganymede and Mimas's minds.

"Oh, haven't you heard the news from Neptune and Ultramarine?" asked Ganymede with a smile. When the smiling gazes of Rafael, Eva, Diantha, Io, Sheldon, Europa, Byron, Callisto Athos, Phobos, Deimos, Broccoli, Daisy and Collette converged on him, his blue-and-gold mate and the unusually short mother of Phobos and Deimos, Mimas said, "Triton and Iris have just got engaged."

At this, joy welled within the other fourteen animals, including Diantha despite her severe heartbreak.

"Is this true?" asked Broccoli.

"We weren't there to hear the announcement," said Collette.

"We were busy checking on Gladion, Lillie and Aurora and the other well-behaved toucan chicks with Rita, Carlos and some of the toucans who are sensible in the unburned part of the forest," said Daisy.

"Yes," said Chiquitita, "And Neptune, Ultramarine, Indigo and Victor were thrilled to hear about it."

"As were some of the others that had been there to hear the announcement, including Blu, Jewel and us three," added Mimas.

"Well, I'm so happy for them," said Eva with excitement.

"Looks like Neptune and Ultramarine will be having another grand-chick or two to add to the one they already have, Gertie," said Rafael.

"Not to mention Indigo, Violet and Victor becoming aunts and uncle to Triton and Iris's chicks and Gertie gaining some cousins," put in Callisto.

"I remember Sebastian and Anabelle becoming an aunt and uncle to Sandalwood when he was born to Soren and Stella, and Acerola and Ferdinand gaining a cousin," added Athos.

"I think a lot of us certainly do have quite an interesting family, don't we?" asked Io, her gaze turned to Sheldon, "Mom and Dad (that is, Jupiter and Ruby) certainly do have a blend of grandchildren."

"Three pure scarlets, four scarlet/blue-and-gold hybrids, two three-quarter scarlet/one-quarter green-winged and two half scarlet, half-green-winged," said Sheldon, "Absolutely."

Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, Byron, Athos and Mimas smiled at this.

"Yes, you guys certainly do have an interesting assortment of hybrid offspring from various species," said Rafael with a smile. Diantha managed a smile and nodded in agreement but said nothing. Then Broccoli put on a smile of his own, as did his sisters Daisy and Collette.

"Yep, it sure will be exciting to see another family of macaws in our group when Triton and Iris get down to starting one," he said. The group of seventeen animals then turned a corner and continued walking.

"But of course, the couple will be having their chicks in Luiz's garage for it will take many months for the Blu Bird Sanctuary to return to its former glory after what the fire has done," continued Broccoli. Nods rolled through the other sixteen.

"I'm afraid so," said Rafael sadly, "Luiz is also gonna have to host a number of the other locals in his garage as well, while Nico, Pedro, Rose and Sparkle will have to use their clubs as temporary refuges for more Blu Bird Sanctuary locals too."

"It's completely unforgivable what those careless badly-behaved toucans have done to their homes, as well as ours, I can tell you," said Chiquitita with a growl. As the group walked on and came to a stop, Chiquitita continuing to talk, four familiar toucans walked in.

"Hopefully, a disaster like this will NEVER happen again…" continued Chiquitita but she trailed off when her green eyes found the four toucans. Rafael, Eva, Diantha, Io, Sheldon, Europa, Byron, Ganymede, Mimas, Callisto, Athos, Phobos and Deimos, Broccoli, Daisy and Collette also stopped when their eyes found the four toucans, which were Sofia, Marco, Anastasia and Marcel who had managed to escape capture by Tulio and his team, and when these four saw Rafael's group, the quartet gave them worried looks but the worried looks were not for the kids of Carla, Bia and Tiago and company.

"How are our remaining kids doing in Tulio's Aviary?" asked Marco timidly, especially as scowls appeared on the faces of Rafael's group and the feathers and fur of Io, Sheldon, Diantha, Broccoli, Daisy, Collette and Diantha bristled.

"What are you four doing out here?" growled Rafael angrily.

"I thought you four were back at the Aviary with the other toucans, getting caged," put in Chiquitita, her face also laced with anger. Like everyone else, she was outraged at what the toucan, most especially Marco, Sofia, Marcel and Anastasia, had done.

"L-l-look, we just wanna know how our kids are doing, that's all," protested Sofia timidly.

"Have you checked on them lately?" asked Anastasia equally timidly. She especially gazed at Broccoli, Collette and Daisy warily, especially as the three cats' furious scowls continued to pierce them and feared that they may lash at her, Marco, Sofia and Marcel and attack them.

"Why do you wanna know about the wellbeing of your kids?" growled Ganymede in a low voice.

"What about those of everyone else?" put in Phobos, "Especially Io and Sheldon's two daughters whom YOU TWO," his glare was directed at Sofia and Marco, "have critically endangered in that fire?" he gestured to Io and Sheldon, who were furious, as he said this.

"We're NOT talking about YOUR kids," snapped Marcel, much to Phobos's blink of shock, "We're talking about OURS, now please tell us, how are they doing?"

Rafael's group exchanged disgusted glances. The selfishness of Sofia, Marco, Marcel and Anastasia was clearly driving them up the tree trunk now.

"Look, you've got DOZENS AND DOZENS of children while THESE MACAWS, your SISTER, and the rest of Carla, Tiago and Bia's gang only have TWO TO FOUR!" shouted Broccoli, gesturing to Diantha, Io, Sheldon, Europa, Byron, Ganymede, Mimas, Callisto and Athos with a front paw as he said this, "Why do you only show MORE CONCERN for YOUR countless offspring than the ONLY ONES THESE BIRDS AND FLYING FOXES HAVE!?"

"Is that all our own kids are worth compared to YOURS?" asked Ganymede, an offended wave pulsing through him at Marco and the other three toucans' lack of regard for Sandalwood, Betelgeuse, Rigel and the rest of Carla and company's offspring, "Nothing but MERE PIECES of LEFTOVER FRUIT!?"

"Especially after nearly LOSING ALL OF THEM in that FIRE!?" put in Io as she shuddered and her eyes threatening to well tears, "Including my and Sheldon's ONLY TWO DAUGHTERS, ESPECIALLY!?"

Diantha, Sheldon, Europa, Byron, Callisto, Mimas and Athos, and also Chiquitita, Phobos and Deimos also shuddered with offended rage while Eva, Rafael and the three cats continued to glare at Marco, Sofia, Anastasia and Marcel disgustedly.

"Look, Io, Ganymede," began Marco, "I know you're upset but so are we…"

At this, Diantha finally felt something within her snap. Storming forward from Rafael's group right over to her brother, sister and two of her in-laws, the widowed toucan shoved her multi-coloured beak right into Marco's face, and her brown eyes blazed with fury.

"Us, UPSET!?" Diantha snarled, as she forced Marco back against a nearby waste bin, "We're NOT JUST UPSET, Marco! We're UTTERLY FURIOUS with what you have allowed your COUNTLESS CHICKS to do," Marco opened his beak to protest but Diantha swept on; "I HATE YOU! I am ASHAMED TO EVEN BE your SISTER," Diantha's voice then lowered to a growl as she shoved her face into Marco's to the point of forcing him so far back that he threatened to fall onto his back, "I will _never…_ forgive you!"

"It's likely that so many of the other residents will not forgive you as well," added Deimos. Then Io, Sheldon, Europa, Byron, Ganymede, Mimas, Callisto and Athos, and Diantha as well, turned to Rafael, Eva, Chiquitita, Phobos and Deimos and also Broccoli, Daisy and Collette.

"Uncle Rafael, Aunt Eva, Aunt Chiquitita, Broccoli, Daisy, Collette, Phobos and Deimos," said Callisto in a sad voice, "As soon as our flight feathers regrow and we're able to fly again, and when Betelgeuse, Rigel, Gladion and Connie have recovered from their injuries, we're gonna move back into the Sanctuary de Amazon permanently," at this, Broccoli and his sisters threw on dismaying looks, to which Athos took notice.

"I know you three cats like having us here but we're sorry," he said, before his gaze turned to the birds, "but we cannot live here with these four vulture-like ruffians," he shot Marco, Anastasia, Sofia and Marcel a bitter glare as he said this, "and their equally deranged chicks running amok and causing us trouble and damage…"

"Especially after the trauma that Isabella chick of YOURS had caused Sandalwood in the beginning of all this, leading to his fear of heights and flying in the first place," put in Mimas and with that, she shot Marco and Anastasia an acidic scowl. At this, the couple opened their beaks to protest but their tongues stuck in their beaks, especially as Mimas's beige volcanic plumes bore into them. Io, Sheldon, Europa, Byron, Ganymede and Diantha nodded in agreement. Then Phobos and Deimos stepped out.

"We're gonna move back into the Sanctuary de Amazon permanently as well," added Phobos.

"We don't wanna live here with these pathetic excuses for parents either," added Deimos and with that, he shot a volcanic, acidic look of his own at Marco and the other three as well. However, Rafael, Eva and Chiquitita already had the solution to the problem.

"Oh, don't you worry, you eleven," said Rafael with a frown, before he directed it at Marco, Sofia, Anastasia and Marcel, "Those four are the ones that will be going."

"But not to the Sanctuary de Amazon," said Chiquitita firmly. Then Rafael hardened his glare on Marco and the other three with him, "Come with me, Eva and Chiquitita back to Tulio's Aviary, you four."

At this, Marco, Anastasia, Sofia and Marcel shook their heads in shock.

"Wh-what!?" snapped Marco.

"You heard your father, Marco," growled Eva. Then Sofia stepped forward.

"Mom, Dad, d-d-don't be silly," she protested, "We live here. This is our home."

However, Rafael, Eva and Chiquitita had already made their decision and were adamant in it.

"Fine," said Chiquitita fiercely, "We'll get Broccoli, Collette and Daisy to SEIZE YOUR FOUR and DRAG YOU to the Aviary on your behalf."

With that, she nodded to Broccoli, Daisy and Collette who turned to glare at the four toucans.

"It will be a pleasure to take those four Nigel-like vultures to Tulio's Aviary," hissed Broccoli, his fur puffed out. Daisy and Collette nodded in agreement. However, before the three cats could take one step towards Sofia, Marco, Anastasia and Marcel, the four complied at the last second.

"Okay, we're GOING!" cried Sofia timidly and rushed over to Rafael, Eva and Chiqutitia. This done, the trio then led the quartet back to Tulio's Aviary. Broccoli, Daisy, Collette, and Diantha, Io, Sheldon, Europa, Byron, Ganymede, Mimas, Callisto and Athos, and Chiquitita, Phobos and Deimos followed close behind Marco and the other three to MAKE SURE that the four complied.

Sometime later, Rafael and company were back in the vicinity of Tulio's Aviary and before them, a number of cages, some of them containing toucans, were placed neatly at the front of the entrance, ready to be packed, and Tulio's team was at work in and around the building, either treating the injured animals, caging more toucans or tidying up. As soon as Rafael's group was close to the cages, Marco, Anastasia, Sofia and Marcel spotted some familiar chicks.

"Oh, no, ISABELLA, KIDS!" cried Anastasia. Marco, Sofia, and Marcel also looked on in utter disbelief and consternation. At this, Isabella, whose plumage was masked by bandages for she had been playing with the branches of fire as well and had suffered horrific burns, slowly looked up and saw her parents. Some of her siblings, also badly burned, did the same. Then Marco, Sofia, Marcel and Anastasia shot Rafael and the others distressed looks but any sliver of sympathy they expected from them was completely absent; as bare as a deforested area is of trees. Then Rafael walked over to the cage containing Anastasia, Marco, Sofia and Marcel's kids, and stood by them, an angry look on his face.

"Right," he said, with a wing gesture to the cages, "In you go."

"Look, what are we gonna do when we are taken away from here?" asked Sofia.

"Especially with those kids of ours smothered in bandages," put in Anastasia, her voice threatening to break.

"We don't care," said Chiquitita as she and Eva joined Rafael's side, "We just want you outa here… for good."

"And if you want the truth," continued Eva, "We're just past caring."

Anastasia, Marco, Sofia and Marcel continued looking on despairingly as Rafael continued Eva's statement.

"What Eva means is," said Rafael, his gaze looking down to the ground and wings folded, "This isn't something as immature as graffiti-ing all over the trees of our neighbours or pelting others with fruit…"

"And it even isn't something as horrible as destroying Io's Ipod or Travis and his family's birdhouse," put in Chiquitita. The little green-winged macaw then shuddered as her voice began to break, "This is something that is far WORSE than we'd imagined."

Anastasia, Marco, Sofia and Marcel continued gazing at the trio as Rafael continued, "So… we want you to be taken away from here for good, and I hope you and your other siblings involved in this disaster will look back on the devastation you have caused the rest of us in utter SHAME," Anastasia, Marco, Sofia and Marcel's eyes blinked, speechlessness grasping the four hard like jaguar jaws. Then Rafael gestured to the cages and added, "So in you go."

At this, Marco, Anastasia, Sofia and Marcel turned to Diantha, Io, Sheldon, Europa, Byron, Ganymede, Mimas, Callisto, Athos, Phobos and Deimos, Broccoli, Daisy and Collette and began to beg them for defence, but to their utter dismay and despair, they got none, and Diantha was threatening to break down again. Tears were falling from her eyes like rain and sobs were threatening to erupt from her, especially as Marco and Sofia began to beg her for defence.

"Diantha, PLEASE," cried Marco, "Tell Rafael, Chiquitita and Eva that we're innocent! We're your SIBLINGS!"

However, Diantha began to tremble with bitter rage.

"NOT ANY MORE, YOU'RE NOT!" she snapped, "In fact, I wish we WEREN'T SIBLINGS!"

Sofia and Marco continued to gaze at Dian that as she began to break down, Broccoli and Daisy comforting her. Then the two, along with Anastasia and Marcel whirled round to Chiquitita, Rafael and Eva and stormed over to them.

"You know," growled Marco bitterly to the trio, "I think you've been waiting for a mere excuse to GET RID OF US…"

"DON'T you DARE try to pin the BLAME ON US!" retorted Rafael, "We didn't WANT ANY OF THIS!"

"And BESIDES THAT," put in Eva, "YOU are the ones WHO BROUGHT THIS ON YOURSELVES!"

"Now IN YOU GO!" shouted Chiquitita, a wing point to the cases containing the four toucan's remaining chicks including Isabella. At this, Marco, Sofia, Anastasia and Marcel flashed one last glance at Diantha, Io, Sheldon and the other macaws and the three cats with them and hastily rushed over to one of Tulio's team members as he came in to check on the already-caged toucans and allowed themselves to be caught. After this, Rafael, Eva and Chiquitita darted away and re-joined Sheldon, Io and company and watched on as the four toucans were caught and caged by Tulio's employee with their children. Diantha continued to break down in Broccoli and Daisy's paws while Rafael and Eva also began to break down, anguish at what so many of their kids and grandkids had become overwhelming them at last. Their sobbing invited consolation from Chiquitita, Io, Sheldon, Europa, Byron, Ganymede, Mimas, Callisto, Athos, Phobos, Deimos, Broccoli, Daisy and Collette as they pulled the couple, and Diantha as well, into a group hug.

 **Later**

And so the fate of the badly-behaved toucans was sealed. The rest of the toucans banished from the Blu Bird Sanctuary walked willingly towards Tulio and his team to be caught and caged. Around them, the vast majority of the locals of the Blu Bird Sanctuary had come to witness the banishment of these toucans once and for all. Among them were Orton, Kipo, Nico, Pedro, Rose and Sparkle, and Blu, Jewel, Zephyr, Venus and Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Ceres and Pluto and all their families and friends, and Rafael, Eva, Diantha, Carlos, Rita and a few other toucans, the good ones that were allowed to stay, and Cometa, Lightning, Orion, Hermione, Velocity, Riker, Travis, Sunset, Eustace, Milo, Rosa, Serena and Clemont; Broccoli, Daisy and Collette and some dogs, among them Luiz, Dash, Ginger, Avellana, Esperanza, Eduarda, James, Danny, Rusty, Worf and Ebony, and also Augustus, Melissa, Sebastian, Stella, Luna, Soren, Anabelle and some of the kids of Carla, Bia, Tiago and company, among them Sandalwood, Acerola, Ferdinand, Sirius, Einstein and Miles, and they all watched the badly-behaved toucans as they continued to walk towards Tulio and his team to be caged.

The badly-behaved toucans were practically walking along the path of shame, as the crowd's eyes, which were full to the brim of outrage, bitterness, smugness and disgust, continued to bore into them, and some of the Blu Bird Sanctuary residents, among them some of the frigatebirds that lived on the site, also threatened the toucans with fruit and sticks, or even their own talons. Orton, Kipo, Hermione, Orion, Velocity and Riker were armed with sticks or were threatening the badly-behaved toucans with their claws as they passed by. Among the toucan line were Robbie and Mabel, a small makeshift nest carrying their newest clutch of five eggs, and as they passed by Blu's group, a look of bitterness was directed from them at Blu and the others. However, they were forced to pull their glares away from this group and continue on to Tulio and his team. It truly was a sight to behold, but it was also very daunting and frightening especially for one to imagine oneself amongst those toucans walking through the crowd of disgusted lasers pointing as him or her. While this continued to happen, Blu said to Jewel, Zephyr and Venus, "I'm gonna fly into Tulio's Aviary top check on Gylfie's wellbeing."

The three said Spix macaws nodded and with that, Blu opened his wings and took off for the entrance to the Aviary, while the three macaws continued glaring at the passing badly-behaved toucans in disgust.

Inside Tulio's Aviary, Roberto, Brisa, Andromeda, Eragon, Sugilite, Sardonyx and Greg were standing near the doorway to the artificial jungle chamber. Inside the chamber, four humans, among them Jack and Jill were awaiting the laying of Gylfie's eggs. However, Gylfie was not in good shape at all. Vulcan the kestrel from the Control de Pragas Squad then touched down before the seven birds and gazed at them with a sombre look on his face.

"How is she doing?" asked Roberto.

"Not good I'm afraid," said Vulcan sadly, his gaze turning to the human quartet's direction as they continued to work on Gylfie, "Gylfie's not well at all, and our human friends are working fast to save her eggs which she is yet to lay," his gaze turned back to the seven just as Blu appeared, "Apparently, Gylfie has lost the will to live."

As Blu walked in, shock erupted within him and Roberto, Brisa, Andromeda, Eragon, Sugilite, Sardonyx and Greg flinched.

"What!?" snapped Eragon.

"You're serious!" added Sardonyx.

"She's _dying!?"_ put in Andromeda with consternation. Vulcan breathed a sigh, "The trauma of losing Aurum, the only other golden fruithawk in existence, combined with that of the fire and seeing the marauding toucans has proven too much for her, but she's hanging on until her eggs are laid which should be any minute now."

Roberto, Brisa, Andromeda, Eragon, Sugilite, Sardonyx and Greg, and now Blu as well, exchanged worried glances and breathed saddened sighs. Behind the group, Mumble, Finnick, Atreyu, Ginny and Balthazar watched on, saddened looks on their faces.

A few minutes later, the time came for Gylfie to lay her eggs. Blu, Roberto, Brisa, Andromeda, Eragon, Sugilite, Sardonyx and Greg watched on from a distance as Jack, Jill and the other two humans worked on helping Gylfie to deliver the eggs into a specially designed nest constructed by Francisco, a friend of Susan and Lucy and one of Tulio's employees. Several other birds, among them Carla, Bia, Tiago, Charlotte and Kira, had entered the chamber came in to witness the event. While the process was taking place, Roberto held up a wing to the newcomers to command them to halt and wait until the process is finished. At this, Carla and the others stopped and obeyed. Gylfie's laying of the eggs continued for a while hour until finally, Gylfie managed to expend the last of her strength to lay the final egg. This done, one of the humans, a woman, nodded to her colleague and to Jack and Jill and congratulated them, before she and her colleague left with the clutch of precious eggs to place in an incubator. After the two humans had left with the eggs, Blu, Roberto, Brisa, Andromeda, Eragon, Sugilite, Sardonyx and Greg came in and joined Jack and Jill as they continued stroking the now-dying Gylfie on the table.

"Okay, you guys can come in now," said Roberto to Carla's group, to which they did. As Carla's group gathered around a short distance from Gylfie, Bia asked Blu, "How many eggs has she laid, Dad?"

"Eight," said Blu, "Which is a good number," but then his face fell as his gaze turned to Gylfie, "But the process has exhausted the last of the poor fruithawk's strength."

At this, Carla, Bia, Tiago, Charlotte and Kira and their companions turned their gaze to Gylfie as she continued to gasp in exhaustion, her strength ebbing away. Slowly and weakly, she turned to Blu, Roberto and Andromeda.

"Th-th-there has to be… o-o-o-other golden fruithawks like us o-o-out there…" she whispered, "Pl-pl-please pr-pr-promise me that you'll l-l-l-l-look after m-m-my offspring and n-n-n-nurture them as they grow. Th-th-they're the only hope for the g-g-g-golden fruithawk's survival now."

Blu, Roberto and Andromeda nodded while Carla, Bia, Tiago, Charlotte and Kira and the others, and Jack and Jill as well, looked on, tears welling in their eyes.

"We will," said Blu and with that, he stroked Gylfie's forehead with a wing. Gylfie managed a weak smile in response to this comforting stroke, but then she began to feel her consciousness ebb away. Blu and the others continued looking on as Gylfie's strength continued to drain away like water from a leaky bucket. Then after gazing for one final time at Blu and company, Gylfie's head fell back and her lungs exhaled her final breath, indicating the inevitable. From the small group, Eragon looked on and said, "That's it?"

At this, Blu felt Gylfie's pulse and turned to him, Brisa, Vulcan, Sugilite, Sardonyx and Greg, tears in his eyes. Andromeda and Roberto also began to ooze tears, as did Carla, Bia, Tiago, Kira and Charlotte, as Jack and Jill backed away and gazed at Gylfie's lifeless body, tears also falling from their eyes. Then Roberto, Andromeda, Carla, Bia, Tiago, Charlotte and Kira left to join Vulcan's group on the floor to console them as they began to break down, leaving Blu to stand by Gylfie's body.

"We will look after and raise your offspring," said Blu in a saddened voice as devastation at what had become of her and Aurum overshadowed him, not to mention the rage at the badly-behaved toucans and their involvement in Aurum's death and Gylfie's fatal condition. Then Jack came forward and told Blu that it was time to take Gylfie's body away. Blu nodded and stepped back as Jack and his twin sister Jill took a towel and wrapped it around the lifeless body of the last surviving golden fruithawk (possibly) to take it away.

Blu then turned and gazed into the darkening sky through the skylight, indicating evening and the exact time the fiery disaster that swept through the Blu Bird Sanctuary, starting with the kidnap of Sandalwood and the others by the badly-behaved toucans, with a tear welling in one of his eyes.


	86. Chapter 85

**Chapter 85- time to pick up the shattered pieces**

By the time the sun was half-set beneath the horizon at its setting point, all the badly behaved toucans and their equally bad chicks, the remaining ones after a lot of them had died in the fire through stupidly playing with it had been caged at last and now Tulio's team were packing them away into trucks to be taken away and flown out of Brazil and sent to other sanctuaries. The crowd of Blu Bird Sanctuary residents and the majority of Blu's group continued to watch the toucans get loaded into the trailers of trucks with glares as devoid of any sympathy as the majority of the forest in the sanctuary was of greenery and colour due to the fire caused largely by the toucan chicks' antics with it, and the badly behaved toucans were all saturated with pure shame, fear and bitterness. They knew that their time on the sanctuary near Rio was over and that they were to live out their lives in other nature reserves outside of Brazil and even more despairing for these toucans, NONE of them will be sent to the Sanctuary de Amazon where their still-numerous kids could wreak havoc for the other animals in that area. However, despite this definite knowledge of this fact, some of the toucans were still gazing pleadingly at the crowd of glaring Blu Bird Sanctuary residents, hoping that some of them would change their minds and set them free from their cages.

From their cage, Marco and Anastasia, some of the numerous kids they had left by their side, many of which were encased in bandages, among them Isabella as a result of playing with the fire-lit branches in which they were manipulated to do by the evil chameleon Dalek, continued to gaze pleadingly at Rafael, Eva, Diantha, Rita, Carlos and some of the other toucans who had reformed in time as they continued to stand with the other birds and animals of Rio and Blu Bird Sanctuary. The two toucans clung desperately to the cages with their eyes shedding pleading tears. Behind them, Fernando and some of his friends were picking up a few of the cages containing some of the couple's many, many siblings, in-laws and nephews and nieces and taking them to the trucks parked nearby.

"L-look, we're VERY SORRY about…" begged Marco but, as always, all his remaining family did was look away or shook their heads.

"Look, we don't wanna hear your apologies OR know whether you're sorry or not, Marco," snapped Rita bitterly and sadly as she stood with a still-heartbroken Diantha and an infuriated Carlos and the other good toucans, "So please don't EVER say you're sorry."

"And besides that," put in Carlos, "It is FAR too LATE for your futile APOLOGIES!"

"We've heard ALL your lousy excuses and attempts to get out of trouble before," added Travis who stood near Rafael and with Sunset, Eustace, Milo, Rosa, Serena and Clemont, their crests fully flared and their faces saturated with pure thunder, especially the latter four, "and like your father here said," Travis stole a glance at Rafael who nodded in agreement, "YOU have brought this all on yourselves."

"Yes, this is ALL ON YOU!" added Sunset in a snarl.

"B-b-but…" began Anastasia but Jewel angrily stepped forward and cut her off.

"Look, we have WAY MORE important things to think about than hearing YOU LOT try to claw your way out of the deep pit you have dug yourselves," she shouted, "So your protests aren't gonna get you anywhere."

"Now YOU LOT focus on settling into your NEW HOMES!" put in Jupiter furiously as he stood with Mercury, Sapphire, Venus, Zephyr, Mars, Chiquitita, Ruby, Saturn, Orquidea, Uranus, Esmeralda, Neptune, Ultramarine, Ceres, Cobalto, Pluto and Lapis Lazuli, all of who also wore enraged faces, "And STOP TALKING!"

"Yes, your begging is gonna get you NOWHERE!" shouted Zephyr.

"You have gone WELL AND TRULY TOO FAR!" put in Venus. The other macaws with them nodded in agreement. Marco and Anastasia flinched at the macaws' words and only gazed back at them and the others and began to weep and shudder, with their kids also weeping, especially Isabella who was heavily bandaged, along with a few other of her siblings and cousins who had either been messing with the fire or who had been caught in it. Then a pair of hands appeared and took hold of their cage and lifted them off the ground. Marco let loose fearful whimpers which soon developed into mournful wails as he watched Fernando carry him, Anastasia and some of their chicks away towards one of the trucks. However, Jupiter and company continued to stand and look on silently and without any sliver of sympathy with the other birds and animals as Marco and his family began to boil with desperation in the form of loudening wails as Fernando continued to carry them away towards the trucks. Then Neptune and Ultramarine's gazes turned in the direction of a certain couple of hyacinth macaws.

"We're gonna check on Triton and Iris, you lot," whispered Neptune to the other smaller birds."

"Okay," said Jupiter.

"And I'm gonna go and check on Blu and some of the others still in Tulio's Aviary coming too," said Jewel and with that, the two hyacinth macaws began to pass through the crowd of birds, saying 'excuse us' on the way and telling them to part to let them through, and continued in the direction of Triton and Iris's location.

Not too far away, Triton gazed into Iris's green eyes with his single eye and clouded eye sat in three scarred tiger stripes running down the left side of his face with an ecstatic smile. The two hyacinth macaws were in an embrace and letting loose romantic laughs.

"I-I-I don't believe it," Triton said in happy shock, the first sort he had felt in years since Penelope dumped him over his scarred face, "You actually wanna be my mate?"

"Yes, absolutely," replied Iris lovingly, before flashing a glare at the caged badly-behaved toucans and returning her gaze to her boyfriend-now-turned future mate, "And when all those big-beaked hoodlums and their destructive brats of chicks over there have been transported away for good, I wanna plan on starting a family with you."

At this, Triton blinked with surprise. He was still unsure of becoming a father to a brood of chicks but the love he felt for Iris and the desire to be with her for life kept trampling that uncertainty underfoot.

"I cannot imagine myself being a father to a clutch of chicks," Triton murmured, before his wing went to his scarred left facial side and blind eye, "Especially with this souvenir from the war with Cicatriz's colony I have had to put up with since I received it from that savage winged beast that nearly slaughtered Augustus's two daughters and son when we were young…"

An assuring frown came on Iris's face, "Look, what that ex of yours has done was totally insensitive, especially after such a brave act you carried out in saving a helpful flying fox's pups from certain death, and I'm sure Augustus is proud of you as well and would like to see you wit chicks."

Triton gazed silently into Iris's eyes with his right eye, the only functioning eye he had left. A short distance away, Augustus watched on with Melissa, Sebastian, Stella, Luna, Soren, Anabelle, Sandalwood, Acerola and Ferdinand, smiles on their faces. Then Iris's wing went to Triton's left cheek and stroked it lovingly, to which Triton's wing rose and stroked it in return as he nuzzled against it.

"You'll make a loving father to our future chicks," whispered Iris lovingly, "And besides that, your parents would love to see you have chicks, as would your sister and brother-in-law, and your niece would love to have some cousins to play with."

Triton just gazed back at her silently but before he could form words, Iris had pulled his beak close to hers and the two began to enter a series of loving kisses and an embrace as Triton's wings encased Iris in a cape. Augustus smiled at the other flying foxes present and Melissa, Sebastian, Stella, Luna, Soren and Anabelle smiled in return.

"You can tell they're dearly in love, can't you?" said Melissa in admiration to the couple's romance.

"Yeah, and I hope the two DO get to starting a family," said Sebastian.

"It was something Triton had wanted to do with Penelope back in the Amazon a few years ago," added Stella, before a look of disgust appeared on her face, "Until that brat decided to dump him because of what he had done for us when our lives were in danger at the claws of one of that deranged Cicatriz's minions…"

"I'm still furious with her for devastating him after the distress he had to go through with the realisation that he will only see with one eye for the rest of his life, along with the scars on his left facial side where that brute of a bat struck," put in Luna. Anabelle and Soren nodded in agreement while Sandalwood, Ferdinand and Acerola, the latter two who wore 'Eew' faces as they watched Triton and Iris kiss away just gazed at the couple silently. When they had been told how Triton's left facial side became the way it was, they had been utterly horrified, and Sandalwood and his two cousins had thought it must have been very bloody when the hulking flying fox that had threatened Sebastian and his sisters, one of who was his mother, with killing them had slashed his claws over the left side of Triton's face, leading to loss of sight in his left eye and the unsightly scars carved into his facial feathers. 'No', thought Sandalwood, ''Unsightly' should NOT be used to describe the scars and clouded eye on Triton's left facial side; it should be called a brave souvenir of his rescuing of Mom, Aunt Luna and Uncle Sebastian'. Sandalwood also wrinkled his face in distaste at using the word 'unsightly' to describe the marks on Triton's face as well. Then he resumed gazing at Triton and Iris as they continued kissing and embracing away.

Then after finishing the episode of giving each other a series of kisses, some of them passionate, Iris and Triton pulled each other into a tight embrace as though they did not want to let each other go. Nearby, Neptune and Ultramarine walked in and smiled on before continuing over to Augustus and the other flying foxes to talk with them. However, as the pair continued towards the flying foxes, Triton and Iris's romantic scene was also witnessed by some of the badly behaved toucans in their cages who were yet to be picked up by Tulio's team members and carried to the trucks, and in their glares were scorn and disgust. One of them even cooked up the audacity to spit an acidic insult at the couple.

"You think you'll make a great father with that disgusting face, Scarface?" he growled, his mate looking on in agreement, pulling Triton's attention to him as he continued to embrace Iris, "I don't think so."

"What chick would want YOU for a father with that ugly, grotesque face of yours, anyway," said the female toucan, "You look like something straight out of a horror movie and because of that, any chick would be ABSOLUTELY AFRAID of you and see you as a MONSTER… CICATRIZ!"

That did it. These poison darts stabbed Triton deep and threw him out of the romantic moment with Iris. Breaking the hug with his future mate with his seeing and clouded eyes weeping offended tears much to Iris's surprise, Triton whirled round and dashed off as his hurt feelings began to bleed like an open wound.

"Triton!" called Iris and with that she began to chase after him. Neptune, Ultramarine, Augustus, Melissa, Sebastian, Stella, Luna, Soren, Anabelle, Sandalwood, Acerola and Ferdinand flinched at the sudden change in mood with the couple, especially as Triton wailed tearfully at Iris, "LEAVE ME ALONE!" and continued rushing away with sobs escaping his beak, Iris following and protesting after him. However, she was stopped by the sounds of scornful and smug laughing erupting behind her. At this, the unusual purple hyacinth macaw whirled round and when her eyes landed on the source of the sound, hot rage burned through her and prompted her to storm over to the laughers and confront them.

The badly behaved toucan couple who had spat the acidic porcupine quills at Triton, destroyed his romantic moment with Iris and drove him away continued laughing, some of their siblings in adjacent cages also giggling and congratulating them for throwing those insults at the highly sensitive hyacinth macaw until they found themselves on the receiving end of a volcanic glare from a pair of green eyes through the bars of their cage. At this, their laughter flashed to surprise and fright when they saw the eyes of Iris pierce them like a fiery laser, and those eyes were saturated with fury. In the crowd, Triton's parents and the flying foxes had heard Triton's massive wailing and had left to rush after him but then Neptune, Augustus, Luna, Anabelle and Sebastian spotted that Iris had gone over to confront the toucans that had insulted her soon-to-be mate while Ultramarine, Stella, Soren and Melissa, after leaving Acerola, Sandalwood and Ferdinand in the care of Orton, Kipo and the other spoonbills, had continued their chase of Triton. Back with Iris and the toucans, the pair of insulters tried to throw on an innocent look to deter the enraged Iris but to their dismay, the unusually purple hyacinth macaw with the three-symmetry flower crest remained there, obviously not fooled.

"Did you just insult my future mate and destroy our romantic moment, you two?" demanded Iris in a harsh voice that was on the verge of screeching for her anger was threatening to erupt. No reply from the toucans that threw those insults.

"Oh, don't play pretence, you two," growled Iris angrily, "Now answer my question, did you hurl insults at Triton about his scarred face?"

Still the toucan pair refused to answer but then the male spoke, "If we have to answer, flower-crest, will you let us out of this miserable cage?"

At this, immense disgust tore through Iris and she flinched. There was no way she was going to let these toucans out of their cage after what they and the other bad toucans had done for everyone on the Blu Bird Sanctuary. In the background, Neptune, Augustus, Anabelle, Sebastian and Luna continued watching the confrontation and thought about helping Iris. However, Augustus told the others, "Let Iris confront those two toucans since I believe she had heard what those toucans might have said to Triton more clearer than us," to which the other four obeyed and allowed Triton's future mate to continue with her confrontation of the pair of insulters.

"What, even after all the DAMAGE your chicks have done with the fire!?" snapped Iris in disbelief, "You've gotta be kidding."

"Look… just let us out," begged the female toucan, her voice threatening to break. However, Iris did nothing and stood back with her wings folded.

"I'm afraid I'm not gonna do that, you two," said she flatly, "The decision is final on every side, both on the humans' and the Blu Bird Sanctuary residents; YOU lot will be taken to other sanctuaries outside this country… where you'll live out the rest of your lives in disgrace."

The toucan couple gazed back at the hyacinth macaw with despairing and distressed eyes. Then Iris began to ask the question again.

"But before those humans pick your cage up to pack you into one of those trucks, I wanna ask you again," she said, "Have you insulted Triton based on his scarred face?"

However, the toucan couple kept their beaks shut and remained silent, much to Iris's frustration.

"Humph, is that all you wanna do? You're _deliberately_ refusing to tell us of your misbehaving deeds, and that of those your kids as well, like always," hissed the hyacinth macaw in disgust, "We'll be glad when all that bad-behaviour denying antics of yours is removed when you are transported away for good."

At this, the male toucan finally let loose the truth, but as he did, his scorn returned.

"And what are YOU gonna do miss?" he said snidely, "Are you gonna start a family with that scar-faced creature that had just left?"

At this, Iris shook her head and threw on a flabbergasted look as the female them took her turn to mock Triton.

"Your chicks are gonna be UTTERLY AFRAID of his face, lass," she crooned, before turning to pick up some of her and her mate's own chicks, "Our OWN chicks would NOT want HIM to be their carer, much less any biological chicks he might have with you…"

"Well, THEY will be EVEN MORE AFRAID of YOUR MONSTER CHICKS than HIM," snarled Iris in retort, frightening the toucan chicks with her shouting and making them cringe, "Because of WHAT YOU and the OTHER BADLY-BEHAVED TOUCANS HAVE ALLOWED those YOUR CHICKS to BECOME!"

"Our chicks are NOT evil!" snapped the female toucan, her glance on her many, many offspring in her cage and those placed in cages around her as they began to weep and whimper.

"And they are NOT monsters!" put in the male and the female's mate.

"Well, at least TRITON will be BETTER FATHER and PARENT than YOU and your SIBLINGS AND IN-LAWS," snapped Iris in an angrier voice and her purple-blue feathers bristling wildly as her composure began to erode. In the background, Neptune, Augustus, Sebastian, Anabelle and Luna continued to watch the scene.

"HOW do you THINK THAT SCARFACE is GONNA MAKE A BETTER PARENT than ANY OF US when HE'S GOT THOSE HORRID SCARS running up the left side of HIS FACE that would FRIGHTEN ANY KID he COMES ACROSS!?" snapped the female toucan bitterly. Finally, Iris's composure completely crumbled and her temper was let loose in a violent torrent of lava.

"I JUST KNOW THAT he WILL!" she bellowed at the top of her voice, "You rotten PAIR OF BREEDING RABBIT-LIKE TOUCANS who HAVE ABSOLUTELY neither CARE nor LOVE for your CHICKS at ALL!"

At this, the faces of the two toucans suddenly flashed to volcanic fury and the pair began to tremble rigidly as this statement struck a sensitive nerve. In the background, Neptune, Augustus, Anabelle, Sebastian and Luna drew in horrified gasps and rushed over to Iris as she retreated from the cage when she saw the EXTREMELY ANGRY looks on the two insulters of Triton and as one of the humans came in to chase her off and seize the cage containing the mocking insulters. After Neptune and the four bats pulled Iris back to the safety of the crowd, some of the Blu Bird Sanctuary residents applauded her.

"That was AMAZING!" cried Orton with a smile as Sandalwood sat on his head. As Iris then began to calm down, she began to shudder.

"I can't believe I just allowed my composure to fall apart to the point of practically screeching at them," she murmured.

"Well, those brats are extremely stubborn, as always, Iris," said Kipo. Iris just flashed him a gaze as Murphy, who stood nearby, briefly broke through his grief over the loss of his mate and said, "Those toucans' pride just got burned to the ground by our BRAVE hyacinth friend!"

Iris just let loose an exhausted groan before her mind travelled to a more important thing.

"Can any of you tell me where Triton has fled to?" she asked, "I wanna help comfort him after those two toucans had insulted him over his scarred face."

At this, Murphy, Orton and Kipo pointed a long, salmon pink, lanky foot in the direction of Triton's running away, prompting Iris to dart off in that direction with Augustus, Neptune, Sebastian, Anabelle and Luna following. As the six hastily left in the same direction as Melissa, Ultramarine, Stella and Soren who had left earlier after an extremely upset Triton, Sandalwood carefully climbed down onto Orton's bill and gazed at Triton's insulters as they uttered caustic insults about Iris behind her back as Fernando carried them away.

"I don't think Miss Iris could reason with those two now," he said.

"Yeah," tittered Orton, "She REALLY made those two brats mad."

"And then she totally denounced their so-called parenting skills to their faces and opened a wound in their pride," put in Kipo to which Acerola and Ferdinand shared a glance and shrugged. Then sympathy welled within Kipo as he turned in the direction in which Triton had run off, "And I sure hope Triton's feelings aren't too badly hurt…"

"Haven't you spoonbills realised how sensitive his feelings are about his scars and clouded eye," asked Acerola on Kipo's head, "They're still like a fresh wound."

Kipo's eyes rolled up to her, "Really? I thought he would have at least overcome that now."

"His anxiety yes, he has but he's still sensitive about his face," said Sandalwood on Orton's beak. Then a flash of outrage at the two toucans that had interruptedly shattered and destroyed Triton and Iris's romantic moment tore through him, "I just cannot believe that some of those disgraceful birds had the audacity to take the final opportunity to insult Mr Triton based on that and ruin his lovely moment with Miss Iris."

"Well, hopefully, Iris's statement on them being unloving and uncaring to their chicks will have a lasting effect on them," said Kipo with an unsurprising gaze at the enraged insulters of Triton as they were carried away, "I agree with her completely. I don't think they love or care for their kids at all."

The others including Sandalwood, Acerola and Ferdinand nodded in agreement.

 **Sometime later**

All the bad toucans had finally been packed into the trucks and taken away, much to the relief and gladness of the Blu Bird Sanctuary residents and Blu and company, but everyone knew that they had a LOT of pieces to pick up and a LOT of damage caused by the marauding toucans to face, and it was not just Triton's stabbed feelings caused by the poisonous insults about his scarred face made by those two toucans which Iris, Neptune, Augustus, Melissa and some of the other members of Blu's group were trying to patch up and reassure the offended and distressed hyacinth macaw that those remarks fired at him by those two toucans were not true at all. Heartbreak hung over everyone else like a very thick black cloud as they began to grieve those lost to the fire. It was now the beginning of night, the exact time the chaos started with Marco, Sofia and the others attacking and stealing the kids of Bia, Carla, Tiago and the others, leading to the chaos and inferno that was also established by the fiendish Dalek the chameleon in his attempt to destroy the sanctuary named after an individual of his most detested species.

Titan, along with Murphy, another rosette spoonbill and the brother of Orton, were sat on the floor near Tulio's Aviary, tears falling from their eyes, their heads bowed, wings shaking and sobs and sniffles escaping their beaks as the deep gash left by the loss of their respective mates Brooke and the female spoonbill continued to bleed like an open wound. Around the two devastated and heartbroken birds, the friends and family of Titan and Murphy had gathered to console the two over their loss. Saturn, Orquidea, Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea and Iapetus, together with Ganymede, Porthos, Trixie and Oberon and some of the other birds including Roberto and Brisa, offered the torn blue-and-gold macaw their consolations. Titan's three chicks who he had with Brooke, Poppy, Castor and Pollux were also utterly devastated over losing their mother and were comforted by Saturn and company as well, and Procyon, Peter (Dione and Porthos's sons), Mira (the hybrid daughter of Enceladus and his hyacinth mate Trixie), Cressida and Fomalhaut (the hybrid chicks of Tethys and her great green mate Oberon) were also devastated over losing their aunt. Brooke had been a close friend to Titan's siblings and also to Carla, Bia, Tiago, Justin, Charlotte, Matilda, Virgil, Músculo, Jojo, Felix, Lavender, Kira, Garrett and Turquesa and also Stella, Luna, Soren, Sebastian and Anabelle, as well as the rest of the gang, and her loss, along with the loss of Tom, Diantha's mate, had left two gaping holes in the group. This heartbreak was also felt by Murphy and his relatives over the loss of Murphy's mate. Murphy's five chicks, his cousin Kipo, brother Orton, and the parents of the three spoonbills were saturated with extreme devastation, and now the five spoonbill chicks were going to have to grow up without a mother, as would Poppy, Castor and Pollux and also Gladion, Lillie and Aurora, who like Diantha were devastated over the loss of Tom will have to grow up without their father. It truly was a dark valley for Titan and company, and also for the other birds and animals that had lost friends and relatives to the fire as well.

The devastation caused by loss was also gripping Tulio and his team. After losing both Aurum and Gylfie, the only pair of fruithawks known in existence, the former who died in the fire and the latter from extreme stress, trauma and a broken heart, the group of ornithologists were grieving the loss of a critically endangered species of bird and had their hopes set on the only thing Gylfie had managed to leave behind before passing; the clutch of eight eggs which were now in a special incubator and kept a close and constant eye on. Tulio and the others had hoped that these eggs had been fertilised so that the golden fruithawk species would have hope in a new generation. As the clutch of eight extremely precious eggs continued to be held in the incubator, Pluto sat nearby, his sad gaze on the ultra-precious clutch of white orbs, a tear falling from his eye. As he continued to gaze at the clutch of eggs left behind by Gylfie, Lapis Lazuli came in.

"This is definitely a clear reminder of when you and I were the last known pair of glaucous macaws alive before we had Blueberry, Charon, Quincy and Flor, dear," said she in a saddened voice. As she said this, she stole a glance at the four said chicks, now adults, as they talked with Aiden, Neytiri and some of the other birds including Frodo and Ellie. Nearby, Saiph, Regulus and Denebola, the chicks of Charon, Neytiri, Blueberry and Aiden, played nearby with Alegria, Achilles, Pitaya, Sylvester and Olivia and also Steven and Kevin. Regulus still wore bandages on his lower back and wing for his burns were still healing but then Lapis Lazuli's mind travelled to another certain macaw chick, a three-quarter scarlet one, that also had burns but on the bottom of her foot.

"Those toucans certainly have destroyed everything for everyone, haven't they?" asked Pluto as he continued gazing at the fruithawk eggs through a window in the incubator top, "Not only have most of their chicks died in the fire but the only two golden fruithawks in existence… Titan's mate… Murphy's mate…" a small sob escaped his throat, "A-a-and almost all of our grandkids…"

Lapis Lazuli put her wings around her mate as he began to weep and brought him into a comforting hug, before gazing at the eggs in the incubator. It was clear that the fruithawk chicks in these eggs, if any at all, are going to grow up without a mother or a father.

While Pluto and Lapis Lazuli continued gazing at the fruithawk eggs, Jupiter, Ruby, Io, Sheldon, Callisto and Athos sat outside the main recovery room with Rigel (her shoulder still in its bandage where the wood shard had been removed), Canopus and Katniss in their wings. Byron, Europa, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka were outside with Mimas, Ganymede, Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine and Thymine comforting Titan, Murphy, Diantha and the other birds that had lost mates to the fire (or in Tom's case, impaled by Dalek when the crazed chameleon was trying to kill Blu with a wood shard). The nine red macaws were waiting for Betelgeuse as her foot, the one that had been badly burned, was being unbandaged. Canopus and Katniss were asleep in Callisto's wings, much to the shock of the others.

"Those two, along with Rigel and the other kids, have been through SUCH a lot last night," said Athos in shock as he gazed at his son and daughter, "They had been whisked away by those wretched toucans and had almost LOST ALL of their cousins!" he stole a glance at Rigel and then at Betelgeuse in the recovery room under the care of one of the bird nurses as he said this.

"Well, those two were amongst the few kids that had been returned to us before the fire was discovered, Athos," said Jupiter, "They hadn't been there to witness those beyond-stupid toucan chicks gallivanting about with those branches and sticks set alight with the orange flames that kindled just about every tree or shrub which lead to the massive fire last night," he said this with sarcastic outrage.

"Not to mention almost drowned by some more of them," put in Callisto as she thought of Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka when they were pushed into the stream with some of the other kids on those logs only to be rescued in time by Augustus and Soren. Then Canopus stirred in Callisto's left wing and turned over while Katniss continued emitting snooze sounds.

"What those toucans have done to everyone else, including their own reformed family members like Diantha, is totally unforgivable, I can tell you," said Io in a controlled voice of anger as she held Rigel, "I just hope that lot will live out the rest of their lives in their new homes with PURE SHAME!"

"And disgrace," put in Sheldon. The other adult red macaws nodded in agreement while Rigel only gazed silently at two of her cousins asleep in Callisto's wings. Then movement was detected in the macaws' eyes.

"Here comes Amy with Betelgeuse," said Ruby when she saw one of the ladies walk through the door towards them. At this, Jupiter, Io, Sheldon, Callisto (with the sleeping Canopus and Katniss in her wings), Rigel and Athos popped their heads up and saw Amy approach them and gently set Betelgeuse, wrapped in a small white fresh cloth, down beside them on the worktop. A look of sadness and sorrow was lacing the woman's face as she gazed at Jupiter and some of his family, igniting worry within the nine red macaws, especially Sheldon, Io and Rigel. Then after placing Betelgeuse near the group, Amy turned round to leave to see to another task.

After she had gone, Jupiter, Rigel, Ruby, Io, Sheldon, Callisto and Athos gazed at Betelgeuse as she stood up from the cloth but she kept her talons hidden. A serious look was on her face, the same look borne by Titan and the other severely heartbroken birds but it was not over the loss of a close individual to the fire for thankfully, none of Jupiter's immediate family had died in the disaster.

"Betelgeuse," said Jupiter. At first, no reply but then the severely devastated chick slowly looked up at her grandfather, grandmother, mother, father, sister and one of her aunts and uncles with two of her half-green-winged cousins asleep in the aunt's wings.

"Betelgeuse," said Io and Sheldon together. Callisto, who continued to hold Canopus and Katniss in her wings, looked on with Ruby and Athos but when they saw the distraught look on Betelgeuse's face, the worry within them burned ever higher, especially at how she concealed her left talon, the one that had been badly burned after she had stepped on a patch of burning ferns while trying to escape the fire with Rigel. then shaking with distress, Betelgeuse seized the cloth hiding her left foot, yanked it away and threw it aside, before turning to some of her family members gathered and showed them her foot.

"You won't BELIEVE what has BECOME OF MY FOOT after being forced to TRAMPLE THROUGH THAT FIRE after those HORRID TOUCANS have ABANDONED ME AND RIGEL in THAT FIRE!" screeched the little chick with distress. Her eyes spewed tears and her pineapple-stalk like crest was spiked out. Jupiter, Ruby, Io, Sheldon, Callisto, Athos and Rigel, gazed at Betelgeuse's left foot, the one that had been burned, and Betelgeuse's wailing had pierced the barrier of sleep holding Canopus and Katniss and they were jolted awake, forcing Callisto to calm them down. Then Canopus and Katniss gazed at their cousin.

"Betelgeuse, you're alright…" began Katniss but she abruptly trailed off when she saw the state of her cousins' left foot. Canopus also shuddered. What the red macaw saw of Betelgeuse's left foot was the lower leg but where were the toes? Rigel, Canopus and Katniss shuddered. 'No, no, no, please don't be _true_ …' thought all three of them but what they saw of Betelgeuse's left foot, or the remains of it, definitely wasn't a figment of their imagination. Betelgeuse then put her left foot, or rather the toeless stump of it, down into the cloth and began to tremble and weep.

"The toes were so badly burned that… that… the surgeons had to re-re-re…" she began but then the little chick began to break down and sob hard. Io, Sheldon and Rigel then walked over to her to comfort her, followed by Jupiter, Ruby, Callisto, Athos, and the now-fully awake Canopus and Katniss.

"Look, my granddaughter," said Jupiter as he gave Betelgeuse a one-winged hug due to his broken wing still being in its cast, "We'll get through this together."

"At least your LIFE hadn't have been the thing that was lost," said Ruby as Betelgeuse sobbed hard. Io, Sheldon, Rigel, Athos, Callisto, Canopus and Katniss also hugged the sobbing chick. Betelgeuse's sobbing had attracted the attention of some of the other birds and animals in the medical room, including Pluto, Lapis Lazuli and Charon and company, and they walked over to Jupiter and his little group.

"What's happened?" asked Frodo.

"Looks like Betelgeuse is severely devastated as well," said Ellie, "But the question is… why?"

Then Neytiri happened to get a glimpse of Betelgeuse's left leg, or the toeless stump of it, as she continued to sob in her family's wings. At this, she drew in a sharp gasp and put her un-casted wing to her beak in horror.

"What's wrong, Neytiri?" asked Charon. Quincy, Flor, Blueberry, Aiden, Regulus, Denebola and Saiph gazed at her as well but Neytiri only turned to Charon and the others, as well as Ellie, Frodo, Sylvester, Alegria, Pitaya, Olivia and Achilles and said nothing, replying with a horrified look saturating her face. Nearby, Broccoli, who was talking with Daisy, Collette and some of the birds, also happened to get a glimpse of Betelgeuse's problem. however, the cat only shuddered and shook his heads in disbelief while nearby, Sandalwood, Stella and Soren, who had come in to check on Connie, Sardonyx, Greg, Steven and Kevin, also saw the devastating loss gripping Io and Sheldon's older daughter.

"What's going on?" asked Connie, her broken wing still in a cast.

"Betelgeuse looks like she's…" said Steven but he cut himself off, not wanting to mention the chick's loss of her toes. As Betelgeuse continued sobbing in his and his group's wings, Jupiter spotted a sea of eyes gazing at him and his group.

"Mr Jupiter," said Sardonyx, walking towards Charon's group, "Mr Jupiter, are you okay?"

No reply, except for a movement of a group of red macaws from the worktop, down the ladder set against it and into the doorway to the artificial jungle chamber to escape the unwanted attention. At this, Sardonyx gazed at Charon, Neytiri, Frodo, Ellie and the others with them but they just shrugged.

Looks like it will be a difficult time for Io's family. Betelgeuse had lost the toes on her left foot due to them being so badly burned in the fire, another consequence brought upon her because of the selfishness of that brat Sofia and her group abandoning her and Rigel to the fire to focus on their own kids. However, she, along with the other badly-behaved toucans, had already gone and hopefully, disgrace and shame will grip them for the rest of their lives after the destruction they and many of their kids have caused for everyone on the Blu Bird Sanctuary who are now left to pick up the shattered pieces of their lives and destroyed homes.

 **Sometime later, in the streets of Rio lit by streetlights and other artificial lights**

The night-time activities of Rio continued to flow by as many humans began their night-time activities such as nightshifts for some of them. The fire brigade crews also patrolled the destroyed forest for any signs of small fires that may require putting out while some of Tulio's team did the same but searching for any animal that had survived the fire, while the rest of the team looked after all the birds and other animals that had managed to evacuate the forest and treat the casualties back at the Aviary and at other animal hospitals in the city. In the alleys of another part of Rio not too far away from the vicinity and premises of Tulio's Aviary, a group of three cats were digging through some rubbish piles and overfull trash cans or bins on the search for some food. However, as they did that, movement startled the trio and sent them bolting and abandoning their search. The movement was caused by a cardboard box and it was shifting along by itself. However, it was not really moving by itself; something was hiding under it and pushing it along, and was using a hole in one of its side as a peephole to see where it was going and through though that peephole, a pair of brown eyes were examining the surroundings. However, those eyes were not laced with pure fury, but of extreme fear, genuine fear, and timidity.

The owner of the eyes was a certain bird but that bird was flooded with extreme timidity. He was trembling with nervousness and because he was trembling, the box covering him shook with him as he pushed it along, but it was not just nervousness that was making him tremble, and his eyes were also occasionally closing tight shut as he winced with pain. Cautiously and painfully, the covered bird began to slowly make his way to the junction of the street at which the alley's entrance connected. As soon as he was at the junction, the boxed bird peered around the corner of the wall through the peephole of his cover. A flurry of legs flooded his range of view as people walked past, and the road ahead was partially full of passing vehicles such as cars. Then as soon as the boxed bird spotted a break in the legs of the passing humans as they continued walking along, he prepared to make his move. Cautiously and nervously, the boxed bird shifted his cover and began to enter the gasp. However, he did not spot an incoming passer-by heading his way and as the boxed bird moved further away from the alley, he did not notice that he had ended up right in the path of the incoming person. Then suddenly, the legs of the person made contact with the box and made her lose balance and stumble forward. The process knocked the boss from the bird and forced him to dive behind a nearby street bin. The lady, after regaining her balance from the stumble, shot an irritated glare back at what had tripped her up and hissed under her breath when she spotted a cardboard box. Seizing it and collapsing it into a flat piece of cardboard with her hands as she walked away, she continued to grumble. The bird, whimpers uttering from his dark grey beak, behind the waste bin watched on as the lady walked away with his precious cover. He then prepared to make his move back into the alleyway but again he did not notice something heading his way.

As the bird cautiously crept back towards the alleyway's entrance, making sure to avoid any pairs of legs of passers-by as they walked past, he suddenly bumped into something furry.

"Hey, watch where you're going, buddy!" said the furry thing, making the bird shoot a frightened gaze at the speaker. However, as the two's eyes met, their owners froze stiff. The furry thing was a tabby cat resembling the late Veggie and he stood there, all four of his feet rooted to the spot as he gazed at the plucked, featherless, clawed form standing before him. Then a few more forms appeared behind the first furry form and gazed at the creature.

"Isn't that-?" began one of them, a female white cat with a mix of calico patches and tabby stripes splotching her fur.

"He looks like a beaten chicken stripped of his feathers," said another female cat with a similar coat.

"What have you found, Broccoli, Daisy and Collette?" asked another voice, pulling the attention of the three furry forms, which were cats, towards the speaker. The plucked bird flinched harshly. He recognised those names. Timidly, he began to creep away towards the alley's entrance but then he saw a few more forms emerge from behind the three cats, this time feathered forms, and those feathered forms sent extreme fear boiling within the plucked bird. The first cat, the male tabby, then pointed his paw at the featherless creature and said to one of the forms, "I believe it's that cockatoo, Carla, Bia, Tiago, Justin, Charlotte, Matilda, Virgil, Músculo, Jojo, Felix, Lavender, Garrett, Turquesa and Kira, but he's completely missing his feathers, including his crest."

"And he's totally covered in those horrible claw marks and bite wounds," put in one of the female calibies (calico/tabby mix). Then one of the feathered forms, all of which were blue macaws, came forward and glared scornfully and mockingly at the plucked bird. She had green eyes and a chubby build.

"To be honest, I think Nigel now looks like a piece of rotting meat," she smugly said in a rancour-laced voice, "Mom and Dad certainly have done a good job in dealing with him after her had almost killed aunt Ruby."

"When she and Uncle Jupiter were having a romantic moment," said another female macaw, a slender, cerulean one. The plucked bird then began to tremble like jelly and lose control of his breathing. Then one of the darker blue males, the one with brown eyes, then glared menacingly at the bird.

"Whassup, vulture face?" he crooned mockingly and began to saunter towards him, "Our presence frightening you?"

The plucked bird continued to tremble and whimper and then back away as the blue macaw sauntered towards him. Then some of the other blue macaws gathered around him, mocking glares also piercing the terrified plucked bird.

"I think we should jump on that featherless cockatoo and do what your parents did eh, Tiago?" said the dark blue female that resembled her uncle Blu. Four of the macaws beside her, one with amber eyes, a blue-white head and blue body plumage, another resembling Brisa to a great extent but with chartreuse eyes, the third resembling an electric blue version of Venus and the fourth with blue-green eyes and also with electric blue feathers, then began to saunter towards the petrified plucked bird.

"Good idea," hissed the first one, the amber-eyed macaw and a male, "Especially if he's gonna become a threat to our families and friends again."

"His presence still _sickens_ us!" hissed the Brisa-like female with chartreuse eyes. The electric blue Venus lookalike and the electric blue male nodded in agreement. Then the tabby cat came in and flared his claws while three more macaws, one resembling Roberto with a blue-white head, another with teal-tinted feathers and three layers of feathers for his crest and the third with light blue-purple feathers with a ponytail behind her Brisa-like crest, came in, crouched and glared at the plucked bird.

"Let's get 'im, shall we?" asked the ponytailed light purple female (who was Lavender and the other two with her were her brothers Jojo and Felix) to the others and the three cats. That did it. The volcano of fear finally erupted within the plucked bird, which was Nigel who was featherless covered in many, many half-healed cuts and bruises including a large black bloom around his right eye, the result of Blu and Jewel's savage attack on him for threatening Jupiter and Ruby earlier. His wings were completely featherless and resembled a plucked chicken's wings and his crest was completely gone. His pink skin was absolutely crisscrossed with claw marks and bite injuries, indicating that Blu and Jewel had slashed their claws over his skin and painfully tore out his feathers, especially from his wings, tail and crest and rendering him like this. Then with an extremely PIERCING scream exploding through his beak, causing the group consisting of Broccoli, Daisy, Collette and Carla, Bia, Tiago, Justin, Charlotte, Matilda, Virgil, Músculo, Jojo, Felix, Lavender, Garrett, Turquesa and Kira who had gone for a walk and happened to bump into the featherless, battered Nigel, to flinch and throw their wings and front paws over their ears to block out the sword-tipped noise. Then the featherless and injury-covered cockatoo, the screech continuously erupting from his beak, whirled round, scrabbled on the floor and tried to make a break for it. However, he was so consumed with so much fear that he had veered away from the alley's entrance and right into the road. Broccoli, his sisters, and Carla, Bia, Tiago and the other Spix macaws present watched with surprise as the featherless, battered Nigel then entered the road, narrowly avoiding getting flattened by the tyres of one of the passing cars, and then suddenly disappear, another passing car concealing his vanishing, but Broccoli and the others heard screaming, followed by a splash. Broccoli and the others flinched when they heard this and then slowly looked at the spot where Nigel was last seen. To their surprise, they saw an open hole in the road surrounded by black and yellow barriers and bright orange and silver cones, and a group of four workmen gazing with surprise and uttering surprised and horrified Brazilian Portuguese comments about something, and then began to set to work on rescuing whatever had fallen down the hole. This implied only one thing.

"Something's fallen into the sewers!" said Collette as she translated the words for the others. Then Músculo came forward.

"Maybe it was that Nigel bird?" he asked the others. Broccoli just breathed a sigh and said, "Let's just return to Tulio's Aviary, gang. We've had enough horrors for one month."

The Spix macaws, Collette and Daisy nodded and with that, the cats and Spix macaws continued down the street. Bia then flashed a scornful gaze at the workmen as they climbed into the hole as she walked along with Virgil.

"I've always seen the sewers as a home for that rancid cockatoo, anyway," she said, "I think those workmen should leave him in there."

"I think they should," said Tiago and Carla together as Justin and Matilda walked with them. Some of the others nodded in agreement but the rest, such as Virgil and Kira, weren't sure on what to feel or think while still a few others, such as Broccoli, Daisy, Collette, Justin and Matilda, disagreed with Carla, Bia and Tiago's statement completely, thinking it to be too overly spiteful and scornful of the now-sorry cockatoo and hoped that he will be rescued, washed and cared for and to never bother the birds and their friends again for the rest of his life. Then as the group disappeared down the street with some humans, the workmen continued to descend into the sewer system to rescue Nigel who had veered into the hole while trying to escape Broccoli and the others. Believe me, once he comes out of that sewer, he's going to STINK, STINK, STINK!


	87. Chapter 86

**Chapter 86- new beginnings after the destruction**

The next few weeks and coming months marking the beginning of the recovery of the Blu Bird Sanctuary and its residents were extremely difficult and the healing was very slow. The grief and devastation over the loss of various things, such as loved ones (in the case of some such as Brooke for Titan, Poppy, Castor and Pollux and Tom for Diantha, Gladion, Lillie and Aurora and the rest of Blu and company's group including Rafael and Eva and the good toucans that have been allowed to stay), the birds and other animals' homes, and in Tulio and his team's case, both of the last pair of golden fruithawks, continued to grip everyone along with the trauma of the disaster and the extreme horror that the whole thing was caused by the toucan chicks, among other, smaller devastations (such as Betelgeuse with the loss of her left foot's toes, Aldebaran and several others with their newly developed aversion to water and an extreme fear of fire developed by many of Carla and company's kids), and everyone knew that they had a long and steep healing slope to ascend. Not to mention the majority of Blu and company's bird members had to wait a long time until their wings regrew the flight feathers they needed to get aloft and fly properly, after Marco and some of the other bad toucans had attacked them and tore out some of their wing flight feathers before making off with the group's kids.

Because so much of the sanctuary had been burned and reduced to a sea of ashen skeletal remains of the trees with the undergrowth nothing more than piles of charcoal (as well as the Chinesa Vista which was also nothing more than a pile of singed wood and straw and will need a replacement built in its place eventually), Tulio and his team had been forced to build plenty of artificial and temporary birdhouses for many of the avian and other animal residents to live in and Nico, Pedro, Sparkle, Rose and the Control de Plagas Squad contributed by using their clubs and base as temporary refuge of stay for some more. Even the bird-friendly city dogs and cats, such as Luiz the bulldog, Dash, Ginger, Broccoli, Daisy, Collette, Avellana, Rusty and Eduarda, Esperanza, Riker, James, Ebony and Danny, had offered to provide some of the avian residents with temporary shelter until their natural homes regrew. In order to use their club to house birds, Ebony, James and their Shih Tzu friend Pelusa had temporarily closed down their club to all city cats and dogs, including Nevado the white Persian cat, for the birds' safety since many of the city cats were a danger to birds for they could not control their instinctive urges to pounce on them, and they kept it closed down and open only to the birds they housed until the trees in the sanctuary recovered enough for them to return.

As for Basil the bat (not to be confused with one of Ash and Titania's sons who also has this name) and his small colony of Linda's little orange bats, they were returned to their cave for, unlike the tree homes of many of the Blu Bird Sanctuary's birds and other animals, the cave, being made of solid rock, did not catch fire and burn down to the ground but the bat experts of Tulio's team always dropped by to check on them and to leave some fruit and check the insect population to ensure that the small bat colony had plenty to eat, whilst some of Blu and company's group members, those that were still able to fly or had flying mounts in Andromeda and Eragon's case, paid regular visits to the bat clan. Among these regular visitors were Andromeda and her bat-bird Rouge and Travis and Sunset and they also provided the small bat colony with fruit and insects during some of their visits. While the bat colony was being looked after and the other Tijuca Forest inhabitants staying in temporary refuges until the trees grew back and the damage to the sanctuary from the fire repaired itself, investigation as to how the fire had got its start in the first place had been carried out and it had been found that the fire, along with evidence from some of the witnesses from Blu and company's group such as Jason and Petunia, Charlotte and Músculo's two chicks, had been started by the act of a bunch of reckless toucan chicks getting hold of quite a number of boxes of matches and had somehow, from the humans' perspective, managed to find a way to set them alight and kindle the branches with the lit matches, which they then recklessly and playfully charged through the forest with those lit branches, as well as the lit matches as some of the humans had speculated, in their talons, unknowingly setting everything around them ablaze. However, none of the humans believed that it was actually a chameleon (Dalek) who had convinced the toucan chicks to play with the lit branches and had been the one to purloin the dozens of matches from various humans, among them Bill, before manipulating the severely undisciplined toucan chicks into starting the inferno. The conclusion was then drawn: the toucan chicks had snaffled the fire-starting materials such as matches and had been the ones to start the fire.

Because it was not the humans' fault and there was no evidence that some of the fire was started by humans, Bill and the other humans who had matches or other fire-starting materials at the time the fire had started had been vindicated for the mess as it was not their fault but Tulio had very greatly cautioned those with fire-starting materials to take extreme care when carrying them around, even in bags, on the sanctuary for there were some mischievous item-stealing animals, such as the common marmosets, living on the site, and those animals were infamous in stealing a variety of things from workers and tourists while their backs were turned, and among those things were valuables such as jewellery, things that most of the tourists had learned to keep within close eye by now.

 **Later**

Around two months had passed since the fire had ripped through the vast majority of the Blu Bird Sanctuary forest, but during those two months, signs of recovery had begun to take root and started to develop. On the ends of the twigs of a lot of the burned trees, small leaf and flower buds had appeared and developed into fresh leaves and flowers, while in the ground on the forest floor, fresh shoots were sprouting, signifying the beginnings of new undergrowth plants like shrubs and ferns. However, the residents of the Blu Bird Sanctuary, both animal and bird, continued to shelter in the artificially made homes built for them by Tulio and his team and also in the clubs owned by Nico, Pedro, Sparkle, Rose, Ebony, James and Pelusa, among other places for the forest was still in the process of recovery.

In one part of the city of Rio, not too far away from where Luiz's garage was situated, an aged toco toucan emerged from a hole in the roof. The black and white toucan with silvery grey strewn through his plumage, let loose a yawn and stretched his wings before turning to relish the warm rays of the rising morning sun as the golden circle ascended into the sky from below the glistening blue carpet of ocean. Inside his temporary home where he and his family had taken refuge for the past two months, his mate Eva, together with the fifteen good toucan chicks and a few of his and his keel-billed mate's remaining older sons and daughters such as Rita and Carlos, some with mates and chicks as well (but not as many chicks as many of the bad toucans had had for these toucans were sensible in the number of offspring they had produced; their numbers averaging around five or six which is well and truly enough for these good toucans to manage since dozens and dozens would be a MASSIVE burden in a number of ways which these sensible toucans, and you readers as well, knew all too well), were still asleep. However, Diantha, Lillie, Aurora and Gladion were absent for they were back at Tulio's Aviary for Gladion still had his broken wing, which was now out of its cast, to finish its healing and regular check-ups by the bird doctors. Rafael gazed lovingly back at his family which was now nothing more than a tiny fraction of far fewer individuals as opposed to a massive clan, or rather _tribe or colony_ of them since all the badly behaved toucans had been removed, much to his gladness, continued to snooze. Forming a smile on his large black-tipped orange bill, Rafael returned his gaze to the morning rays and sucked in a massive breath of fresh air. However, as he did that, the morning silence surrounding him was suddenly torn apart by the sounds of frantic flapping, but that flapping was not fuelled by extreme terror or fear, like it would have been during the disaster time with the sanctuary's fire.

Sandalwood charged in excitedly and rocketed towards the roof hollow where Rafael was staying with what was left of his family excluding Diantha, Lillie, Gladion and Aurora. Behind him were his cousins Acerola and Ferdinand and all three of the young bats who were now slightly bigger than they had been two months ago were flooded with extreme excitement. As the three young flying foxes approached him and released constant squeals of sheer enthusiasm, Rafael jolted out of his relaxed state and shot the three incoming winged mammals a look of surprise.

"Hey, Mr Rafael, WAKE UP!" shouted Sandalwood as he braked abruptly in the air, making the toco toucan jump again. Acerola and Ferdinand then giggled mischievously and swooped past the toucan's face and then several times around his head to startle him awake.

"Whoa, whoa, Sandalwood, Acerola, Ferdinand, calm down," said Rafael as the three bats continued to flutter playfully around him, giggling, "What's with all the fuss?"

At this, the three bat pups charged off in the direction of Luiz's garage.

"Something amazing is HAPPENING!" cried Acerola as she pursued her brother and cousin, "GET MRS EVA and the other toucans UP, QUICK!"

At this, Rafael jolted again, threw on an excited look on his face and retreated into his temporary place of stay to wake up Eva and the other toucans. Then a few minutes later all the toucans were awake and were out of the roof hollow. As Rita emerged from the hole for she was last in the line, a few small colourful comets darted by on the ground like a traffic of little cars. At this, Carlos looked down with a worried and dreaded look.

"Looks like something HORRIBLE has happened, Mom and Dad," he said to Rafael and Eva as they counted the fifteen chicks, their youngest, and last, additions to their family, and the other members consisting of their remaining older sons and daughters and the fewer children-in-law and grand-chicks. At this, Eva gazed at Carlos and turned her gaze to the rush of passing birds and other animals on the floor.

"Oh, no, son," said Eva with a small smile on her large magenta-tipped lime green bill, "It's nothing horrible…"

Carlos then took another look at the faces of the birds as they passed and saw that they were flooded with excitement, like the faces of Sandalwood, Acerola and Ferdinand. Then Rita and one of their well-behaved brothers named Fabio, walked in.

"Still fretting about the events of the fire, eh, bro?" asked Rita with a look of concern.

"I guess you're still dreaming about the Blu Bird Sanctuary still being engulfed in flames, aren't you, Carlos?" asked Fabio. At this, Carlos buried his face in his wings.

"Sorry you two, I guess I'm being a bit paranoid and over-worried… after the disaster you've said Fabio that had occurred two months ago…" he murmured in his wings.

"Huh, our younger brothers and sisters and some of our well-behaved chicks have been having nightmares for weeks since that inferno had been quelled," said Fabio's mate, a female toco toucan named Donna as she held two of her and Fabio's chicks in her wings, cradling them as they slept. Her face then fell, "But the sister-in-law to sympathise most is Diantha and her chicks Gladion, Lillie and Aurora. I still cannot believe that Tom would lose his life so abruptly."

Carlos, Rita and Fabio's faces also fell.

"Yeah, it's horrible what that deranged parrot-hating lizard had done to him…" said Carlos in a saddened voice. Then Rita imagined a wood blade in her stomach and winced harshly, especially as she imagined what sort of agony Tom had been when Dalek impaled him on that wooden dagger the chameleon had intended to use on Blu. However, the sombre moment was dissipated when a familiar cat's voice called the toucan family.

"Hey, Rafael, are you and your family up?" it called. Broccoli's voice, and immediately Rafael jumped off the gutter, fluttered down to the stony pavement spread out before the houses and touched down before a tabby cat resembling the late Veggie. More birds darted past, including two spoonbills (Orton and Kipo) carrying some colourful bundles on their backs.

"What's going on, Broc?" asked Rafael. Broccoli smiled as a black greyhound appeared beside him, a look of excitement sparkling on her face.

"New life is on its way," Ebony said. Behind Rafael, Eva and the other good toucans touched down. Many of the toucan chicks squealed excitedly when they heard this.

"Life?" repeated Rafael with an excited smile.

"Yes, life," said Ebony, "The eggs of Orion and Hermione are about to hatch and Neptune's family has had some new arrivals too!"

"Hurry and see the newcomers," said Broccoli and with that, the tabby cat and greyhound darted off and joined the small traffic of passing animals converging towards Luiz's garage. Rafael flashed the rest of his family an excited glance, spread his wings and took off after the passing, Eva and their offspring following.

A few minutes later, Luiz's garage was flooded with a small sea of colourful feathers and drabber coloured fur as the animals had swarmed like ants into the bulldog's home and had stopped to gaze up at the nests of two certain couples built onto the shelves screwed to the wall. Among the crowd of animals were Blu, Jewel, Mercury, Sapphire, Venus, Zephyr, Mars, Chqiutita, Jupiter, Ruby, Saturn, Orquidea, Uranus, Esmeralda, Ceres, Cobalto, Pluto, Lapis Lazuli, Roberto and Brisa and they were accompanied by Carla, Bia, Tiago, Justin, Charlotte, Matilda, Virgil and Músculo and their chicks Sonia, Spica, Melody (Carla and Justin's daughters), Sirius, Einstein, Miles (the sons of Bia and Virgil), Bartholomew and Bellatrix (Tiago and Matilda's chicks), and Jason and Petunia (the two chicks of Músculo and Charlotte).

Also present were Kira, Jojo, Felix, Turquesa, Lavender and Garrett with their chicks Vega, Winona, Austin, Diego, Deneb, Lilac and Polaris and this group of Spix macaws stuck around Brisa and Roberto. Near Jupiter, Ruby, Saturn and Orquidea were Europa, Ganymede and Callisto and their respective mates Byron, Mimas and Athos and chicks Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka; Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine and Thymine and Canopus and Katniss. Sandalwood, Acerola and Ferdinand stood excitedly with Stella, Soren, Anabelle, Sebastian, Luna, Connie (whose wing which was broken before was out of its cast for it had healed), Melissa and Augustus while Phobos, Deimos, Alexandre, Estelle, Xander and Kayley stood with Mars and Chiquitita, the two chicks squirming excitedly in Alexandre and Estelle's wings. Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Titan and Iapetus stood with Saturn and Orquidea with Trixie (Enceladus's hyacinth mate), Oberon (Tethys's great green mate), Porthos (the mate of Dione) and chicks Procyon, Peter (Porthos and Dione's sons), Castor, Pollux and Poppy (Titan and his deceased mate Brooke's chicks), Mira (the chick of Enceladus and Trixie), and Cressida and Fomalhaut (the chicks of Tethys and Oberon) by their sides. Nearby and with Uranus and Esmeralda stood Oberon's sisters Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel and Titania who were accompanied by Aramis, Capella, Achernar (Miranda's family), Ash the military macaw, Basil, Antares (Titania's family), and Benjamin, Perdita, Aldebaran and Cecil (Umbriel's mixed-species family due to Benjamin being a scarlet macaw).

Mercury and Sapphire were accompanied by Phoebe, Jasmine, Annette, and Phoebe's mate Squaw'tagnan and daughter Arcturus while Pluto and Lapis Lazuli were accompanied by Blueberry, Charon, Quincy, Flor and Blueberr'ys mate Aiden and son Saiph and Charon's mate Neytiri and chicks Regulus and Denebola, and Ceres and Cobalto were accompanied by Azul, Aurelio and Wilbur, and Azul's mate Fernanda and chicks Carmen and Oceano. Also present were Frodo and Ellie the Cuban macaws and their five chicks; two biological chicks Olivia and Sylvester and three adopted chicks Alegria, Achilles (two Dominican green-and-yellow macaws) and Pitaya (the purple-and-pink macaw); Spyro, Marella, Bambi and Altair accompanied by Eragon, and Eustace, his mate Serena and their chicks Yolanda, Vincent and Oscar; Milo, and Rosa and her mate Clemont and chicks Peach and Bruno. Broccoli, Daisy, Collette, Dash, Ginger, Ebony, James, Avellana, Rusty and their puppies Cleo and Fido were also present. Some of the gang, such as Andromeda, Travis, Sunset, Io, Sheldon, Betelgeuse and Rigel were absent and were back at Tulio's Aviary or were helping Tulio and his team with a variety of tasks such as looking after the currently-homeless birds, Basil the bat and his colony in the cave, and the clutch of eight golden fruithawk eggs left behind by Gylfie moments before her death and had been unable to come, but Io's family also had the problem with Betelgeuse's shattered self-esteem regarding her toeless left foot to contend with as well, and the older daughter of Io and Sheldon was still very depressed over the loss of her foot due to the toes being severely burned even after two months since the fire had been quelled. Furthermore, Mumble, Atreyu, Balthazar and Ginny had been taken back to their home of Emperor-land in the Antarctic after a tearful goodbye with Sandalwood and company, while Finnick had been sent to an aquatic nature reserve in Rio for conservation purposes, and Greg, Sardonyx, Steven and Kevin were also back at Tulio's Aviary though Sugilite the galah had come along to witness the new arrivals as well, and Nico, Pedro, Sparkle and Rose were also present.

Luiz stood by an old car, a drooly smile of pride on his face as he gazed at the gathering while on the shelves, the nesters gazed happily down at the congregation. In one nest were Orion and Hermione and they were accompanied by Cometa, Lightning, Velocity, Riker, Zelda, and Spike: the parents and parents-in-law, sister/sister-in-law, friend and future brother-in-law, niece and brother/brother-in-law of Orion and Hermione respectively. By the other nest were Ultramarine, Indigo, Victor, Gertie and Violet and in the nest was Iris, a proud smile on her beak as she also gazed at the congregation of animals on the garage floor with Orion and his family. However, Neptune and Triton, Iris's now-mate were absent and Blu and company, together with the other animals, exchanged confused glances, some laced with worry. Rafael and his family fluttered over the congregation of animals and touched down at the front of the crowd by Luiz, and Rafael shared a hug with his bulldog friend, not minding getting some drool from the bulldog's mouth on his back to which some of Blu's group members, such as Jojo and Kita, wrinkled their faces with a slight 'Eew' expression. Nico, Pedro, Sparkle and Rose also joined the hug shared by Rafael and Luiz.

"Hey, Lu," said the toucan as he broke the hug.

"Orion and Hermione's eggs are about to hatch," said Luiz as he turned round and faced the falcon nest, drips of drool falling from his mouth as he did with some of the drops landing grotesquely onto Rose who, rather repulsively shook her plumage of the spit and backed away, "However, Iris and Triton's eggs had already done so."

"Where are Neptune and Triton?" asked Jupiter as he came in with Ruby, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto and their families. Then Ultramarine walked over to the end of the shelf, turned round and ascended down a small parrot ladder erected there by Blu to allow her and the other hyacinth macaws still unable to fly for their wings were still growing the replacement flight feathers to climb from and to the shelf and to Triton and Iris's nest, and touched down onto the worktop. Then Ultramarine climbed down another parrot ladder erected against a worktop and jumped onto the floor before walking over to the gathering of animals.

"Triton and Neptune have taken one of the eggs to Tulio's Aviary for assisted hatching," she said. At this, glances were exchanged through the gathering of animals.

"Assisted hatching?" asked Blu. Then Cometa touched down.

"Triton and Iris had had a clutch of two eggs but only one of them had hatched," the peregrine falcon explained. At this, Blu and everyone else's gazes rose to the hyacinth macaw nest and saw a small, featherless creature squirm in Iris's wings, "So Neptune and Triton had taken it to the Aviary to help the other egg to hatch."

"Is there a problem with the egg?" asked Jewel.

"No," said Ultramarine with a shake of her head, "But you'll be very surprised to hear this; the other egg had _two_ chicks in it."

"We checked both eggs under a flashlight and we saw that one of our eggs had that result," said Iris on the shelf as she cradled the newborn chick, the first hatchling, in her wings. Shock and surprise flowed through the crowd of animals.

"TWO chicks in ONE EGG?" asked Rafael.

"You mean that egg actually contained TWO chicks in the SAME shell?" put in Eva.

"A double-yolked egg," said Blu for he knew the term for such a phenomenon, as did Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Ceres, Pluto and also the city animals such as Broccoli, Daisy, Collette, Dash and Ginger and also Athos, Porthos, Aramis and Squaw'tagnan. However, everyone else was confused.

"A double what?" asked Zephyr as he stood with Venus, Carla, Bia, Tiago and their families.

"It's when two ova, or eggs, end up encased in the same eggshell during their travel down the oviduct," explained Venus with Justin, Charlotte, Matilda, Virgil and their respective mates Carla, Músculo, Tiago and Bia, and their chicks, listening with intrigue, fascination and wonder, "It's especially common in city chickens."

"Exactly, when two eggs are ovulated in a short enough space of time and end up travelling together down the female's reproductive tract," put in Mars as he stood with Chiquitita, Phobos, Deimos, Alexandre, Estelle, Xander and Kayley.

"Sounds interesting," said Zephyr, "And bizarre."

"I know it tends to occur in city chickens but _macaws,"_ said Athos, "That is indeed unusual."

"Normally, if both of those eggs are fertilised," added Porthos as he stood with Dione, Peter and Procyon, "and end up in the same eggshell, both chicks will be unable to survive because of restricted access to space and air."

"You certainly have been studying egg physiology well during your time as a pet, Porthos," said Bia with a smile, "I'm impressed."

"A relative of our owner had a chicken farm," said Porthos proudly.

"And she had an incident with a double-yolked egg getting fertilised resulting in inviable chicks," put in Aramis.

"So yes, it is not possible for both chicks to survive being in the same eggshell," added Squaw'tagnan as he stood with Phoebe and Arcturus. Then Mercury came in.

"Oh, you'll be surprised to know," he said, "It is not ENTIRELY impossible."

At this, Athos, Porthos, Aramis and Squaw'tagnan's heads shook with surprise and shot the same expressive looks at the Lear's macaw. The other macaws and animals around them did the same.

"Is that so?" asked Athos.

"Only with human intervention, though," said Mercury.

"That is why Neptune and Triton have rushed that two-yolked egg to Tulio's Aviary to hopefully save at least one of the chicks," said Ultramarine, before her proud gaze was directed at Iris, Gertie, Victor, Indigo, Violet and the new arrival in Iris's wings, Gertie proudly gazing at her new cousin as well, "Hopefully Celeste will have a sibling to grow up with."

"Celeste?" repeated Blu confused."

"It's the name of our new daughter," said Iris as she cradled the female newborn chick, "It is one of my favourite names. We plan on naming her brother or sister after a star."

Intrigued smiles formed on the faces of the gathered animals.

"What star name do you have in mind?" asked Carla.

"It's currently undecided," said Victor as he stood with Indigo, Gertie and Violet, gazing at his new niece in Iris's wings, "It depends if one of those two chicks in that egg has made it or not."

Then Iris's face fell, "It's gonna be very heart-breaking if neither of those two chicks survive or makes it."

None of the others said anything at first but then Cometa put on a comforting smile.

"But at least you'll have one chick to raise, Iris," Cometa said, slightly raising the new hyacinth macaw's spirits. Iris managed a small smile at this comment but was still worried for the two chicks in that same egg and hoped that either one would survive. Then Cometa flashed a glance at the two white orbs in Orion and Hermione's nest as one of them rocked slightly. Soon, a crack and then a hole will form in its shell and a small chirping will emanate from that hole.

"Not far from hatching now," said Orion excitedly as he saw the rocking of the egg.

"I can hardly _wait!"_ squeaked Hermione in a squeaky voice heightened by excitement.

"Yes, a replacement for the loss of your son plus a bonus chick for our family," said Lightning to his merlin daughter-in-law. Then he turned his gaze to the crowd of animals with Cometa, Velocity, Hermione, Orion, Spike, Riker and Zelda. However, Hermione kept a constant eye on the soon-to-hatch eggs. Then Ultramarine's face formed a frown.

"By the way, where are Io, Sheldon, Betelgeuse and Rigel?" she asked after noticing the four said macaws missing from Jupiter and his family's side, "I thought all of you would be here to witness the birth of Triton, Iris, Orion and Hermione's chicks."

"Yes, where are Io and her family?" asked Velocity. At this, Stella came forward with Sandalwood by her side.

"Io and her family have decided to remain at Tulio's Aviary for Betelgeuse and Rigel are both still depressed over the aftereffects from the fire," she said. At this, the falcons and the hyacinth macaws' faces fell.

"Betelgeuse is still very upset over the loss of the toes from her left foot while Rigel has a scar on her shoulder where the twig shard was removed two months ago," put in Augustus.

"Yes," said Jewel in a growl, rage at Sofia and her comrades' abandonment of the two chicks of Io and Sheldon still boiling within her. Even though that was two months ago, she was still extremely angry with Sofia and the other bad toucans and what they had put Betelgeuse, Rigel and the other kids including Sandalwood through, "Their self-esteem has taken a massive battering."

"Thanks to those ungrateful BRATS!" put in Ganymede in a snarl, making Adenine, Guanine, Thymine and Cytosine flinch slightly to which he apologised before continuing, "Come to think of it, I've heard that those toucans, Sofia and her massive family and the others sent with them to one of the sanctuaries outside Brazil are really struggling to adapt into their new home."

"We can't remember where they had been sent, except out of this country, but they are facing constant bullying and trouble from some of that sanctuary's residents," added Mimas, "Especially some of her and Marcel's chicks, those that had foolishly been playing and messing with the fire resulting in a mass of burn scars and bald patches on their bodies. Those chicks are experiencing constant bullying over their… for lack of a better word… mangled and ruined appearances caused by the fire from the branches they were carrying spreading to them…"

At this, a flash of sympathy flickered within some of the other animals but not in others, such as Blu, Jewel, Carla, Bia and Tiago especially.

"Well, it serves them right," said Jewel smugly, "Let's see how those brats like being bullied and harassed for a change."

"And I hope the same of the other badly behaved toucans as well," put in Zephyr, "Especially after all the nightmares that lot has put us through. Some of the others, including Rafael, Eva, Carlos, Rita and some of the other good toucans, nodded in agreement. Just then, Hermione's voice rang out.

"Here we go!" cried the merlin. At this, all the falcons' eyes turned to the egg as a crack formed in its shell. The crack then grew and branched, the branches elongating until finally, a piece of the shell dropped from the orb, forming a small hole and through the hole, a tiny beak poked out and emitted small cute chirps. Orion then put his beak to the tiny hatching chick's beak and smiled. The other egg then began to rock and soon, a crack will form in its shell as well. On the floor, the crowd of animals including Luiz continued to smile up to the falcons as they excitedly watched the birth of their new family member.

"This is the first time we've witnessed the birth of new life in _months!"_ said Mercury as he remembered witnessing the birth of Arcturus in his own daughter Phoebe and her mate Squaw'tagnan's nest back in the Amazon, along with the hatching of the other chicks and the births of Acerola, Ferdinand and Sandalwood to Sebastian, Anabelle, Stella and Soren. While Orion and Hermione's new chick continued to try and break out of its nurturing shell that had protected it during its growth, the sounds of wing flaps reached the ears of the group. At this, everyone looked up and saw two more hyacinth macaws, one with a bandana covering the left side of his face and clouded eye, descend through the hole in the roof and fly over to the shelf where Iris, Indigo, Victor, Gertie, Violet and newborn Celeste were waiting.

"You're just in time, Triton and Neptune," said Lightning, "Hermione and Orion's eggs had just started hatching."

He then noticed something being carried in the talons of Triton, "Did any of those two chicks encased in the same shell survive?"

"Yes, thankfully," said Neptune as Triton handed the two tiny bundles to Iris and gave her a loving nuzzle against the beak with his own with Indigo, Violet, Gertie and Victor looking on. Neptune then fluttered down to Ultramarine and gave her a kiss on the cheek, "Both are a healthy boy and a girl."

At this, relief flowed through the other animals, especially Iris and Triton.

"Looks like Triton and Iris have a pair of 'egg-twins'," said Nico with a smile, his bottle-cap hat in his wings.

"What are ya gonna call 'em, you two?" called Pedro as he stood with Rose and Sparkle. Triton gazed at the two newborn chicks in Iris's wings as she cradled them with their older sister.

"Well, since those ytwo chicks had come from the same egg," he said, "I think I'll call them… Mizar and Alcor, after the two stars in the Ursa Major constellation for those two stars are close together in that constellation and resemble one single star."

At this, delight flowed through the group.

"I love it," said Iris as she shared another nuzzle with Triton, "It's an excellent idea."

"You're just like Bia and Ganymede, Tri," said Victor, a wing rising to his fruit-shell cap and pushing it back as it fell over his eyes, to which Triton turned his single-eyed gaze to his brother-in-law and smiled. This was followed by the tittering of the other animals. Then the whole audience's attention turned to Orion and Hermione's nest as the former's merlin mate reached down and lifted the newborn chick, now out of its shell, into the air and cradled it, much to the smiles of Lightning, Velocity, Riker, Spike, Orion and the other animals gathered on the floor. Triton managed a smile and his single eye sparkled with joy.

Triton had never thought that he would find another female macaw to become his mate, much less become a father to three chicks, especially due to his badly scarred left facial side and clouded eye, in which he was blind, the result of one of Cicatriz's hulking hench-bats slashing his claws over that area when he tried protecting Stella, Luna and Sebastian when they were young. Since that incident and Penelope's dumping of him, Triton's self-esteem had been badly lacerated, along with his confidence in devoting himself in a serious relationship with another female macaw, fearing that that macaw would shun him for his disfigured face, especially after a few insensitive individuals had mocked him for his scarred face after Penelope broke up with him and before he met Iris. However, after meeting Iris who accepted him despite this, Triton's self-esteem and confidence began to repair itself but it had been a long and painful journey, and as his friendship with Iris evolved into romance after two years of going out with her, Triton's confidence had begun to shudder as timidity took hold, and it had taken a lot of encouragement from both his immediate family that were his own parents Neptune and Ultramarine, sister Indigo and brother-in-law Victor, younger sister Violet and niece Gertie, and his extended family, among them Blu and Jewel to keep that confidence intact and growing, but it had not been a very easy path. Some of the Blu Bird Sanctuary residents, but mostly many of the badly behaved toucans, among them Sofia, Marcel, Marco, Anastasia, Mabel and Robbie, had picked on the poor hyacinth macaw and kept telling him that he would not make a great friend for anyone because of his 'hideous appearance'. However, these hurtful statements had been proven wrong in a number of ways, especially since Gertie, Triton's niece, still loved her uncle despite his facial disfigurement, especially after learning how he had earned those scars during his protection of Augustus and Melissa's three children, then bat pups, from certain death from that hulking flying fox henchman of Cicatriz who had likely been sent on a mission by the deranged scar-faced leader of the flying fox colony to deal with Stella, Luna and Sebastian, and these three were still grateful for Triton for his selfless and brave sacrifice of half his sight to protect them, as were Melissa, Augustus and everyone else in Blu's group.

Then shortly after Triton and Iris became engaged, it took quite some time for Triton to go ahead with starting a family with Iris for he feared that his own chicks would find him repulsive, and that had taken a lot of encouragement from his friends and family too. But now after witnessing the bird of his own chicks, with two of them coming from the same egg, Triton had a lot to be proud of. It was a remarkable achievement becoming a father despite his disfigured face, and he had hoped that he would be a good father to Celeste, Mizar and Alcor, just like how he had been an excellent uncle to Gertie and to the other kids of Blu's group, including Sandalwood, Acerola and Ferdinand, the pups of Stella, Soren, Anabelle and Sebastian, all of who had accepted Triton despite his disfigured face. However, as these thoughts played through Triton's mind, worry about a pair of certain chicks began to bubble within him. 'What about Betelgeuse and Rigel?' the hyacinth macaw thought, 'Especially the former with her toeless foot? Will they be okay?'

However, as this question played in his mind, Triton's single eye travelled down to Eustace as he stood gazing at Orion and Hermione's new chick, a son, wriggling in his merlin mother's wings, along with Serena, Yolanda, Vincent, Oscar, Rosa, Clemont, Peach, Bruno and Milo, and Triton immediately remembered how Eustace had had to have his leg amputated after having it suffer severe damage from one of the other violent flying fox henchmen of Cicatriz when he threatened some of the birds during the Great War for the Sanctuary de Amazon, leaving a stump that, like Triton's clouded eye and scarred left facial side, was a souvenir of that war. 'Maybe Eustace could help Betelgeuse adapt to life with a single talon?' thought Triton. At this, the hyacinth macaw opened his wings and took off from his family's nest and shelf to fly over to Eustace to talk to him. As Triton fluttered over to him, Eustace looked up and smiled. However, he already deduced what subject Triton had on his mind before the hyacinth macaw even touched down next to him, his pure sulfur-crested mate, three chicks, brother, sister, citron-crested brother-in-law and niece and nephew.

 **Meanwhile**

Betelgeuse sat on the window ledge gazing through the transparent material called glass and the surroundings of the Aviary outside. Behind her, the air of the main medical room was flooded with the sounds of bird chirps, human chatting and footsteps as the workers at the aviary went about their usual tasks in treating the bird casualties and talked. While this happened, the older daughter of Sheldon and Io gazed sombrely and sadly at the stump of what remained of her left foot and sighed and bowed her head. Below the window ledge, several birds came in. Greg, Sardonyx, Steven, Kevin and Tiny, a small green finch whom Greg and his family had befriended and was a resident of the Blu Bird Sanctuary, as well as a friend of Blu, Jewel and the gang, gazed up at the very depressed Betelgeuse as she continued staring out of the window.

"Do you think she's okay?" asked Steven worriedly.

"Well, whatever you do, don't talk about her…" began Tiny but then Betelgeuse turned round, fluttered down from the window ledge, her wing flight feathers having grown back now, touched down and walked through the group of five.

"It's okay, Miss Tiny, I know what you're talking about," groaned the chick as she went past. Tiny put on a surprised look while Sardonyx shot her a raised eyebrow. Betelgeuse then limped miserably on her right foot and toeless left foot in the direction of her parents and sister as they talked with some of the parakeets. Near the group was the incubator housing the eight golden fruithawk eggs and near that as well were Diantha, Gladion, Lillie and Aurora, Gladion now without his wing cast.

"Mom, Dad, Rigel?" asked Betelgeuse sadly. At this, Io, Sheldon and Rigel turned round and gazed at her as she came in. Rigel's left shoulder was now covered in a sea of red feathers that had grown in to replace the old feathers that had to be shaved off by the surgeons before her surgery to remove the twig but under those feathers, a scar, a leftover from the stitched-up incision, was present. Though it was not as disfiguring as Betelgeuse's toeless foot, it still made Rigel feel self-conscious. When they saw Betelgeuse come up to them, Io formed a small smile at her.

"Hi, Betelgeuse," she said in a low voice. As she said this, Diantha, Aurora, Gladion and Lillie came over. Betelgeuse then gazed down at her toeless foot.

"Mom, I'm… sorry for the mess of my foot…" she murmured guiltily but Io interrupted.

"No, don't blame yourself, daughter," said her scarlet mother gently, going over to Betelgeuse and scooping her up in her wings, "It's not your fault."

"Neither is it Rigel's," put in Sheldon as he stood with Rigel. The parakeets, along with Sardonyx, Greg, Steven, Tiny and Kevin nodded in agreement. Then Diantha came in with Gladion, Lillie and Aurora. Their grief over the loss of Tom was still present but it had lessened over the past two months.

"Exactly," said Diantha, before a scowl came upon her face, "It was the stupid, selfish fault of Sofia and the others who had cowardly abandoned you and Rigel to get yourselves out of that fire…"

"Yes," put in Gladion, both of his wings, including the one that had been broken and removed from its cast, by his sides, "You two were nearly KILLED."

"And look what they have left you two," put in Lillie, a gesture to Betelgeuse's toeless left foot and the scar on Rigel's shoulder, but she was also referring to the mental trauma Sofia's abandonment of Betelgeuse and Rigel as well. Both sisters had developed a sheer phobia of fire and it was gonna take a very long time for them to recover from and overcome it.

However, Aurora had a more cheery comment, "But we'll help you adapt to your loss," she squeaked, "After all, doesn't Uncle Eustace have a missing foot too?"

"Yes he does," said Sheldon, "I remember him being devastated over the loss of his talon back in the Sanctuary de Amazon when one of those hench-bats of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named savagely attacked him when he was trying to protect some other birds, among them Flor."

Gladion, Lillie, Aurora, Betelgeuse, Rigel, Tiny, Sardonyx, Greg, Steven and Kevin all flinched and could not imagine the carnage the poor cockatoo faced during that event. Then Io decided to move things on.

"Well, at least those bad toucans have been removed," she said, "all we have to do now is help each other get our lives back on track."

"Guess so," said Diantha. As she said this, Aurora went to the egg incubator to check on the golden fruithawk eggs.

"And I wonder how Triton, Orion and their families are doing," said Sheldon with a smile, "I heard that Triton and his father had come in to have one of the eggs checked but we were too busy spending some time in the artificial jungle chamber…"

"Oh, Triton and Neptune had come in to have that egg hatched with assistance," said Diantha, "According to Triton, the egg had two chicks in it."

"A double-chick egg?" asked Sheldon confused. Io smiled while the parakeets nearby exchanged glances and shrugged.

"Two-yolk eggs have been known to happen in birds, especially chickens," she said.

"It is highly usual and often completely unheard of," said Diantha but then a small smile formed on her colourful bill, "But at least both of those 'egg-twins' are fine."

As she spoke, a loud squeals of excitement erupted from near the group, making them all jump. One of the parakeets shot a stunned look in Aurora's direction.

"One of your daughters is in hysterics, Diantha," he said. At this, Diantha, Io, Sheldon, Sardonyx and Greg rushed over to Aurora. Betelgeuse, Rigel, Gladion, Lillie, Steven and Kevin looked on.

"Something's sent our sister into a crazy surge of excitement," said Gladion to the other five.

"What is it, daughter?" asked Diantha. Aurora jumped from the egg incubator's top and into her mother's wings, a look of pure enthusiasm saturating her face.

"I just saw one of the eggs MOOOVE!" she squealed loudly, making some of the parakeets cover their ears with their wings and twist their faces as Aurora's piercing scream assaulted their ears.

"She's just like her grandmother Eva," muttered one of them to which Tiny shot an irritated look. Then Io rushed over to the incubator to peer through its window while Sheldon shot Aurora an urgent look.

"When did it move, Aurora? Tell us!" Io's half-scarlet, half-green-winged mate demanded. Aurora was about to reply when Io shot past.

"We MUST alert Tulio at ONCE!" she shouted as she surged by the group, "One of the eggs has formed a crack in its shell."

At this, Diantha flashed Sheldon, Sardonyx and Greg a stunned look, put Aurora down and took off after Io with Sheldon and Greg following. Sardonyx was left behind with Betelgeuse, Rigel, Steven, Kevin, Gladion, Lillie, Aurora, Tiny and the parakeets.

"Mr Tulio's gonna be utterly OVER THE MOON when he sees that one the golden fruithawk's eggs are beginning to hatch," said Betelgeuse, the good news overshadowing her depression over the loss of her left foot's toes.

"Yes, and hopefully the golden fruithawk species' existence will have a new hope in the generation Gylfie and Aurum had managed to leave behind," said Sardonyx with a smile.

"I can't wait to see the chicks when they're born," said Steven excitedly.

"It's almost as mystical as some legendary island story Atreyu, Mr Mumble, Mrs Ginny and Mr Balthazar had told us," said Kevin. At this, Betelgeuse, Rigel, Gladion, Lillie and Aurora's gazes converged on him and his brother.

"Legendary island story?" asked Betelgeuse confused.

"Oh, it's a long story," said Steven, "But to put it short, it's supposed to be a 'mirage island' inhabited by strange creatures with one of them being a 'Megatross'…"

"Megatross?" said the two daughters of Io and Sheldon and the three chicks of Diantha together. Then Kevin stepped in, "Let's just put that aside and enjoy your human friend's jubilation over those fruithawk eggs hatching, shall we? We'll explain another time."

At this, Betelgeuse, Rigel, Gladion, Lillie and Aurora exchanged glances and turned to watch Sheldon, Io, Greg and Diantha flap about Tulio's head while he was talking to one of his employees in an attempt to bring him to the egg incubator containing the eight fruithawk eggs, eventually persuading him into following them to the device… and to the imminent hatching of those eggs.


	88. Chapter 87

**Chapter 87- epilogue and getting rid of the last remnants of the bad toucans**

A few more months had passed since the Blu Bird Sanctuary's fire had either burned itself out or had been quelled by Rio's fire services, but over that time, more improvement and recovery had taken place. The burned forest's greenery had finally returned but it will be another number of months before the trees were fully restored to their usual appearances, but fresh fruit and flowers had also grown in with the leaves. Insects had also returned to the forest but the avian and other animal residents who had evacuated from the forest initially because of the massive toucan overpopulation and trouble and then the fire, had also returned to their rightful hollows and other habitats in the trees and on the ground from their places of stay in the city such as the clubs, like Nico, Pedro, Rose and Sparkle's, and Luiz's garage. Now that there were fewer of those badly behaved toucans to be found, and the toucans of Rafael and Eva's family that had been allowed to stay since they had either reformed or were already sensible and all of who were well-behaved and respectable, such as Diantha, Gladion, Lillie and Aurora, the residents including Basil the bat and his small colony living in the cave can finally get their lives back on track without having to worry about facing trouble from such toucans, and any badly behaved toucans left were either banished from the sanctuary when they were found or brought to Tulio and his team to be dealt with. Things certainly were looking up after a number of months of dealing with disaster, loss, devastation, tragedy and trauma. The Chinesa Vista, with the plaque with the sanctuary's name written on it and with Blu's face in its centre had also been rebuilt had also been replaced but a new plaque had been designed to include not only Blu's face, but also the faces of Jewel, and also Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Ceres and Pluto and their respective mates Sapphire, Zephyr, Ruby, Chiquitita, Orquidea, Esmeralda, Ultramarine, Cobalto and Lapis Lazuli, as well as Zephyr's sister Brisa and the first brood chicks of these couples excluding Brisa, drawn and carved into its middle as well to commemorate these birds' settling into the sanctuary before and when they had their first chicks. The new plaque was also larger and more rectangular to accommodate the additional birds into the picture in the middle, rather than the previous one which had been circular.

And that's not all. The grounded members of Blu's group were able to fly again now that their wing flight feathers had grown back and in the cases of those with broken wings, such as Jupiter, Connie and Neytiri, their wings had healed and these birds, and flying fox in Connie's case, were able to fly once again, much to their joy. Being grounded for the rest of their lives was not something Jupiter and the others wanted despite Blu's attempts to tell them of the upsides of being flightless. And as the Blu Bird Sanctuary's forests and habitats were refilled with their usual residents once again, the first-generation and first-brood offspring of Blu and company, such as Carla, Bia, Tiago, Justin, Charlotte, Matilda and Virgil, had decided to remain on the Blu Bird Sanctuary with their kids and make it their home for the sanctuary could do with some rare animals, such as Spix and glaucous macaws and archaeobirds, on the site. However, they had promised Blu and Jewel and the others that they will visit them and the bird tribes, clans, smaller groups and the flying fox clan in the Sanctuary de Amazon from time to time.

The families that had opted to stay on the Blu Bird Sanctuary were the Spix families Carla, Justin and their three daughters Sonia, Spica and Melody; Bia, Virgil and their sons three Sirius, Einstein and Miles; Tiago, Matilda and their two chicks Bellatrix and Bartholomew; Charlotte, Músculo and their two chicks Jason and Petunia; Jojo, Kira and their two daughters Vega and Winona; Felix, Turquesa and their two sons Austin and Diego; and Lavender, Garrett and their three daughters Deneb, Lilac and Polaris. Ganymede, his blue-and-gold mate Mimas and their Catalina (scarlet/blue-and-gold hybrid) chicks Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine and Thymine had also chosen to remain on the Blu Bird Sanctuary with Io, Sheldon, Betelgeuse and Rigel; Europa, Byron, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka; and Callisto, Athos, Canopus and Katniss. Alexandre, Estelle, Xander, Kayley and Alexandre's brothers Phobos and Deimos had also opted to stay on Rio's sanctuary, as had Dione, Porthos, Procyon and Peter; Titan and his three chicks Castor, Pollux and Poppy; Enceladus, Trixie and their blue-and-gold/hyacinth hybrid daughter Mira; Tethys, Oberon and their blue-and-gold/great green hybrid chicks Cressida and Fomalhaut and also Rhea and Iapetus. Miranda, Aramis, Capella and Achernar had also opted to live on the sanctuary with Titania, Ash and their great green/military hybrid sons Basil and Antares; Umbriel, Benjamin and their great green/scarlet hybrid chicks Perdita, Aldebaran and Cecil, and also Ariel; Indigo and her mate Victor and their daughter Gertie; Triton and Iris and their three chicks Celeste, Mizar and Alcor; and Jasmine, Annette, Phoebe, Squaw'tagnan and Arcturus the Lear's macaws. Glaucous macaws Blueberry, Quincy, Charon and Flor, together with Blueberry's mate Aiden and son Saiph, and Charon's mate Neytiri and their two chicks Regulus and Denebola had also decided to remain on the Blu Bird Sanctuary, as had blue-throated macaws Aurelio, Wilbur and Azul, Fernanda, Oceano and Carmen; Cuban red macaws Frodo and Ellie and their biological chicks Olivia and Sylvester; adopted Dominican green-and-yellow macaw chicks, Alegria and Achilles and pink-and-purple macaw chick Pitaya; archaeobirds Spyro, Marella, Bambi and Altair; toucans Diantha, Lillie, Gladion, Aurora and flying foxes Sebastian, Anabelle, Acerola and Ferdinand, Stella, Soren, Sandalwood and Connie and Luna, all who had opted to live on the sanctuary as well for they had taken a liking to the place and wanted to replace the badly-behaved toucans with rarer species, and several archaeobirds and bat-birds, flying foxes, the Spix, glaucous and Lear's macaws and also the Dominican green-and-yellow macaws, Cuban macaws and pink-and-purple macaws had also migrated from the tribes, clans and small groups in the Sanctuary de Amazon to settle on the Blu Bird Sanctuary to establish a population of those species on the site as well.

While everything in the Blu Bird Sanctuary was finally improving, Carla, Bia, Tiago and company were also going through the process of recovery on a far more familial and personal level. Betelgeuse had finally got used to adapting to the loss of the toes on her left foot with the help of Eustace, whose left leg had also been amputated, and had eventually managed to repair her damaged confidence and self-esteem. Those that had been traumatised with water, such as Aldebaran who had been put through not one, but TWO ordeals involving water unlike the other kids, such as Ferdinand, Regulus and Denebola, one with Marco spitefully dunking him in the stream and the other where he was bound to a log with the other kids and pushed into another, were slowly dealing with their newfound fears of it, but Aldebaran was especially difficult due to the two separate ordeals he had faced. Those that had been trapped in an animal burrow by some of the evil toucan chicks, such as Acerola, Sirius, Einstein and Miles, were slowly dealing with their claustrophobia but Acerola was especially badly affected and would likely require a longer time than the others to heal. Titan had begun a relationship with a female green-winged macaw resident from the Blu Bird Sanctuary, named Aimee who had been a chick-hood friend of Titan when they were chicks before Titan and the others moved to the Sanctuary de Amazon, then an area of unprotected jungle, following the discovery of the Lear's macaw tribe and eventually the glaucous macaws as well. Aimee had helped Titan, Poppy, Castor and Pollux to overcome the loss of Brooke who had died in the fire, and she had also become a sort of a stepmother to Poppy, Castor and Pollux who in return took a liking to her as well. Diantha, meanwhile, had opted to remain single for the rest of her life following the loss of her mate Tom when he took Blu and Jewel's place and ended up getting impaled with a wood shard by Dalek the parrot-detesting chameleon and with Rafael, Eva and her remaining siblings, nephews and nieces help, had managed to come to terms with Tom loss and move on, with Gladion, Lillie and Aurora doing the same and will have to grow up without their dad.

To add icing to the cake, the eight offspring of Gylfie and Aurum, the last pair of golden fruithawks alive, were doing well. They were five males and three females and had been taken care of by both Tulio and his team and the avian residents of the Blu Bird Sanctuary but most especially Travis and Sunset and their three children Eustace, Milo and Rosa; two children-in-law Clemont and Serena and five grandkids Peach, Yolanda, Bruno, Oscar and Vincent (who was able to fly again since his wing, like the wings of everyone else who had a broken wing, had healed). The males had been named Perseus, Levi, Rigil Kentaurus (or Rigil Kent for short), Tristan and Comet, after Cometa the falcon, while the females had been named Gylfie, after her mother, Gardenia and Autumn. Like their parents, these chicks had grown beautiful golden feathers with vivid yellow plumage on their heads and necks, though they were still young, and were all healthy which the conservationists were glad for. However, the conservationists knew that these eight will require individual fruithawks that were not related to them when they reach sexual maturity and become able to breed for if the siblings were to mate and attempt to have chicks, the resulting eggs would either be inviable or produce chicks with little chance of survival due to inbreeding consequences but at the moment, the chance of finding any other fruithawk out in the world was extremely slim, or impossible, but Tulio and his team never gave up hope since after all, a flock of Spix and glaucous macaws had been discovered in the Amazon Rainforest while a few individuals of the Cuban and Dominican green-and-yellow macaws, macaws that should have gone extinct over a century ago in Central America, had been discovered as well. Only time will tell but at least the golden fruithawk species had been pulled from the brink of extinction… for now.

Things certainly were improving for everyone and everything.

 **In the Sanctuary de Amazon, the Spix tribe's ravine**

The air in the ravine inhabited by the Spix macaw tribe was alive with singing and dancing, accompanied by flashes of various shades of blue feathers that danced like blue flowers above the lilypad-riddled pool directly below them with the waterfall at the back end cascading into it. The blue forms had flashes of red and yellow pained on the faces and wingtips (for the yellow), for the tribe members doing the dance had decked themselves out with red fruit paint (for the males on their faces), and yellow pollen (for the females on their faces and wingtips) and they were dancing to their tribe theme 'Beautiful Creatures'. Along the banks of the ravine pool were a crowd of more blue dotted with red, green, darker navy blue, purple, drabber brown, red, orange, metallic blue, red and a variety of other colours for individuals from the red, green, glaucous, Lear's, blue-and-gold, blue-throated and hyacinth tribes and clans, alongside those from the archeobird, flying fox and smaller bird clans and groups had come to visit and watch the dance of the Spix macaws.

Among the dancing macaws were Blu, Roberto and Zephyr, their faces decked out with patches of red fruit paint, and Jewel, Brisa and Venus, their faces and wingtips decked out with yellow flower pollen and they danced together in pairs during a certain part of the song, alongside the other Spix macaw couples such as Zephyr and Brisa's cousin Nuvem and his mate Cassia. Also among the crowd of dancing couples were Justin, Carla, Bia, Virgil, Tiago, Matilda, Charlotte, Músculo, Jojo, Kira, Felix, Turquesa, Lavender and Garrett whose faces, like everyone else's, were decorated with red fruit paint or yellow flower pollen with the females' wingtips tipped with more yellow pollen. Sonia, Spica and Melody, Sirius, Einstein and Miles, Bellatrix and Bartholomew, Jason and Petunia, Vega and Winona, Austin and Diego, and Deneb, Lilac and Polaris were also present, their faces and in the female chicks, wingtips also decorated with red fruit paint or yellow flower pollen and they all danced with a number of other chicks and adolescents, among them Luke, Linda and Eddie, the three second-brood and adopted chicks of Blu and Jewel, and Azurite and Aquamarine, Zephyr and Venus's second-brood chicks. Carla and company were in the middle of one of their visits to the Sanctuary de Amazon, hence their presence here.

Along the banks, the crowd of onlookers who danced and clapped to the song, Stella, Soren, Connie and Sandalwood stood among the group of visiting flying foxes, and Sandalwood had managed to pick out Sirius as he danced alongside Bia, Virgil, his brothers and all his aunts, uncles and cousins, and grandparents Blu, Jewel, Zephyr and Venus and also Mimi, Jewel's aunt who had also painted areas of her face and her wingtips with yellow pollen like every other female macaw in the flock.

"I cannot believe that the birds of this rainforest would have such AMAZING dance talent," cried Connie excitedly.

"They look so AWESOME, don't they?" cried Sandalwood excitedly.

"They certainly do, son and Connie," said Stella as she continued to watch the dance.

"They're ever so magnificent," said Soren, before his gaze landed on Lavender, Garrett and their daughters Deneb, Lilac and Polaris as they joined a line of some other Spix macaws in spinning down to the lake, skimmed the water's surface and ascended in spins back into the air, "Even though I'm an excellent swimmer, I can never do that trick."

"Luna's actually quite good at that manoeuvre, as are a few other flying foxes in our clan," said Marcus nearby as he sat with Ana. Marcus and Ana were two of Augustus, Melissa and her deceased cousin Lily's friends who had helped save a lot of birds, among them very rare species along with few other flying foxes, from the flying fox colony during their reign of terror over every bird of the Amazon Rainforest. Stella, Soren, Connie and Sandalwood flashed these two a smile and continued watching and applauding the Spix macaws as they continued their dance, especially Carla, Bia, Tiago and the other Spix macaws with them as they continued to dance in a variety of patterns.

On the clifftops of the ravine, a certain hyacinth macaw family was on a tour with Neptune and Ultramarine as their guides. Victor, Indigo and Gertie were also present but Violet, Indigo and Triton's younger sister was back at the hyacinth macaw clan's habitat socialising with some other young hyacinth macaws. Triton (with his bandana covering his left facial side and clouded eye as usual) and Iris, along with their grown-up chicks Celeste, Mizar and Alcor, were scanning the ravine and the dancing Spix macaws. All but Triton, who was already familiar with the Spix tribe's ravine and the other areas of the Amazon Sanctuary, wore fascinated and awed looks on their faces as they examined the surroundings. Celeste, the older daughter of Triton and Iris, had blue feathers similar to Blu but the shade of blue faded to a lighter one toward her wings and back. She had blue eyes like her father Triton and had a forward-pointing tassel above her forehead, exactly where the tuft of green feathers on a blue-and-gold macaw would be. Her build was lithe and slender. Celeste was bold and sometimes sassy, but at times she was timid and shy, similar to Triton had sometimes been when he had been a chick. Mizar and Alcor, her younger sister and brother, were more like their mother Iris in looks than Triton. Both had purple-tinted feathers, with Mizar's being deep violet and Alcor's taking on more of a blue-violet, and both had a tassel tuft on their heads with Mizar's hanging downward. Mizar had inherited Iris's unusual iris flower like crest and had cyan eyes and a chubby build, similar to Carla and one of her daughters Sonia while Alcor had a small ruffle at the base of his head and had green eyes like Iris, and a slender build.

When the chicks' eggs were laid in the nest on the shelf back at Luiz's garage in Rio, Triton and Iris had been expecting two chicks rather than three. However, the couple had noticed something a bit unusual with one of the eggs when a shaft of sunlight highlighted its contents. Then after examining the egg under a flashlight, also called a torch, with Neptune and Ultramarine's help, it was discovered that the egg had TWO chicks except one, unlike the other egg. During the rest of the chicks' development, Triton and Iris had been greatly worried for this egg and had expected either one or both of the chicks to not make it, and when the time came for the eggs to hatch, Triton and Neptune had taken the two-chick egg to Tulio's Aviary for assisted hatching. Both chicks, to the relief of their parents, were healthy though they were a bit smaller than Celeste had been when they were born due to space limitations inside the egg. According to Blu and other birds good with maths and science, Mizar and Alcor were a pair in a billion since two-yolk eggs were extremely rare in parrots and even fewer of such eggs developed into two healthy chicks. As such, Mizar and Alcor had been nicknamed the 'egg-twins' despite having different appearances and personalities with Mizar being shy and Alcor being outgoing.

As Neptune and Ultramarine continued talking about the Spix macaw tribe, Gertie, as she stood between her parents Indigo and Victor (who wore his signature half fruit-shell hat as usual) flashed constant smiles and gazes at her three new cousins for she was proud to have some close biological relatives to play with at last and was even prouder to be the cousin of such an extremely rare phenomenon of 'egg-twins' as well.

"…The Spix tribe's dance is called 'Beautiful Creatures'," continued Neptune as he gestured to the Spix tribe as they finished their dance, "According to their former leader Eduardo, it's been their theme song for generations."

"How did it come to be?" squeaked Celeste curiously to which Triton and Iris smiled.

"Apparently," said Ultramarine, "Some individual Spix macaw had thought it up a long time ago and after its first performance by those macaws' ancestors, it had become their theme ever since."

"The same is true or apparently true for the other tribe and clan dances," added Indigo, "With Augustus and his clan's song being the most recent."

"Cool!" cried Mizar and Alcor together and excitedly.

"We would love to see the flying fox clan's dance," said Celeste.

"We will soon," said Victor with a smile.

"I reckon it's gonna be awesome," added Iris, a wing on Celeste's head, "watching those winged mammals do their dance."

"We would love to see Sandalwood, Acerola and Ferdinand perform with the others, and the birds living with the bats as well," added Gertie.

"We will, our granddaughter," said Neptune with a smile, "Don't be so impatient."

Gertie just rolled her eyes and crossed her wings much to the laughter of the other hyacinth macaws.

"Gertie sure seems to be short of patience at times," said Indigo.

"Well, patience is an essential skill to learn in life, Indigo," said Ultramarine, "You can't always get things now."

"And besides that, haste always invites mistakes and messes," put in Triton, his right eye forming a frown.

"Correct, Triton," said Neptune, "That is why you should not or even never rush things, especially very important things."

The other older hyacinth macaws nodded in agreement. Just then the sounds of talking reached the group's ears but then that talking was cut off. At this, Neptune, Ultramarine, Triton, Iris, Indigo and Victor exchanged perplexed glances while the four hyacinth chicks looked on confused. However, recognition had welled within one of them, and his single eye formed a firm frown.

"I know that voice," murmured Triton in a low voice. It was then that Iris's green gaze landed on something hovering in the air not too far away from where Neptune and his family were standing.

"Who are those hyacinth macaws?" she asked. At this, all eyes followed her gaze and when they landed on a certain couple of macaws with four chicks, their reaction took on different forms. Neptune and Ultramarine's faces morphed into ones of surprise while Indigo and Victor's ones formed frowns after a flash of surprise. Iris's was puzzled while Triton's single-eyed one was suspicion. Gertie, Mizar, Alcor and Celeste, however, wore looks of confusion but then Gertie's face formed a glare. Hovering before Neptune and his family was a family of six hyacinth macaws and one of them was Triton's ex, and she was gawking at Triton, his mate and their three chicks with an agape look. Her eyes were wide and her beak was dropped wide open. She had also been carrying some fruit in her talons but those talons had slackened from the shock and the fruit was released from their clutches and sent plummeting through the canopy, narrowly missing a passing monkey in the branches on the way down. The monkey flashed an annoyed look at the hovering hyacinth macaw and her family before continuing its trip. There was a moment of awkward silence hovering above the families until finally, Triton's ex's mate came forward and examined Iris, Celeste, Mizar and Alcor.

"Are you seeing what I'm seeing, Penelope?" asked he. The female macaw, who was Triton's ex Penelope, was too frozen by flabbergast to even speak. Then her mate, named Brock, answered his own question.

"That one-eyed freak's got a mate and a family of his own," he said, the four chicks hovering around him looking on in equal shock. As he said this, outrage flashed through the adult macaws, especially Iris, while Triton's right eye flashed with hurt. Celeste, Mizar and Alcor looked up at their father.

"He's a one-eyed…?" began Celeste but Iris cut her off.

" _Celeste!"_ hissed she sharply, making the older sister flinch and shut her beak. Mizar and Alcor also timidly ducked behind their older sister, not wanting to share the same sharp scold. Then Indigo and Victor stepped forward, glares on the former girlfriend of Triton and her family.

"Look, just GET OUT, will you?" snarled Indigo fiercely, "It's obvious that you still hadn't changed your attitude towards Triton in the past half-year."

"Yeah, SCRAM!" put in Victor and with that, his wing went to his hat, removed it and he poised it as if to throw it at Penelope and her family to reinforce his and his mate's statement. Gertie also came forward and crouched and opened her wings, her bitter glare on Penelope and her family, as if she wanted to leap at them. However, Neptune and Ultramarine were calmer and less aggressive in handling the situation, but they were still angry and firm.

"Look, Penelope, Brock, take your chicks and leave at once," commanded Neptune, "You're not welcome here."

"Yes, especially if you're gonna continue to insult our son," put in Ultramarine. At first, Penelope continued to hover there, her gaze still on Triton and his family. But then she relented, especially after seeing the volcanic looks on his sister and brother-in-law, especially how the latter threatened to throw his hat at her but before she left with her family in tow, she shot Neptune and his family a bratty glare.

"You know something," she growled, "I'm surprised that the three chicks accompanying One-Eyed Scarface weren't born resembling deformed fruit or birds with unsightly growths all over 'em or sommat since their father's so UGLY with those mini-jaguar claws and clouded eye on his face…"

That sent pure outrage and offense tearing through Neptune's family, especially Triton and his three kids.

"OOOIII!" screeched Indigo and Victor at the same time. Then Neptune's calm demeanour was instantly vaporised by a surge of hot anger.

"GET OUTA HERE NOW!" screeched Triton's father at the top of his lungs, "BEFORE I BRING BLU AND JEWEL HERE TO DRIVE YA OFF!"

Iris then let loose an extremely loud snake-like hiss and lurched at Penelope and her family.

"How DARE YOU insult MY MATE and CHICKS, you FOUL MOTHER!" she screeched. Now it was Penelope's turn to flash an offended look but seeing the ferocity on the faces of Triton's mate and family members, she turned round and rocketed off into the trees with Brock following, his and Penelope's frightened chicks in their talons. As soon as they had gone, Neptune, Iris, Victor and Ultramarine lowered their anger temperatures.

"I cannot BELIEVE she would say SOMETHING like that," muttered Victor as Iris went to ease and soothe Triton's bruised heart and Celeste, Mizar and Alcor's burned feelings.

"Let's just help Triton and his family calm down," said Neptune and with that he, Ultramarine, Indigo, Gertie and Victor joined Iris in trying to calm Triton and the three new additions to their family down.

 **On the edge of the Sanctuary de Amazon, in the former land of the flying fox colony**

A certain toucan with a lime green, magenta, black and orange bill and sleek black feathers and red-cream front stood on a branch, gazing into once was the land of the feared and dreaded flying fox colony, a sad look on her face. In her talons was a little leaf-bag containing a few things, and she was clutching it while directing her gaze down to it. Her gaze then continued directly down below her and onto a stream. Diantha then released a sigh when the sounds of wing-flaps alerted her. At this, the toucan looked up and spotted some macaws and a flying fox approach her.

"Hey, Diantha, what are you doing out here?" asked one of the red macaws, which was an unusually orange macaw named Sardonyx and she was accompanied by Greg. Greg, Sardonyx, Steven and Kevin had moved into the red macaw tribe and had been welcomed by Felipe and the other red macaws, before becoming official members of the flock. Now Greg and Sardonyx were on a small outing with Ellie, Frodo, Augustus, Rafael, Eva (who had also come to visit the Sanctuary de Amazon with Diantha, Rita and the other remaining family members) and Falkor, the milicinth (military/hyacinth hybrid) macaw. However, Diantha did not answer at first and continued gazing into the former territory of the flying fox colony. Then Augustus fluttered in.

"That's where the bird-detesting flying fox colony that viewed all birds as vermin and the causes of all the disasters used to live," he murmured to Sardonyx and Greg.

"Flying fox colony?" asked Greg confused. Falkor turned to him, "This part of the rainforest usually spelled death for any bird that wandered into it, and ironically enough, it used to belong to a variety of other bird tribes and clans before those deranged bats drove them out."

"Oh, so essentially any bird land that became part of the flying fox colony's land has become forbidden to all birds?" asked Sardonyx with shock. Falkor and Augustus nodded. Then Augustus returned his gaze into the sea of trees.

"But now that the flying fox colony had dispersed," he said, "Birdlife had returned to the area they once occupied but it's highly unlikely that the original bird tribes and clans that used to occupy the territory and had managed to survive the savage attack from the colony would ever return and repopulate that area since so many of their original tribes and clans would have been slaughtered or if the majority of the flocks had survived, too frightened to return."

Greg and Sardonyx shuddered as they paralleled their gaze with Augustus's and imagined the land being populated by a massive colony of bird-loathing flying foxes as well as all birdlife being completely decimated by their presence. They still had a lot to learn about the dark past of this part of the rainforest and Augustus had promised to give them history lessons at some point in the future. While the couple of new members of Felipe's tribe continued to gaze into the land and distance, Rafael, Eva, Frodo and Ellie touched down by Diantha as she continued to gaze at the little leaf bag containing something.

"Your pebble bead decorations you told me you used to build with some of your siblings when you were young," said Frodo when he gazed at the leaf bag clutched in Diantha's talons.

"The bead decorations I built with Sofia, Marco and Mabel to be exact, actually," said Diantha in a sombre voice.

"So why did you bring them out here on our trip?" asked Rafael while Eva and Ellie said nothing. Diantha's face then morphed into a stern look and a deep breath was drawn through her nostrils.

"These bead decorations are the last pieces of what I have of my turned-wicked siblings," she said, "I've noticed that Rita, Carlos, Fabio and the other good toucans had done away with anything they had done with Sofia and the other bad toucans and I want to do the same."

Diantha then redirected her gaze at the stream flowing into the former flying fox colony's land below as Augustus, Falkor, Sardonyx and Greg came in and touched down beside her. Then sadness came over Diantha and made her ooze a tear from her left eye.

"I want to do away with ALL reminders of those wicked siblings and their undisciplined and equally deranged chicks," she said in a low murmur, "I want to put the past I had with them behind me… and start anew… with the TRUE siblings I have… both biological in the case of my good siblings like Rita, Carlos and Fabio… and the unrelated and non-toucan members of the extended family… which is Carla, Bia, Tiago and everyone else…"

Diantha then breathed another sigh, "I don't want ANYTHING more to do with Sofia, Marco, Mabel and the rest of them."

Then after taking one last gaze at the leaf bag and its contents, Diantha, without hesitation, dropped the leaf bag from the branch and sent it careening down towards the stream's water. Rafael, Eva, Frodo and Ellie put comforting wings on her back while Sardonyx, Greg, Falkor and Augustus looked on. Then a few seconds later, the group took off from the branch and returned to the Sanctuary de Amazon.

The green leaf bag landed with a small splash in the stream, before finally sinking down into the depths, the current taking hold of it and dragging it along. The bag and its contents continued to drift along until they finally disappeared to an unknown place in the stream, taking with it all reminders of Diantha's wicked siblings who had descended into villainy that eventually led to the fire that almost destroyed the Blu Bird Sanctuary… and the very near loss of the kids of a certain group of birds and flying foxes, among them Diantha's own three… several times in the case of some of them.

 **And that concludes this story! Boy, I can't believe that it had taken me over a YEAR to write but it's finally finished.**

 **Everything is pretty much back to their normality now and all the bad toucans had pretty much been removed. Regarding the evicted toucans, among them Sofia, Marcel, Mabel, Robbie, Marco and Anastasia, these toucans are living out the rest of their lives in their new habitats in shame combined with the serious difficulties of adapting to their new homes, dealing with the disfigurement their chicks that had survived playing with the fiery branches had suffered (among them Isabella) and also difficulties with their new neighbours. At least we won't see the likes of these horrible toucans again, while Blu, Jewel, Carla, Bia, Tiago and company will have a happy ending despite all that had happened! By the way, there is a possibility that Sandalwood and Connie might become a couple in the future but that's another story.**

 **VPVPVP**


	89. Rio break notice

Hello everyone. VPVPVP here. Thank you for following my stories and reviewing them, and I have indeed enjoyed writing them (especially the action-packed parts and the climaxes; not to mention gradually giving away clues about a character to build suspicion about him or her, such as Dalek the chameleon and his rancorous hatred of parrots in this story). However, I will be taking a break from the Rio archive for I have a story planned for another favourite franchise of mine: Chronicles of Narnia. However, I do have another installment in my Rio story series planned but it possibly won't be started until I have possibly finished the Chronicles of Narnia one. However, I may change my mind and start it while I do my Chronicles of Narnia fanfic story. It just depends on my discretion.

I will see you guys again later when I get down to starting the aforementioned sequel. Until then, peace out, VPVPVP


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